Oblivion

It was a cold Friday afternoon in autumn. I walked quickly to my residential tower. The shopping bag I carried with my right hand felt so heavy. I just needed a table to put the bag on it. 

“Welcome back, Mike,” said Ms. Luna, the receptionist.
“Oh, hi! It’s a freezing autumn, isn’t it?” I said.
“Yes. I cannot stand staying outside in this season. Else, I have to take care of myself since I easily get a cold,” she replied.
“Well, take care of yourself then,” I suggested.
“Thanks,” she thanked. “Oh, by the way, our security guard found your penthouse unlocked. The door was left open but fortunately nothing happened.” 

Suddenly the lift was open, and then two men walked toward me. They were the security guards in this residential tower. 

“Michael Huang, we’ve told you many times to ensure that you’ve locked your penthouse before leaving! Can you imagine if a stranger enters your penthouse and steals something?” Mr. Evans scolded me.
“I really am sorry but I think I’ve locked the door before leaving,” I said.
“You must have forgotten to lock it again. It’s been a couple times,” Mr. Rajiv said.
“Okay. Here is your key. Please, make sure that you always lock your penthouse before leaving and after entering your penthouse. This is for your goodness.” Mr. Evans added while giving me my penthouse key.
“Thanks, and I really am sorry for inconvenience I caused,” I apologized.
“It’s okay. By the way, where’s Levi?” Ms. Luna asked.
“I don’t know. He’s not home yet. He must be at school,” I answered. “Else, I don’t want to talk about him.”
“You must have quarreled with him again,” Ms. Luna said. I nodded and she sighed.
“But he’s just eleven years old and you’re fifteen. You must have grown up, right? Mike, you have to take care of your little brother while your parents are away,” Ms. Luna advised me.
“But he started it first! He called me “Old Mike” because he thought that I’m careless and forgetful,” I explained the case.
“Alright, now you have to apologize to Levi and explain him that you hate the way he calls you. He’s a nice boy so he will confess his fault,” Ms. Luna said. 

After saying thanks and apologizing one more time, I immediately ran to lift and went up to 15^th floor. As I arrived home, I remembered what Ms. Luna had said to me. Begging Levi’s pardon? It sounded stupid! I looked at the clock on the wall. It showed 5p.m, and it means that I had to prepare dinner for Levi and myself. He didn’t come home yet. I wondered where he was. The school ended at 3p.m so he must have been home now. Ah, why should I care about him? I’d better cook something. As I prepared the utensils, I enjoyed the sunset view from the window. Amber stratocumulus decorated violet Seattle skyline. The view was so incredible. My cell phone suddenly rang when I was slicing the mushroom, and I accidentally cut my finger.

“Damn! It hurts!” I screamed and grinned. “Uh, where’s my phone?”

I looked for my cell phone. It was on the piano. I immediately answered the phone call. The phone call came from Ryu, my cousin. 

“Hello, Michael’s speaking,” I said.
“Mike, it’s me, Ryu. Would you like to come to my apartment? I want to show you something. Esther will come, too,” Ryu said.
“Wow, what’s that?! A new game?” I asked.
“Errr, yeah. Mind to come before seven? I’ll go on 7p.m since I have to buy some science books.” He said.
“Alright, I’m going now. I’ll be there within minutes,” I agreed. 

I ended the phone call and quickly ran to my bedroom. After changing my clothes, I wore my jacket and left my penthouse. At lobby, Ms. Luna greeted me again. 

“Mike, where are you going?” she asked.
“Oh, I’m going to Ryu’s apartment. Why?” I answered.
“No. Actually, I’ve just realized that I haven’t seen Levi these last three days. Where is he? He didn’t run away, did he?” Ms. Luna asked.
“Really? Probably he’s still at school,” I answered. “Or probably you just didn’t see him.”
“Well, I hope I just didn’t see him although this seems weird for me,” she hoped.
“Okay, I think I have to go. Bye!” I said and waved my hand. 

I ran through the blocks to Ryu’s apartment tower so it wouldn’t take a long time. When I arrived at Ryu’s apartment tower, Esther was waiting in the lobby. 

“You’re sweaty. Are you running here?” she asked. I nodded.
“Okay, I’ll let you relax for a while I’m enjoying my tea,” she said.
“Why don’t we just go to Ryu’s apartment?” I asked.
“You have to relax yourself first. Chill out,” she answered. 

Esther suddenly grabbed my hand and I was very surprised. 

“How could it happen? What did you do?” she cried in panic.
“I, I don’t know… What happened with my hand?” I asked.
“Your finger’s bleeding!” she yelled. “We have to treat the wound now before it worsens!”

We quickly went to Ryu’s apartment. Ryu was playing game when we came. I ran toward him and patted his shoulder hard. 

“Hey, bro! Is this your new game?” I asked.
“Yup! Street Fighter 3, “Third Strike”. My dad bought it for me yesterday,” he answered. “Do you want to try?”
“Definitely!” I yelled.
“His finger is bleeding, Ryu. Do you have any band-aids?” Esther asked.
“What? Hey, why don’t you tell me that your finger is bleeding? What happened?” Ryu asked me and became panic.
“I don’t know. Perhaps, it just bleeds,” I answered. 

Esther came and gave me a band-aid and wet tissues. 

“Clean the wound first and then band your finger,” she said. “I have to do something in the kitchen.”

I got confused using the band-aid after cleaning my wound. I wondered how to use it. 

“Mike, what are you doing?!” Ryu yelled at me and came over.
“This is weird. I, I don’t know how to use this...” I said.
“How come you forget using it? Here, I’ll help you. Open the transparent sticker from the plaster first, and then stick the plaster to your wound,” Ryu said while helping me. “Now, it’s done. Let’s play the game!”

Ryu gave me another joystick and played the game with me. The game was so cool, with great visual graphic that successfully amazed me. After playing game for several rounds, Esther called out Ryu. 

“May I talk with Ryu for a while? I hope you’ve finished playing the game,” Esther said.
“Yeah! We already finish another round. Mike, if you want to play again, just play, okay?” Ryu said. 

Ryu and Esther walked to dining room. I peeked what they did from living room. They seemed to be talking about something very serious. 

“Let him now by himself! He will know about it one day!” Ryu forced.
“No! We have to tell him about it! You’re his cousin! How can you not tell him?! His parents are away and we haven’t seen Levi these days!” Esther argued. 

Why were they talking about me? I came over to know what happened. 

“Is there something wrong with me?” I asked. Both Esther and Ryu felt silent.
“You guys are talking about me, right?” I interrogated.
“Michael, we have to talk with you about something. Take a seat please,” Esther said. I sat on a dining chair, between Esther and Ryu.
“Mike, there’s something we have to tell you. I really am sorry to say this but you have to see this,” Ryu said and handed me an envelope. I grabbed something from the envelope. It was a print of X-ray computer tomography.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Do you remember the accident you had three months ago? They had your head CT-scanned and we got the result a week ago. My parents wanted to give it directly to your parents but since your parents have been away for months, so they kept it,” Ryu said.
“What’s wrong with me then?” I asked.
“You must have had a very hard collision that leaded you to a brain-damage. The damage has caused several disorders that might result on…”
“So do you think that I’m mentally disorder, aren’t you?!” I cut Ryu’s explanation.
“Mike, you just don’t understand. We’re explaining you…”
“It’s enough for me! I really am fed up of these all! Why do you guys want to make me depressed? What do you mean by showing me this crappy scan shot?!” I snapped Ryu and Esther.
“We just want you to know about yourself! Mike, that’s why you easily forget things, even simple things you used to know. Sometimes you cannot control your emotion that leads to an extremely furious rage,” Esther said.
“And I’ve talked with my parents about this. We’re trying the best to make your condition better. You’ll be in a special medication and…”
“But I am not insane!!” I screamed at Ryu. 

Reflexively I pushed Ryu until he fell from his chair. His head hit the floor hard that he couldn’t get up. I took a glass on the dining table, about to hit him. 

“Michael Huang, please do not do that!” Esther tried to stop me.
“Mike, please! I just want to help you! I didn’t mean to…”

It was too late. I had hit Ryu’s head before Ryu finished his words. Esther screamed as Ryu fell unconscious. His head bleed violently. I suddenly realized what I had done to my cousin. 

“O God… No, this cannot happen,” I whispered regretfully.
“What have you done!!?” Esther cried hysterically.
“No, no way this can happen!” I said with disbelief and left Ryu’s apartment. 

I left Ryu’s apartment tower and quickly ran to the park. Oh my God, I couldn’t believe I did it to my cousin! I made him violently hurt. I sat on a bench and I felt my head so dizzy. It wasn’t a common headache. My head felt dizzier and dizzier, and I couldn’t stand it anymore. 

“Michael! Where are you?” shouted someone.
“I am here!” I shouted as loud as I could. It was Esther coming over me.
“Michael, are you alright?” she asked and hugged me.
“Esther, what’s happening? What’s wrong with me?” I asked.
“Michael, I really am sorry to say this. You’re suffering from Dementia. It’s caused you to forget things, lose some memories and control of your emotion,” Esther explained and cried.
“Am I… Am I going to die?” I asked again but she didn’t say anything.
“Esther, please tell me. Am I going to die?” I insisted. Esther wiped her tears and smiled.
“You’re going to live long. You’re a strong person. You can make it through,” she said. “Well, I’m going to tell Levi that you’re with me now. I hope he won’t worry about you. We’ve taken Ryu to the hospital so you don’t need to worry about him.” 

Levi? Suddenly I worried about Levi. I wondered where Levi was. And I suddenly remembered what Esther had said at Ryu’s apartment. 

“Sometimes you cannot control your emotion that leads to an extremely furious rage.”

No way! I quickly ran home. Esther shouted at me but I ignored her. As I arrived at the lobby of my residential tower, there were so many people. I saw some police interrogating several people. Ms. Luna was also interrogated by a police. 

“What’s happening?” I asked a police there.
“Are you Michael Huang?” he asked. I nodded.
“I’m sorry to tell you this but your brother was found dead in his bedroom,” the police said.
“No! No way! Levi’s still alive!” I insisted.
“What happened?” Esther asked. I didn’t know that she was here, too.
“Are you his sister?” the police asked.
“I am Michael’s friend. What happened?” Esther answered and re-asked.
“Levi Huang was found dead in his bedroom,” the police answered.
“No! That’s impossible!” Esther cried with disbelief.

The police took Esther and me to my penthouse. As we arrived home, Mr. Rajiv walked toward me.

“We found your penthouse left unlocked, again. When Evans and I checked inside, the television was turned on and you must have forgotten to turn off the stove. There was fire in your kitchen but we quickly extinguished it. I was trying to call you by phone when suddenly Evans called out my name. He told me to come over to see what happened,” Mr. Rajiv explained Esther and me. 

I walked slowly to Levi’s room. I saw Levi was lying dead on the floor. Someone must have stabbed him.  I couldn’t believe my eyes. Blood stained the floor and Levi’s clothes. 

“We’re trying our best to find the suspect. Else, we’d like to express our deepest sympathy of your brother’s death. May he rest in peace,” Mr. Evans added. 

My head felt dizzy again and everything seemed so black, as I recalled something. The flashback appeared in my mind like a lightning. It happened three days ago, on the night Levi called me “Old Mike”.

--

“How could you forget turning off the faucet after using it? I cleaned all the mess when you were away!”
“I did turn it off!”
“No evidence! You let me do all the housework! I cleaned all the mess and cooked meat that was left uncooked!”
“I didn’t cook anything!”
“Why do you keep saying “I didn’t”? Can’t you just confess it?”
“I have nothing to confess! Why are you so annoying?!”
“ How could you forget everything and run away like a jerk, you Old Mike!? You make me much burdened!”
“I am not Old Mike! I really am over your patronizing tone!”

 

I pushed Levi to the wall and hit his head against the wall. Levi screamed very loudly when his head hit the wall so hard. He cried because of the pain. 

“Michael, stop it! You’ve hurt me!” 

I pushed him to the floor so hard. Then I walked to the kitchen and took a knife. Levi was sobbing when I came back to his room. He looked at me fearfully. 

“Michael, what are you doing…”
“I’m going to finish you,”
“No, you cannot do that to me! Mom and dad will be very angry!”
“I don’t care about shits!! You’ve made me very angry! Now, you have to pay what you’ve done!”

 

I pulled Levi’s collar and raised him. He looked very scared and kept begging me. 

“Michael, please release me!”
“Why should I?” I asked.
“Because you’re my brother. Please, you’re not going to do that, are you?”
“Unfortunately, you’re wrong!”

Furiously I stabbed Levi’s stomach. He screamed in pain. I stabbed him several times until I was sure he would no longer breathe. I dropped him to the floor and let him dying there alone. 

“Michael, please help me…” 

But I ignored him. I left him alone. 

--

I looked at Levi’s body. He looked very pale. His eyes stared at me in a sharp sight, while tears made traces on his cheek. What kind of brother I am? Esther screamed and cried hysterically when she saw Levi’s body. She ran toward Levi and hugged him. 

“I really am sorry, Michael,” Mr. Evans said. 

Now I remembered something that I forgot, the death of my little brother. Those people were trying so hard to find the suspect and evidences. Actually, their efforts would be worthless. I was the one they were looking for. I must have had a dark oblivion. I murdered my little brother, and I forgot about it.