Under a Thin White Sheet Ch. 04

He did have one motto that he shared, it always governed my sister and I's perspective...

"No better friend..." he would start.

"No worse enemy." We would finish as he taught us. He would grin, pleased at the response.

The thing was he wouldn't say it harsh or cruel or mean. It was what it was. There was just something about it that you knew was very real. You did not want to be considered the enemy.

He was always happy to play video games or watch science fiction but there was always more to him. Something different, even the neighbors saw it. He was one of those men you don't cross. They were always very respectful to him. It was almost like you can sense there is something different about him because he was a combat veteran. We had a flagpole in our front yard and every morning he would raise the flag, every evening he lowered it after work.

After coming home, he used his benefits to go to college, Mom had now graduated and was supporting all of us. He earned his engineering degree and joined the firm Mom worked for. With our finances solid our parents bought this house. We lived here happily ever since.

Dinner went as usual, a debate of theoretical sciences. The newly theoretical planet beyond Neptune. Oddly our Mother was less interested than usual, her attention was on April in a way I was unfamiliar. I brushed it off as happen stance to April's claim of a potential boyfriend. We watched, as a family, the latest Star Wars movie again for the thousandth time. As we watched the movie, April sat close to me on the couch and I held her closely enjoying the time together.