“They can be! My dad and my mo- my stepmom, have been together for a while and stuff, my… my momma, she ain’t around no more…” But he listens intently to everything Robert says, nodding and even acknowledging his partner’s name by quietly echoing it as if he were committing it to memory.
But then…
Ah.
The question that he didn’t want to answer.
But, Robert didn’t know, of course he was going to ask… he was so stupid! If only he’d just kept his mouth shut!
“It’s… bad, sometimes.” He starts, voice taut. “When you find out you have a brother when you’re like, 10 or something. And then you meet him when you move in and he just…” Bow-Wow flails his arms a little.
“He just sucks. He’s good at everything’. He’s got friends that also hate ya-“
His shoulders shake a little, and he moves a bit closer subconsciously, seeking comfort that he doesn’t want to ask for.
“But there’s good in there… he… ya go on vacation, ya spend time with him, ya… get attached?”
Bile rose in his throat… and then, Bow-Wow. We know what happens next.
“And then… and then he’s gone. And ya realise all the arguments and the hatin’ each other for stupid stuff is just part of the way ya show each other love.” His voice cracks multiple times as he speaks, he truly doesn’t know why he didn’t just shut up or tell a lie, but… he was a horrible liar.
He turns his head away, pushing up his mask enough to attempt to wipe at his eyes.
