A brother's Wrath

Since it was Saturday, Dimitry took the opportunity to wake up later than usual. He went downstairs and had some breakfast with his little brother, as best as he could with his injured hands and lack of appetite. They watched some TV, played some video games - again, as best as he could - and did some homework in his room.

When it was lunch time, Martha made some PB&J sandwiches for her boys. She was still worried about what Dimitry did last night, but because he seemed to be behaving normally today, she decided not to mention it.

"Mummy, can we go to the park today, please?" Cody asked, making the biggest puppy eyes possible.

"I'm sorry sweetheart. I have a lot to do around the house."

Cody looked disappointed, and was ready to cry. "But…I wanted to go to the park…"

"Don't worry Cody, I'll take you to the park. Is that okay mum?" Dimitry asked.

"Of course it is honey. I am so glad you are such a wonderful big brother." Martha picked up the dishes on the table and headed to the kitchen. "You boys go and have fun. But be careful!"

"Yay!" Cody celebrated. "Thanks big brother. Lemme first get my ball."

"Don't worry little bro, I'll go and get it." Dimitry stood up and headed upstairs but stopped mid-way, "uhh, the blue one right?"

The little boy shook his head.

He went upstairs to his brother's room and looked for the ball. All while trying to forget yesterday's sour moments. Finally, after some searching, he found the ball, grabbed it and ran downstairs. Cody couldn't contain his excitement to go to the park with his favorite person.

"I got your ball Cody, you ready to go?" Dimitry asked.

"Yes. Let's go brother." Cody grabbed Dimitry by the end of his simple white shirt and tried to pull him out of the house.

"Woah. Okay, okay. Let's go."

The park was just a walk away from home. It was the neighborhood park after all. But Dimitry, always cautious for his little brother, made sure he was holding hands when crossing the street.

Cody wore a plain sky blue shirt and gray shorts. Dimitry had dark gray shorts. Both wore old sneakers. Their mom would not let them use their school or church shoes for the park. Too expensive and too nice for that.

As soon as they got to the park, Cody ran off to play with his ball, so big brother had to go and catch up to him.

"Let's play big brother."

Dimitry and Cody played soccer. Dimitry wasn't the athletic kind, so he wasn't able to fully keep up with the energy of his little brother. But it didn't matter, he would do anything to keep his brother content.

Cody eventually got tired of playing, but since his energy container was still full he decided to go and play on the slides and swings with the neighborhood kids. Dimitry was happy for the respite, but disappointed since he came to the park to play with him. He just sat down on a bench close by, and kept a close eye on his brother.

Time flew by, it was almost an hour since they got to the park. Dimitry would have died of boredom had it not been for a friend, and classmate, he encountered at the park. It was Henry, from math class.

Henry was taller than Dimitry. He had copper brown hair, and bright green eyes. His orange shirt had dirt spots all over.

"Seems to me your day sucked," Henry said.

"Tell me about it. It was nothing but bullocks. And my idiot older brother made it worse." Even though Sean told Dimitry not to say anything to his parents, he felt he could at least trust his only friend. Both of them had been friends since 4th grade. He was probably the only person he could speak normally to. The guy knew how to keep secrets.

"You have it rough dude. I'm glad I'm an only child."

"Lucky you don't have to deal with this shit," Dimitry said. He sat down next to Henry, throwing some pebbles randomly.

"Yeah. Hey, last night I sent you a text. Wanted to know how therapy went." Henry looked at Dimitry's hands. It told him a lot, but he wouldn't comment on it.

"Fucked up my hands. Punched the mirror." Dimitry was so casual about it. To him it was no big deal.

Henry rested his hand on Dimitry's shoulder. "Get better, dude. Really miss hanging out like we used to," he looked at his hands again, "and don't fuck them up again. You already suck ass in Warzone. That's not going to help you get better."

Dimitry laughed. It was true, though. "Yeah, I will. Thanks Henry."

"No probs. What are friends for?" Henry heard a notification ring. He took out his cellphone to see a message from his mother. "Oh sorry, but I gotta go. My mum will kill me if I am late for supper." He ran straight to his house, while waving goodbye to Dimitry. "I'll see you on Monday."

Dimitry waved back. "See ya." He started to look at the playground, trying to find his little brother. "I better find him, I think it's time to go home."

He stood in the middle of the playground. He turned around over and over, trying to find signs of Cody but found nothing. He was getting worried; he turned around again but couldn't eye his brother. As he became worried his anxiety kicked in. And when he turned anxious he started to bite his nails. Hard.

Where was Cody?

This is what he needed, to lose his brother. That shows what kind of a brother he is, useless! He thought to himself.

His mind was going crazy, he didn't know what to do. Just as he decided to go home and tell his mother, he heard Cody's voice. A smile of relief appeared on his face. Dimitry followed the sound of his brother's voice like a bloodhound tracking a fox.

The sounds got louder as he approached some bushes. He went through them.

He saw his brother screaming. "Give it back. It's mine. Give it back!"

Some older kids took Cody's ball, and they were tossing it at each other, forcing Cody to run after it. No matter how much he ran for it, he couldn't catch it. Cody gave up, dropped to the floor, and cried.

"Aww, the wittle baby wants his ball?" One of the kids, a boy much older than him, mocked Cody by flaunting the ball in front of his face.

"HEY!" Shouted Dimitry.

"Dimitry." Cody went running to his brother. "Tell them to give me my ball back."

"Hey guys, check this out, big brother to the rescue." That boy sounded like the leader of the gang. The tallest of the bunch. They probably were a grade higher than Dimitry.

"You had your fun dude. Give the ball back to my brother."

"Or you'll what?"

Dimitry felt a little intimidated but ignored it. "Just give me the ball."

"You want it?" Asked the kid. "Here." He tossed the ball and slammed it on Dimitry's face. He had been hit hard enough the ball left a red print on his cheek. It stung.

Dimitry dropped to his knees in pain. He covered his face, but mostly to try and hide the fact he was about to cry. "Please, just give me the ball."

"Oh, hey dudes, the little twat is crying." They all started to laugh.

"Don't laugh at my big brother." Cody charged and started to kick the kid that hit his brother.

"Cut it out brat. I said cut it out." The older kid pushed Cody to the ground.

Cody fell on his belly, but he scraped his knee, it started to bleed. The pain and sight of blood made the little boy cry. It was a loud whail.

"Here is your stupid ball." The older boy slammed it against Cody's face.

Something on Dimitry's mind snapped the moment he saw Cody on the ground. That was the last straw. Hitting and insulting him was one thing, but attacking his brother, laying one finger on his precious little brother, that was unacceptable.

"I am bored. Let's go to my house and play something."

"Hey."

"What? Want some more?" The boy turned around to confront Dimitry but only to be greeted with a fist on his nose. He started to bleed from it. "You bastard. I am going to make you pay for–"

Before he could finish his sentence he was punched again, only this time he dropped to the ground. Dimitry was immediately on top of him, sitting on his chest, to continue a barrage of punches against that stupud mug. His face received punch after punch. In the blink of an eye the boy's face was covered in red, so were Dimitry's bandaged hands.

"You like bullying little kids? Is that it? But now you are the one on the ground. How does it feel? Huh? Tell me!"

The other kids were trying to stop him, trying to force him off their friend. But Dimitry was like a beast that had found his prey, and wasn't letting go. And things were just getting started. There was a sinister smile on his face. He stopped punching the kid, and instead decided to choke him with his bare hands.

More kids gathered around them. Some of the screaming "fight" "fight". Others screamed at him to stop. The face of the kid being choked was quickly changing colors. It looked as if Dimitry was seriously going to kill him.

"Hey kid, what are you doing?!" A police officer arrived at the scene.

It was officer Montgomery, a police officer well known throughout the neighborhood. He was usually the officer that checked around the park, like he was doing at that moment, until he saw a bunch of kids all gathered together. Thinking it wasn't a good sign he had to go check.

"Stop it. You are going to kill him." Officer Montgomery grabbed Dimitry's shoulder to try and pull him away.

But there was no stopping him. With strength not normal for a 12 year old he shoved the officer, sending him flying back more than a meter.

Dimitry leaned closer to the kid and whispered, "It's not fun anymore, isn't it? Don't worry, it'll be over soon." He put a little more strength on the grip around the kid's neck.

"Stop it big brother!" Cody shouted.

That was all it took to snap Dimitry out of that trance. He took a look at his baby brother's face, only to see tears and fear. He released the kid's neck; he looked at his hands, all covered in blood. Then saw the kid's face covered in that same blood. Dimitry was shocked. Did he really do that?

"...Cody…I'm-"

"Sorry Dimitry, but you are going to have to come with me," said Officer Montgomery as he placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "You and Cody get in the car. I'll take you to your parents."

Both of them did as they were told. The officer drove them back home.