He backed out and drove around front where his mother was waiting on the porch. Getting out, he helped her stand and get hold of the rail. She struggled, taking one step at a time down to the side door of the van. When she was settled, he went returned to the porch, folded the wheelchair, and put it in the back of the van. One day he hoped to get her an automatic chair lift.

Climbing back into the driver’s seat, he headed out the lane.

“Nice day for our visit, Momma.”

“It is. I so enjoy our time together as a family. A day like this makes it all the nicer.”

The driveway was a quarter mile dirt trail leading out to the county road. Their home was an old farmhouse on seven acres, located ten miles east of San Antonio. It was white with a green roof, as was the matching garage. There was an old barn that was just barely standing. It, too, used to be white but hadn’t been painted in years.

They had moved here right after Billy died. In fact, neither Donnie nor his mother had gone back inside their house after his brother’s death. His mother had enlisted a real estate friend to clean up and sell the house. His mother didn’t ask much for it, just wanting to leave it and the memories behind. She had used some of the money to pay for the funeral and the rest to buy the farm.

“I made us some ice tea to enjoy while we visit.”

Donnie hadn’t noticed the bottle in her purse but now he saw it and some styrofoam cups.

“That’ll be nice.”

The cemetery was just a few minutes from home and they arrived just after three in the afternoon. Donnie turned right into ‘Gates of Heaven Memorial Cemetery’. A fifteen minute drive on I-10 east from San Antonio, it was a small rural cemetery that relied on donations to keep the grass mowed and the gates from falling down.

As usual, they were the only ones there. He followed the dirt track to the back, around to the west and stopped in front of several stones indicating the final resting place of the less fortunate. Donnie had seen some of the nice cemeteries in the city, the ones he and his mother hadn’t been able to afford, and despite the name, ‘Gates of Heaven’ was a far cry from what his brother deserved.

He removed her wheelchair from the van and put it where she could get into it. Holding her arm to steady her, he got her seated, and pushed her over to Billy’s grave, stopping where she could reach the headstone. She leaned over, brushing the leaves away from her son’s name, before laying a single red rose across the stone.

“Hi, Billy. We’re here. I missed you this week.”

Donnie watched as his mother carried on the conversation. His mother had never heard Billy, she just pretended. Donnie’s relationship with his older brother was different. He could hear his brother. Not on these visits with his mother, but when he came on his own to make their plans.

Today, Donnie would watch, drink tea and enjoy his mother’s smiles as she shared and laughed with Billy. He would return tonight, after dark, when he could hear the voice of his brother clearly. They had further plans to make. Donnie sensed something big was coming and knew Billy would tell him soon.

Today’s visit was short, they had been there just ninety minutes, when his mother turned to him.

“I’m ready to go.”

She looked back at the rose and her son’s name.

“Bye, Billy. See you next week. Love you.”

****

When they arrived home, Donnie helped Momma back into the house and parked the van before going back to the basement.

“Don’t you want dinner, Donnie?”

“No. I’ll make a sandwich later.”

Shutting the door behind him, he descended the stairs. Switching his computer on, the password request window loaded up and he typed in ‘Brothers’. A file popped up with the names of four people listed across the top. Donnie clicked on the first name. Suzanne Cooper.

Another screen opened with a full biography of his brother’s former girlfriend. One of the first tasks Billy had given him, in their early talks, was to start a file on each person present that day at the Russian Roulette game. Donnie had made notes on the things Billy told him to look into and how to find all four people.

It had taken Donnie several years, but as he got better with his computer, he used social networks and identity searches to build each file. Now he had the address, family relations, work place and much more for each name on his list. Billy had been proud of how well he’d done gathering the information.

Billy had not given him his mission yet, just to gather the information, but Donnie could already feel the time was coming when action would be necessary. He looked forward to it. He stared at the girl’s face on the screen. Would she be first in Billy’s plan or would it be one of the others. Donnie was sure he would know soon.

Chapter  2

The sun had set by the time Donnie returned to the cemetery. His mother usually questioned him about where he was going. He always said the same thing.

“Just gonna hang with a friend.”

He would be out the door before she could ask who.

For many, a cemetery is no place to be after dark, but Donnie loved the solitude. It allowed him to hear his brother, and his brother to hear him. They were never interrupted in the cemetery at night.

“Hi, Billy.”

Donnie stood looking down at the rose his mother had left. The petals were bathed in the waning moonlight but he stared at it without seeing, his mind listening intently for his brother’s voice.

“Billy, I need to know what the next step in our plan is. I’ve got the files complete and update them regularly, just as you asked, but I’m sure there’s more I could be doing.”

Donnie started nodding his head up and down.

“Okay.”

 He reached into his pocket, pulled out a pencil along with some scrap paper, and began to draw. In the low moonlight, his picture was poorly drawn, hardly recognizable but he felt he knew what Billy was saying.

“I understand, Billy. I’ll begin immediately.”

He finished the drawing and looked back from the paper towards his brother’s name on the stone.

 “No, I won’t tell mom. It’s just between us.”

He tucked the pencil back in his jeans and folded the sheet of paper up, sliding it into a shirt pocket.

His face turned sad. It always did when the time came to leave his brother.

“I gotta go, Billy. I’ll be back in a few days. Miss you.”

Donnie turned and walked slowly, head down, back to his car. He always looked forward to visiting his brother and sharing with him, but each visit tore at him, overwhelming him with sadness. It never got easier.

He started his car and turned it towards the exit.

****

“Where have you been?”

“I told you, Momma. You know you don’t have to worry about me.”

She was sitting in her chair watching ‘America’s Funniest Videos’. She had probably seen the same episode a dozen times but she stilled laughed at the same clips. Donnie kissed her on the top of her head but she was not appeased.

“You’re either off running around or hiding in the basement. I don’t know the name of any of your friends, we never talk about your outings and you never keep your mother company anymore.”

“Oh come on, Momma. I’m 22. I’ve got things to do, people to see, worlds to conquer.”

She refused to smile at his joke.

“I never see any friends come over, the phone doesn’t ring. Whose worlds are you conquering?”

Donnie laughed and started for the stairs to the basement.