Danilo
My eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing. I was in a state of disbelief as I stared straight in front of me. My feet forced me to turn once again looking for any sign on how this could all go so wrong.
There was only one pole in the entire parking lot. Barely any cars and of course one shopping cart in front of the parking we occupied. The story was so elaborate that if one of the guards didn't vouch for Benecio I would have never believed him.
Not even two weeks of us being finally settled in Miami he had crashed his car. Apparently the cart rolled in front of him then spooked him and he somehow confused reverse for acceleration. How? I'd never know. That was how the front of his BRAND NEW BMW that I had paid for using my own hard working money was currently one with the pole.
There was no fixing this. There was no buffing out the indent. It was done for and the smoke coming out of it confirmed it.
This was what had exactly happened with Pa's Grand Cherokee. Pai had bought it for him when Bunky was born, as he had made it a tradition that each of us got a car before our birth, as a push present for Pa. It was the most beautiful I had ever seen in a deep red with black accents.
Pa, being as kind as ever, sent Benecio last year to quickly grab something from Pa Clyde. It was a simple drive from our house straight to theirs at the ranch. Next thing we heard, he had lost control driving down the paved road and hit a tree. It seemed he had a thing for immobile poles.
The car was in utter scrape and Pa didn't speak to Benecio for an entire week.
I didn't feel like speaking to him now as he sat on the floor hugging my left leg and begging me not to kick him out.
"It was a mistake, I promise a simple mistake. You know how I get when things spring up on me," he cried and kissed my knee. "You're my favorite brother."
"Oh shut up," I rolled my eyes, "you said Bunky your favorite."
"Well he ain't here therefore you're my favorite," he gave me a small smile before he continued crying. "I'll fix it."
I shook my head, "you can't fix it."
"I promise I won't crash the second one then."
"No," I held my chin as I hummed in thought. No wonder Pai took so long to tell us what our punishment would be. It took a lot of time and thinking for you to come up with a good one. "I have it," I clapped with a chuckle, "Daniel and I will drop you off and pick you up from school. If we're unavailable we'll get the guards to do it."
The gasp that left him told me that I had picked well. The one thing Benecio cherished the most was his reputation and if that was destroyed there would be no Benecio. Us picking him up and one of the guards meant he couldn't take girls on joy rides or have his own flexible schedule.
It would be school and strictly practice. No more coming home at midnight because he lost track of time and had a new hickey on his neck. The day he got a girl pregnant would be his own demise. He didn't listen and Pai had said he had strong Uncle Ronaldo blood. I didn't understand how since Uncle Ronaldo literally worshipped the ground Aunt Chantelle walked on.
But I was sure there was a story to that too.
"If you do this to me I will never talk to you again!"
I shrugged, "then maybe it's time you got a job and bought your own car. Maybe then you'd respect it some more instead of getting spooked by your own fart."
"It was the cart!" He wailed then threw himself down on the floor in the middle of the road.
"What in the world are you doing!"
"If you ain't going to buy me a new car and continue this punishment of driving me around then I'd rather die. I would rather let a car drive over my body right now and be done with me."
I kicked his thigh, "Benecio. Don't be an idiot."
He twisted his lips and looked up to the sky, "someone please kill me!"
"Guess I might as well do it myself. Too bad I didn't insure you. Could have gotten a lot of money for you but oh well," I hopped in my truck and loudly revved the engine before I reversed. I knew I was nowhere near his body to actually hurt him but the man was a chicken.
The fumes from the exhaust pipe must have hit him as he sprung up like a Jack in box then screamed. "Pai will never forgive you!"
"Pai had considered killing all of us on multiple occasions trust me. He wouldn't give a damn," I laughed as he opened the passenger door and climbed in.
He grumbled something under his breath as he looked out the window to his car. "We've had so many great adventures together."
"You got it two weeks ago."
"I know," he sighed, "but I got laid on the backseat after class last week and it was the greatest memory."
"I'll ask them to burn it down then in that case," I drove out of the mostly empty parking lot feeling a lot more stressed than I did for the grand opening.
Living with Benecio was a full time headache. I would never judge Pa and Pai for being too strict. If he didn't have a routine, we'd be hunting him down now in the Amazon. Not the online store… the one with trees. In Brazil. Yeah, I get confused sometimes.
Where was I? Yes. Wanting to kill Benecio