A young boy with black hair sat on a cot in a small room with gray peeling wallpaper, he carved away at a small piece of wood humming softy to himself. On the cot next to his, an older boy with black hair lay asleep. The younger boy looked at the other with worry, he had gone to bed unusually early for the past three nights and seemed tired for the three days before that. The older boy stirred and soon was awake. He sat up for a moment and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He looked over at the other boy and gave him a tired smile.

“Morning Lucas.”

Lucas looked over at his older brother and shot him another worried look.

The other boy looked at him and laughed some. “Do I look that bad?”

“You should stay home today Peter.” Lucas said quietly while he carved away on his wood.

Peter swung his legs over the side of his cot and stood up. Lucas cringed when he heard his brother break into a fit of coughs.

“C’mon Lucas you know I cant do that. We need the money.”

“I’m going to work, that’ll get us some money. An later dis evening I kin go to da park an sell some of my carvings…the other day a lady wanted to buy one. Please just stay home today.”

“Nothin doin.”

“Peter if ya don’t stay home then you’ll just get sicker to the point where ya wont be able to go to work at all.”

Peter smiled at his younger brother, he had a point but he was always around to keep the other men at the factory from beating on Lucas. He wouldn’t have had a problem letting him go if he wasn’t so afraid the Lucas might not make it back home that evening. Lucas looked at his brother and set his project down on the bed in front of him.

“Yer afraid I’ll get soaked huh?”

Peter looked at his brother slightly shocked, sometimes he swore the boy could read his mind. Lucas looked at the bed and continued “I know how to avoid them, and I can just run from them, Im faster than them.” Lucas looked back up at Peter “Besides I’ve been beat up before I know how to fall and pretend like I’m more hurt then I am and they’ll leave me alone.”

Peter shook his head and began to pull on his overalls on. Lucas stood up and got dressed as well when it came to trying to get his brother to do something he didn’t want to it was as hard as trying to turn wine into water. After a small breakfast, the boys started yet another long day at the factory.

Gears walked out of the kitchen of Bay Ridge Lodging House sipping a glass of water. She sighed and ran a hand through her dirty blond hair, It had been a long day and she was glad to finally be able to relax. She sat on the couch and enjoyed one of the rare moments that the lobby was actually empty. She got to enjoy her rest for about five minutes before someone knocked at the front door. Gears rolled her eyes and muttered to herself as she got up. “You’d think they’d just walk in like every one else does.” She trudged over to the door striating out her faded blue overalls as she got to the door. She opened the door and looked strangely at the boy in front of her. He was sorta familiar to her, he was 5’3 and was pretty young with reddish blond hair he stood before her holding a small envelope. “You Pat?”

Gears looked at him oddly. “Maybe I am. What do ya need her fer?”

The boy looked at her and shoved the envelope into her hands. “If yer her then dis is fer you, If ya aint then give it to her.” and having all of that said the boy turned and ran off down the street. Gears shrugged and closed the door. She walked back to the couch and looked at the envelope. She wondered who the hell would send her a letter. She sighed and pulled out a knife from her boot and opened the envelope. She put the knife back in her boot and pulled out the letter.

Pat,

Come now. Something is wrong.

Lucas.

Gears frowned some, she didn’t like this Lucas wasn’t one to joke around like this. She sighed once more and put the letter back into her pocket as she stood up.

“So much fer me relaxin.”

Gears went upstairs and grabbed some things and then started her trip out to a small boarding house just outside of the Bay Ridge area.

Lucas sat in a chair in a hallway waiting. He tried not to think about what was happening. He didn’t want to think about how sick his brother was, and most of all he didn’t want to get upset. He knew it wouldn’t do any good. He absent mindedly reached into his pocket and pulled out his small pocket knife. He smiled to himself. He could remember the day his brother gave it to him. It was for his sixth birthday. At first he thought it was for someone else. Then his brother laughed and explained that it was for carving things with. Peter had apparently noticed him using pieces of sharp metal to make things. He was always doing stuff like that. He told Lucas that he thought it would be much easier to carve with the knife instead of jagged little pieces of metal.

Hummer smiled slightly to himself. He heard a noise from the end of the hallway and stood up as the person drew close to him.

“Gears!” He ran to the older girl and hugged her tightly. “He’s sick. Really sick and I don’t know what to…….. I didn’t know who else to…”

Gears Looked down at the boy who had attached himself to her and hugged him back. “Hey, Hummer. Hey c’mon calm down k? Is he asleep?”

The boy pulled away and looked down sadly. “The doctors in there with em now.”

Just about then the door to the room opened and a man with a large black bag stepped out. He looked over at the two and walked slowly towards them. Lucas stepped back beside Gears as the doctor spoke.

“He aint gonna last to long. Most you can do now is make him as comfortable as you can.”

Lucas looked like he’d just been hit my a ton of bricks. Gears on the other hand wasn’t buying it. She looked at the doctor slightly annoyed with him for being so blunt in front of Lucas. “Aint there a chance that we could get some medicine or something?”

The doctor just looked at her and shook his head. “ No there isn’t ,the fevers to high.” Then he reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a piece of paper. “Who should I give this to?” he asked them holding a small folded piece of paper. Gears looked at Lucas, he was trying not to cry she could tell. Gears looked up. “I’ll take it.” The doctor gave her the paper. When she read it then she glared at the man. She looked at Lucas. “Lucas can ya excuse us? I need to have a woid with the doc here.” Lucas nodded numbly as Gears began to pull the older man farther down the hallway.

Lucas was trying to not to cry but it was a losing battle. His legs felt like jelly and he dropped into the nearby chair. His blue eyes looked lost as he began shake. Then it happened, he started crying. He was crying so hard he hardly heard Gears approach him. He stopped crying and looked up. She was kneeling down in front of him.

“Lucas? Hey, he told me we can go in and see Peter, but only one person at a time. You wanna see him?”

He wiped his eyes and slowly nodded. Gears stood up and watched at he timidly entered to room.

Lucas stepped into the room. The curtains where drawn, dimming the room considerably. He sat down on the chair next to his brothers bed and looked at his hands.

“Hey, Hummer.” His brother said trying to sound cheerful, But his voice was raspy and weak.

“Hi…”Lucas still looked down.

“Hey I’m sorry.”

“You should have stayed home. I told ya to stay home.”

“I know but…”

“But we needed the money yeah I know, we could’ve made it if ya stayed home. It would only have been a couple of days.”

“I’m sorry, you know you’re my favorite brother.”

Lucas laughed some Peter always knew how to make him laugh even when he didn’t want to. “That’s cause I’m your only brother.”

Peter smiled some “That’s why you’re my favorite.”

Lucas looked at him. “Gears made it here.”

Peter smiled. “She aint never been late.”

Lucas looked down at his hands once more. “I don’t want to say goodbye.”

Peter thought for a moment. “Then we wont.”

Lucas looked at him confused. “What?”

“We wont say goodbye.”

Lucas shifted in his seat slightly. “Then what do we say.”

Peter smiled. “We’ll say ‘I’ll see you later.’ That way no one says goodbye, an if ya think about it I will see ya later, just much later is all.”

Lucas smiled some “OK. Then I guess I’ll see ya later.”

“See that wasn’t so hard. Hey um when ya get out there kin ya send Gears in I need to talk to her.”

Lucas nodded as he stood up. He got as far as the door and turned around, “Peter.”

Peter turned his head “Yeah?”

“I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you to. Hey and I want ya to do something for me.”

“What is it?”

“Look after Gears out there would ya, that girl has no common sense.”

Lucas laughed some and nodded his head, “I will.”

“Great then I’ll see ya later.”

Lucas nodded. “Later.”

Gears looked up when she heard the door open, Lucas stepped out and wiped his eyes some. “He wants to talk to ya.”

Gears nodded and then gave him one last look before entering the room. Lucas took a seat in the chair by the wall once more. He heard muffled voices from the other side of the door, and buried his head in his arms. After a couple of minutes one of the voices stopped and there was a long period of silence. In the back of his mind he knew that his brother had died he just didn’t want to face it. He didn’t know what he would do without Peter, where he would live, much less work. He wasn’t that good at factory work, His brother had always been there to help him out if he couldn’t do something, and now he would be fired for sure. He buried his head in his arms and continued to think of things that would just drive him further into the sadness that was slowly eating him up inside.

Gears stepped out of the room slowly and looked at the boy in the chair. She sighed inwardly. She had just promised Peter she would look after Lucas to make sure he’s ok but she has no idea how that would happen. She would need to move into the place here with him or find a place for him closer to Bay Ridge.

A decision was made for her when the a big greasy haired man came up and pinned a notice on the door. Gears waited til he was gone before looking at the slip. She knew it was an eviction notice for Hummer, normally she would have fought with him for kicking him out so soon after his brother died, but unlike the doctor, this guy was big and she knew her limits. She sighed and tore the paper off the door crumpling it into a ball and throwing it on the floor.

She stayed around with Hummer for a the next day while a small burial service was held. normally the bulls would have just carted the body off but Peter had apparently been a big church goer and the Reverend at the church let him have a small plot in the back of the church cemetery for a small fee. The service itself was small. Just Hummer ,Gears, The Reverend and The Gravediggers where present.

Hummer sat in a chair in a corner of the room carving on a piece of wood not yet knowing what it would be. He had just arrived here two days ago. Some friends of Gears’ said he could stay while Gears found him a place to live. Slowly just to pass the time he began humming to himself. He sat for about an hour carving until he heard the door slam open. When he looked up he saw gears standing there grinning at him. Usually when gears grinned like that it meant something was up and he should probably run before being roped into whatever it was. But alas he had sat himself in a corner and was trapped. He stared at Gears for a few moments before she said.

“C’mon! you’rlivingatthelodginghouse!”

“um……can you repeat the…..slower please?”

Gears looked at him like he should have caught he the first time and sighed.

“I said, C’mon your living at the Lodging house.”

“the same one as you?”

Gears nodded.

“Are the people there nice?”

‘most of the time’ Gears thought to herself but instead just smiled and nodded.

“when am I moving in?” He asked not liking the constant nodding and no actual verbal responses.

Gears shrugged “Tonight…if you want to.”

Hummer was a little shocked. “they don’t care?”

Gears shook her head. “Nah! Charity doesn’t care.”

Hummer got up. “Um ok so how far is it.”

Gears grinned. “Just two houses down.”

Hummer blinked and shook his head at her “Alright…just let me get my bag.” as he entered the guest room to go get his bag, he smiled to himself., this was to perfect now he could keep an eye on Gears just like he said he would.

Gears watched hummer enter the guest room and smiled. Now she could watch out for hummer just like she said she wood..

And somewhere beyond this life Peter is feeling very proud of himself.