Three

The next day, April was walking home from school and when she got to the last corner she would pass before seeing her house, she stopped.

She took out her handkerchief from her bag and wiped her lips clean.

She had once again applied her red lipstick but was able to avoid Orion till she left the house or else he would throw a fit again.

She smiled remembering how her friend and crush, Uriel had told her that she looked beautiful.

Once she made sure her lips were clean, she proceeded on the path to her house. She frowned when she doesn't see her dad and Orion at the front of the house as usual. They usually work on his carvings together.

Even if Orion wasn't there, her dad would always be, either working or just relaxing. Her father hates staying idle inside the house.

She opened the door and went in. She met her Mom, Dad and Orion sitting in the living room. Her dad looked disturbed and her mom has obviously been crying. She rushed to her mom, latching unto her arm.

"Mom, are you okay?" she asked.

"Your brother is leaving, April," Mrs Caddel spoke sadly, going straight to the point.

"Leaving?" April was confused.

"Leaving the house?!" she asked, the volume of her tone increasing.

"I was only joking yesterday, did you take it serious?" she asked in alarm and Orion exhaled.

"Mom, tell him I was only kidding. I didn't mean it," April said, desperately shaking her mother's hand.

"It's not because of you April," Mr Caddel said.

"Then why?" April asked, feeling very guilty still thinking Orion was leaving because of what she had said.

Before Mr Caddel could reply, Iver arrived. He entered the house and paused mid-step when he saw everyone gathered in the living room. The expressions on their faces scared him.

He walked to them, dropping his bag on the couch.

"What's going on?"

"Orion is leaving the house," April answered Iver.

It took Iver a few seconds to understand what April was saying, he took another few seconds to gather his thoughts.

"Is it because of what April and I said yesterday? I was only teasing you, you know that," Iver explained.

"I know." Orio spoke.

"Oh," Iver calmed down and sat beside Orion.

"I mean, I get that sharing a tiny room can feel suffocating for you. So I understand if you want to leave, I just want to be sure that you are not leaving because of what April and I said," Iver said.

"His father just found out he had a son and so he would like to be in his life," Mrs Caddel explained to Iver and April.

"That's good news, is it not?" Iver said after a while.

"Yeah. Mom, I told you. Sons are not worth raising. See, he found his biological father and now he's going to live with him," April said.

Orion and Iver couldn't help but chuckle.

"Well, all is good. We will just come disturb you whenever we miss you, not a big deal," Iver said.

Iver and April weren't really happy that their older brother was leaving.

But he is old enough and they don't want to him to feel guilty so they are really trying to be understanding and act mature about it. They weren't fooling anyone though.

"Does his father live in this city?" April asked and Mrs Caddel shook her head.

"That's alright, we will make it work. So, which city?" Iver asked.

"He lives countries away from here." Mr Caddel finally dropped the bomb.

"W- w-what?" Iver stuttered out. "Just stay here then," Iver proposed.

"Mom! Persuade him to stay," April whisper-yelled to her mother.

"He already made up his mind, he's leaving tomorrow morning." Mrs Caddel said.

April's hand dropped from her mother's arm and she blinked continuously, shocked by the news. Iver was quiet too, staring into nothingness. A few minutes passed in silence.

"We've spent eleven years together, does that not mean anything to you?" Iver asked, all intent to be understanding has left him.

"Iver," Mr Caddel cautioned.

"No Dad. I'm just trying to figure what he was promised that is worth throwing away a whole eleven years?" Iver was livid.

Mrs Caddel released a sob.

"Wait. He's rich, isn't he?" Iver suddenly asked.

"Iver!" Mr Caddel cautioned again.

"No wonder. I thought as much," Iver scoffed and stormed into his room.

Orion went after him and April just watched as the door to their room shut. Just as she had expected, Iver was really affected by the revelation. He wasn't exactly angry, he was just hurting.

"I hope Iver gets over this," Mrs Caddel burst into another round of tears, running to her room.

Mr Caddel went after her and April was left alone in the living room.

Iver looked up to Orion since he became a part of their family. He was proud to have him as his older brother and even during Orion's teenage years, when he was a really troublesome kid and got mixed with the wrong crowd, Iver still looked up to him.

Then, Orion would get angry at the littlest of things and would come home with bruises on his face due to the street fights he often engaged in. He never let it affect them though.

He never vented his anger on them no matter what they did. Even if he gets angry, he would rarely act on it.

The only time they had ever seen him act on his anger was seven years ago when the debt collectors they were owing had came to their house and they couldn't pay up.

Eighteen year old Orion had stayed in the background like always but when they got physically violent with Mr Caddel, all hell broke loose.

That was when April started getting weary of him, she had been really scared because even though she knew he had some violent tendencies, she never knew he was that dangerous. She was just eight years old then.

He really hurt the men and caused some real damages. Their Dad and Mom had scolded him greatly, expressing their dissatisfaction but Iver, he felt proud of his brother.

He was happy that Orion defended their Dad and taught the men a lesson even though they ended up paying for the men's hospital bills.

It won't be an exaggeration to say Iver worshiped Orion. So it is understand for him to be so hurt that Orion is suddenly leaving them after so many years.

But what April doesn't think they understand is that she was hurting too. Everyone probably thought she really can't stand Orion like she often expressed but it was all false.

He was like a rock to her, Orion has done so many things for her that even the other family members don't know about. She respected him greatly and loved him just as much.

They would think she isn't hurting as much as Iver but April has always being someone who likes to be seen as strong, independent and self-reliant.

And so while everyone had someone to console them in their respective rooms, April was left alone with no one to comfort her.

Knowing there was no one in sight to witness her moment of vulnerability, she let go. The tears streaming down her face like a dam whose walls had suddenly crumbled down.

"He's leaving," she whispered to herself.