"Josie"A Story by Jack Buckner Josie will do anything to prove himself to his older brother...even if it costs him his life. “Josie” By John Smith 1 I
remember the evening like it was yesterday. The evening my little brother Josie
was taken away from me. It was in the summer of 1973 when I was just entering
the fifth grade at 10 years old. Josie was five years younger than I was. I was
an average ten-year-old boy. I loved to eat pizza and play video games, but I
really hated hanging out with my little brother. I loved to play
dodge ball back in grade school. We would play all the time with my annoying
little brother on the opposing team. We would always aim for his head and laugh
as he hit the floor. I know I was wrong
to do what I did, and the truth is I will regret it for the rest of my life. 2 It
was on a warm August after noon in 1973. It just finished pouring down the rain
and the sun came back out making it hot as hell. I walked into the kitchen
wearing my long yellow rain coat and yellow rain boots, or “fireman boots” as
Josie called them. “Where
do you think you are going?” My mom asked me “Outside
to play.” I said with excitement. My mom looked down at Josie and ran her hand
through his dirty blonde hair. “Okay,
but if you go, you have to take your little brother.” She said nodding her head
at Josie. My jaw dropped open. “Mom,
do I have to?” I asked complaining and stomping my feet on the ground. Josie
looked at me with this annoying smile. ‘Yes
you have to.” My mom told me in a mocking tone. I took in a deep breath and let
out a heavy sigh. My mom knelt down next to Josie. “Josie,
do you want to go out and play with your big brother?” Mom asked him. Josie nodded
and excitedly ran over to the coat hanger and grabbed his matching yellow rain
coat and put on his yellow “fireman boots.” “But
mom…” I began to complain. “No
buts Billy. You should be nicer to your little brother. He looks up to you and
thanks of you as a role model. You are lucky to have a brother.” My mom raved.
I didn’t realize at the time how right she was. I sighed heavily and walked
over to the front door. I opened it and motioned for Josie to go out the door.
He smiled and skipped out the door onto the front porch. I looked back at my
mom and rolled my eyes while sighing again. 3 We
both jumped off of the front porch onto the sidewalk in front of it. I began to
walk at a faster pace in hopes that Josie wouldn’t be able to keep up. “Wait
Bill! Wait!” I heard him cry out. I stopped and waited for him to catch back
up. After catching back up with me we continued down the sidewalk. The entire
time I was walking down the street, I couldn’t help but feel anger. We had that
typical kind of relationship one would have with a younger brother or even a
younger sister. I loved him…but I hated him at the same time. I never
understood why he always wanted to hang around me. Even more so now considering
how awful I treated him. After about a mile walk down the sidewalk we came to a
red dirt road trail leading through the forest. The forest was dark and had
really tall trees. Our friends liked to call it The Lost Forest because whoever
went in there after dark would get lost. “Hey
Josie, do you want to go down this trail?” I asked him. He looked into the dark
woods. I could see the fear in his eyes. To my surprise, he swallowed bravely
nodded his head. My mouth dropped open, as I didn’t know what to say. I
expected him to say no and was dead wrong. At the time, I didn’t understand why
he said yes. I kicked my self for years wondering this question. Now that I’m
older I realize why he said yes to do something he was clearly afraid of. All
Josie wanted to do was hang out with his big brother. I was to stupid to
realize how precious that was. The
entire time I knew this would go two ways. Number 1, I thought he would say no
and I could make fun of him over it. Or the second option was for him to say
yes and I scare the daylights out of him in the woods. Unfortunately that was
the one I decided to do. I
gave him a half smile and motioned for him to come on. He bravely followed me
into the dark woods. The tall trees covered the already gloomy sky making in extremely
dark. I began to walk faster and faster intending to leave behind my struggling
little brother. I can still remember him crying out to me. “Big
brother wait! Big brother wait!” He cried out. I ignored him and picked up my
speed. Josie continued to cry out. “Big brother wait! Big brother wait!” I
still remember his cries throughout the woods. Laughing inside I began to
sprint out of the forest. After
reaching outside the forest, I sat down on a dark brown wooden swing. Breathing
heavy, I put my hands on my knees and leaned looking around the corner waiting
for him to come running out. Something
was different though. I could no longer hear him crying out for me. “Man,
I must have left him far behind.” I leaned back to the back of the swing and
propped my left leg on my knee and got comfortable. I didn’t begin to get
worried until I have been waiting for about twenty minutes and he never came
out. I stood up from the swing and began walking back into the woods. “He
probably stopped to study a butterfly that happened to fly by.” I remember
thinking to myself. I began walking the same trail this time in reverse in
hopes of finding my little brother. “Josie.”
I began calling out hoping and praying for an answer. But nobody ever did
answer but the echo of my voice. I remember thinking, “man if I lost him mom is
going to kill me.” After walking about halfway around the trail, I come upon a
tree that had fallen that wasn’t there before. As I got closer I noticed that
it had fallen on something…or someone. The closer I got the more I had become
to realize that lying under it was my little brother Josie. “Oh
my God, Josie, are you okay?” I asked…no answer. There under the rotting branch
was the lifeless body of my dear sweet little brother. That
night was one of the worst thunderstorms in history. I remember it pouring down
the rain as I ran home to get my mother. When I reached the front door I was
soaked and wet and tears were running down my face. I was breathing so hard I
thought that I would have a heat attack. “Mom,
Dad, Josie’s dead! We need help!” I said still breathing heavy. “What?”
My mom asked as if it was some kind of sick joke I was pulling. “No
really! A tree branch fell on top of him! Come on we need help.” I said. My
mother burst into tears and my dad dropped his plate to reach over to call the
paramedics. The paramedics came, but it was too late. Josie was pronounced dead
at the scene. 4. The
one thing that I remember most of all about that entire week was the funeral.
My mother was sobbing, even my dad was crying. That was a shock to me because I
never saw that man cry one day of his life and probably never will again. As
I walked by the casket and glared down at Josie’s lifeless body, my mom leaned
over to me. “It’s not your fault honey! Accidents happen.” She whispered in my ear. I that moment I began sobbing. It was something nice to say, but I know the truth. My brother’s death is my entire fault. Now I am a father of two and they treat each other like typical brothers do. They argue and fight, but at the end of the day you love him. It makes that old saying “You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone” all too true.
Copyright 2013 by John Smith Courtesy of The Enchanted Press
© 2013 Jack BucknerAuthor's Note
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Added on August 29, 2013Last Updated on November 19, 2013 Tags: drama, tragity, fiction, John Smith Author
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