Free Bruno by Stephanie Pokorney Page A

going to see pretty things?”
    Alex’s excited voice bounces from the backseat.
    “We are going to see beautiful things!” I answer.
    I had graduated High School the day before. The Elementary had let out the week before. Mrs. Castino really had her hands full with the always- energetic Alex, so I offered to take him off her hands for a couple hours. She graciously accepted, knowing I’d always made sure to stop by as often as I could to play truck’s with Alex.
    For a six year old, he had been handling Bruno’s death pretty well. I thought he wouldn’t understand that Bruno wasn’t going to be around anymore, but he took us by surprise when he didn’t act out after Bruno’s passing.
    “Hey, A,” I venture cautiously, “Why don’t you ever mention Bruno anymore?”
    I had pulled into mine and Bruno’s spot. The shorts clung to the back of my legs from the humid heat as I opened Alex’s door.
    After throwing his head around in all directions, he declares this spot “beautiful.”
    “A, you never answered me,” I remind him, impatiently wanting an answer to the question we’ve all longed to ask.
    “What do you mean why don’t I mention him? Why would I mention him when he’s right here?” Alex’s little finger, covered in the chocolate ice-cream I had just bought him, pointed firmly to his chest.
    My heart aches. “In your heart?” I whimper.
    “Yes. Bruno told me that that’s where people go when you love them, and that’s where they always stay. It doesn’t matter where they are, because a piece of them is always in your heart. And I make sure to always have my heart with me!” He kneels on the dirt, pushing the truck Bruno had gotten him through the grass.
    I watch him play as I sit on the grassy hilltop. I pick the wild flowers that grow, and peel them apart, throwing their shreds in the wind. “I’m spreading the beautiful for you, Bruno” I say.
    Alex catches my words even though they weren’t meant for him. He stops playing and comes to sit beside me. “Bruno said you love flowers.”
    “Yes, I do.”
    “Why do you love flowers so much?”
    “Because they’re beautiful.”
    “So you think the garden Bruno and I planted for you is beautiful?”
    My head jerks up and he leans back, startled.
    “That was you? You planted the garden?” The pile of dirt in my backyard turned out to be a beautiful garden of different flowers. They had bloomed right after prom. I always thought my mom had planted them because she waters them as much as she feeds us and protects them like she protects us.
    “Yes. Me and Bruno, we dug holes in dirt and planted seeds. He said they’d grow to be beautiful like you. He said you’d love them like he loved you.”
    I stare down at Alex’s curls. He hadn’t got his hair cut for summer yet, so they were longer than normal. I tussle his hair with my fingers, bringing him in for a hug. “They’re more than beautiful,” I say, “and I love them bunches.”
     
     

Arranging the normal sized photos of Bruno and I so they’d fit neatly into a picture frame was hard, but arranging the smaller ones Alex had took were even harder. I call my mother into my room for help.
    “I guess you CAN have too many pictures,” she says, working her creative magic to settle each unbound photo neatly into the frame.
    “But never too many memories,” I add.
    She smiles at me softly, tucking the hair behind my ears.
    “I’m going to miss you, Saigey.”
    “I know, Mom, but I’ll only be gone a month. You won’t even know I’m gone. Besides, I’m doing good in the world. I’m making it even more beautiful.”
    I start to stuff my pink comforter into a duffel bag when I hear the door slam downstairs.
    “MOM! MOM! MOM!” yell my brothers.
    “I’m coming,” she calls back.
    Without waiting, they continue to yell. “What’s for dinner?” “Does Saige get to pick the restaurant for her good-bye dinner?” “How come last week I didn’t get a good-bye meal