Tagline: Nothing can break their brotherly bond, except for love which leads to hate

Our story begins prior to the events that concluded my previous story. Megan and I are still married but have had numerous problems with arguments and accusations of infidelity, ETC. Mom unfortunately has already died at this point so Megan is seen as my primary caregiver. As everybody knew how much mom meant to me prior to her untimely demise, Megan has had to deal with trying to help me cope amidst my constant crying and complaining about how mom mom is missed. Now this is something that she was ok with initially but after years of me not being able to let go of mom, it’s now become too much for her to handle. Attempts at trying to get me to accept the fact that she is gone and not in anymore pain as well as attempts at enrolling me in grief counselling groups have proven to only provide temporary relief but only for a short time after which I would eventually revert to being depressed and crying with no Megan having no luck in consoling me. This has been the catalyst for most of our fights leading up to the start of this story. At this point, she has unfortunately given up in trying to help me having exhausted all options in doing so. She is on the verge of a nervous breakdown and feels like she has no choice but to send me away at this point.

“What am I supposed to do? You won’t listen to me when I tell you she’s gone. I even tried to enroll you in groups and have you talk to counselors. I’ve listened to you. I’ve done my best to try to comfort you and you still won’t listen. The sad part is that I know what you want me to do. That’s not the issue. I already told you I can’t bring your mom back. I’m doing the best I can but if that’s not good enough, I need you to leave.” she says.

As I understood and agreed with everything she said, I just nodded my head.

“Now let’s get ready for dinner so we can have a good night together and please, I know it’s hard but I don’t want to hear anymore about your mom ok. I need you to act as if she was still here. I know she wouldn’t want you to be upset and would want you to live your life without stress.” she says

Megan and I proceed to have a great night together and even order take out instead of cooking. After we finished eating, she suggests we watch tv before going to bed.

While channel surfing, we come across shows that mom used to watch when we were kids. This unfortunately incites more tears where Megan snaps.

“YOU KNOW WHAT? NO MORE FUCKIN TV. WHAT DID I SAY EARLIER? I DON’T WANT YOU TO BRING UP YOUR MOTHER ANYMORE. I CAN’T HANDLE THAT. IF YOU DON’T WANT TO ENJOY MY COMPANY, I’M GOING TO BED. I WILL SAY THIS ONE MORE TIME. I’M SORRY YOUR MOM IS NO LONGER WITH US. SHE WAS A GREAT WOMAN AND I HAVE ALL THE RESPECT IN THE WORLD FOR HER SINCE SHE GAVE BIRTH TO THE MAN THAT I LOVE BUT YOU NEED TO MOVE ON WITH YOUR LIFE. IF YOU CAN’T, I CAN’T. THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING.” she says

With that, both Megan and I go to bed without intimacy that night as we are both tired. After having a dream that mom is entering the room and waking up crying, Megan becomes concerned as she believes I’m sick.

“Are you ok?” she asks

One word was all I needed to explain why I was feeling down. I wasn’t sick but I was suffering.

“Mommy” I cried

“Mommy? Are you serious? That’s it. You are gone. I’m calling your brother right now.” she says

Despite no longer being a couple, my brother and Megan made an agreement for her to call him if she needed someone to talk to especially as it related to me. She calls Ben and he agrees to come over despite it being in the middle of the night. He is annoyed at her for calling him this late.

“You woke me up for this? Does he not realize that she is gone and there’s nothing anybody can do about it? He is an adult right? I’m going to talk to him and he better stop this right now. Even though he is suffering, he needs to have respect for the fact that the rest of us have lives. I have to work early in the morning. He needs to understand that we can’t always be there the minute he wants us I’ll be there as soon as I can.” complained my brother angrily

My brother arrives to find Megan distraught waiting at the front door.

“I’m sorry I had to call you so late but I didn’t know what else to do.” she says

“It’s ok. We had a deal and you need me. I will be there for you.” Now where is he?” my brother asks

“He’s sleeping right now.” said Megan

“So he whines and moans enough to wake both you and me up and then he goes to sleep himself?” said my brother in annoyance.

“I’ll get his ass up right now.” said my brother

My brother enters the room

“Alright get your ass up. I don’t feel bad for you anymore and neither does Megan. We don’t care about how bad you’re feeling. It’s time to move on. I have to work in the morning. It’s fuckin 3:00 a.m. Do you not have any respect for anyone but yourself?” he scolds.

At a loss for words, I remain silent.

“Well are you going to talk or should I just leave?” he asks impatiently

“That’s your mother too. Don’t you feel bad for her?” I ask

“Don’t even try to play the guilt trip game with me. You know that mom left us while we weren’t on talking terms. She is gone. There’s nothing I can do about it or Megan can do about it or you can do about it. Now go to sleep. Some of us have to get up for work in the morning and if I get one more call from Megan like this in the middle of the night, it won’t be her decision if you stay or go. I’ll make it for you and it won’t be one you like.” said my brother

As my brother leaves the room, he tells Megan what he told me.

“Anymore nonsense related to our mother and you call me. If you do, he will be gone immediately. Don’t blame yourself. You are doing a wonderful job under the circumstances.” he said

“Agreed” said Megan.

“Now I have to get going as I need to work in the morning. I’m so tired though.” he said

“I can set a place for you on the couch.” suggested Megan. I would hate for you to go into work tired. You know what? If you want, I can give you some money for you to take off. I can use the company and a friend since your brother has put me through a lot emotionally. Also I know how hard it is for you to come here from where you live.”

As Megan goes to the closet to get my brother a spare blanket and pillow, he suddenly has a change of heart.

She returns to the couch where my brother is standing. “Here you go. Make yourself comfortable.” she said

“Oh I will but there’s one little thing though. I’m not comfortable unless I’m with you. I want you back. Why else do you think I came here. It certainly wasn’t to settle him down.”

The two end up getting intimate. As this is happening, I wake up.

“Are you fuckin serious? She’s sleeping with him again. I’m going to put a stop to this!” I say angrily

I barge into the room as the two are getting intimate. “Ok you fuckin asshole. You want to do this again. You want to steal my wife behind my back?”

A fist fight breaks out with us taking turns gaining the upper hand. At first, he is able to by shoving me to the floor when I try to separate them.

“Who do you think you are?” he asks. Just leave us alone!”

“You want to keep doing this you asshole? Why don’t I send you to where mom is so she can give you her opinion?” I scream before busting him open with my fist.

As the fight is going on, Megan calls the police where he is arrested for the initial assault.

“Officer, he keeps getting involved in our lives as a couple. She calls me in the middle of the night complaining about how much he stresses her out due to our mother’s death. She is at her wit’s end. I mean, look at her. She needs somebody. No I’m not saying what I did was right but she needs to have her way sometimes. She does everything for him . She cooks for him, cleans for him, she’s nice to him and all he can think about is what he doesn’t have. This is something that nobody can give him. Not you guys, not me, not Megan. She needs a man who appreciates her as a human being. Not someone who uses her solely to express his grievances whenever he chooses to. He doesn’t love her. He uses her and I will not stand for it anymore. I see her for the beautiful person she is. She is someone who needs love and I’m the guy to give it to her.”

My brother’s explanation as to why they are a couple

“Sir as heartfelt as your words are, you did assault your disabled brother and therefore, you’re being arrested for and will spend two months in prison.” said the officer.

“Thanks a lot asshole. I wonder what our mother thinks of you now since you got your brother who only wants what’s best for you since she’s gone arrested.” taunted my brother.

“You son of a bitch.” I scream as I charge towards him and attack him

“Sir you need to stand down or you’re going to jail with him.” warned the officer. I agree to do so.

“I’m not leaving my girlfriend until you station a police car outside this house in case he attacks her. If he does, you arrest his ass right away.” said my brother.

“We can only do that if she deems it necessary. This is not your residence so you don’t have the right to request that.” said the officer

Megan decides that a patrol car won’t be necessary. “No that’s ok.” she says

“This isn’t over. I will get out and when I do, she is mine and so help you god if you lay one finger on her while I’m gone. She will tell me and there won’t be enough officers to save you from getting your ass kicked. Baby I love you. This is just a minor setback. We will be together soon.” said my brother

I wave goodbye to my brother sarcastically.

As Megan and I both go back in the house, I attempt to hug her only to be stopped.

“Ha I don’t think so. Your brother and I love each other and this is how it’s going to stay. You are out of here as soon as I can find you a place and you are not to say a word to me unless you need something until then. Your brother and I are getting married and having kids. There’s nothing you can do about it.” she taunts. Now get to bed or I’m bailing your brother out right away.” she threatens.

For a while, it seemed as though there was nothing I could about it. My brother was being bailed out of jail in the next two months and I was powerless to try and get Megan back. This was until I tried one last thing. I thought it was time to fight fire with fire.

“I remember back in the day when my brother had girlfriends of his own. Maybe I should look one up. If Megan sees how much another girl is attracted to him, she will have to come back to me and I know which one to call.” I thought.

I called one of my brother’s ex girlfriends from when we still lived at home. With enough convincing, she agrees to meet with me as she has missed him up to that point. She tells me to visit her at work so we can discuss things further. She worked at the local movie theatre. This was a place I still loved despite not having gone there for a while due to Megan withholding most of my money. I decide to go one day and take money from Megan to do so.

“Megan?” I call

“What?” she responds angrily having still not forgiven me for the events that took place over two weeks prior.

“Can I have some money to go to the movies?” I ask

Megan laughs. “Yeah after everything you’ve done to me, I’m going to turn around and take you to a movie. NO. Don’t ask me again. If I take you anywhere, it will be to drop you off somewhere.” she says. Why don’t you ask your mom?” she taunts.

I charge at her angrily.

“Go right ahead. You’ll see what happens.” she threatens

Megan goes to bed early that night when my brother’s ex is working the evening shift. After she is asleep, I steal money from her purse and go to see the movie and have a meeting with my brother’s ex afterwards.

“You know, I remember the night your mom died.” she said. I was working an internship at the hospital and your brother is not who he says he is.” she recalls

“What do you mean?” I ask

“Don’t tell anybody but I managed to secure some footage for an occasion such as this one if you or anybody else were wondering how your mother actually died.” she says

“Let’s see it.” I say

She shows me the security footage of my brother having been the last to see mom alive. They are having an argument about his involvement with Megan as mom believes he should leave her alone to allow her to be with me. Also he believes I should be placed after her death which she disputes in favour of me. At one point, she begins yelling so loud that she has a heart attack. As Ben rushes to get the doctor, she dies while he is gone and they are unable to revive her.

Seeing this makes me cry where she comforts me by saying she it will be all right.

“Well even if I showed this to Megan, her mind is made up. Once he gets out, she’s marrying him and having kids with him and he couldn’t care less about mom or me. So just let it happen I guess but just know, my brother and I have no relationship. Thank you for your time.” I say.

“Before you go, there’s something else I want to show you.” she says.

She shows me another part of the footage which sees him leaving me a message with me that she had died while admitting that he was there. I did not respond to the call as I was sound asleep and was threatened in the message to never tell Megan that he intentionally caused mom’s death by forcing her to exert herself to levels her heart was no longer able to withstand.

“We need to bail him out now and show this to Megan. It may be your only chance to get her back if she finds out he had something to do with her death.” she suggests.

Returning home, I tell Megan I have news for her.

“My brother and I have reconciled and he wants you to bail him out and you know what? I’m actually looking forward to your wedding. I mean, maybe something I can’t give you is something he can. All I want is for you to be happy.” I say

“Thank you for understanding and I still love you like a sister in law.” she says

After Megan and I bail my brother out of jail, his ex is there.

“Hold on a second. I will deal with her and be right back with my ever faithful brother and beautiful fiancee. I’m so glad that you put your true feelings aside to allow Megan and I to be together. I want you to be my best man.” my brother says

He approaches his ex. “What do you want?” he asks annoyingly

“Nice to see you too. I hear you’re getting married.” she says

“Maybe I am. What’s it to you? This is none of your business. Now what do you want? Come on I have a wedding to plan.” he says.

“Well before you plan your wedding, there’s something I think your wife to be should see. she says. Let’s sit down.”

We all sit at a table at a nearby cafe.

Who are you and what do you want?” Megan asks impatiently

“Well, I have some very secret footage of the night your brother and fiance’s mother died. This is something you should see before you marry him.” she says

She shows Megan the footage of the argument that took place the night mom died.

“Ok so my fiance and his mother had issues leading up to her death. This proves nothing.” Megan says

Just wait for it.” His ex says

She turns the volume up to maximum capacity to where mom can be seen screaming in agony as she is having a heart attack. An edited bit of footage shows an extra scene where my brother unplugs the heart monitor while telling mom to shut up. This was a scene that I hadn’t initially seen myself as I had believed that mom over exerted herself to death. My brother had killed my mother!

“You can’t possibly believe this. I would never do that. Do you think I would lie to you baby? I love you more than life itself!” he pleads

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU! How could you do this to your own mother?” she screams

“And you haven’t even seen the worst part yet.” said his ex

She once again raises the volume to maximum capacity to where the message he left on my phone can now be heard.

“Hey Jeff. It’s me. Your mother is dead now. I killed her but if you say anything to Megan about it, I will kill you too! She is mine and you leave her out of this. No more fighting with her and you’re under our rules now and there’s nothing you can do about it. She’s not even my mother anymore. Your mother is dead but my wife and I are not going to pay the price for it. You keep your mouth shut! Goodbye.”

My brother’s message to me after he kills mom.

There’s something you should know. The other night when I was upset, I was thinking about that message.” I say

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lock him up for good.” she says

“This isn’t over.” my brother said

“Just ignore him.” said Megan

Just then, police arrive to take my brother away as Megan and I are able to rekindle our relationship.

That night, we get intimate where Megan finally admits that I had every right to be upset.

“People come and people go but it’s what those people do in their lives that make them who are they are. I’m sure there are a lot of reasons for your mother to be desired but I have to thank her for doing one thing.” said Megan

“What’s that?” I ask

“Giving birth to you. It’s because of this that I have a boyfriend and if I’m being completely honest, I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else but you. I love you forever.” said Megan as tears of joy stream down her face.

“Let’s promise never to let anyone or anything get in the way of our happiness.” I say

“I totally agree with you but you know what would make me even happier than being your girlfriend?” says Megan

“What’s that?” I say

Being your wife.” she says. Will you marry me?”

I nod my head yes before saying, “You’re my everything”.

The End