Chapter 3 Surprise

SURPRISE "Emotional disturbance caused by something unexpected or unforeseen" ********************************************************* A few weeks earlier Emmanuel moves quickly, touches the ball as if he were born with it, as if it were his best friend, watches his teammates and starts running across the court, matching his steps with the movements of the ball. He rises from the ground, jumps with great power, and sends the ball straight into the basket, scoring three points for his team. The boys on his team run and hug him, everyone is smiling and shouting. " Bravo Emmanuel! You're a monster!" I direct my gaze to the owner of the loud and clear voice that has been tormenting my nights for a few months. Enzo is a boy from the neighborhood, he is a little older than me, and every time I see him, my nerve endings tremble, except that he has always wanted more than I can give him, at least more than I can give for now." Say hello to my new brother"in"law." The boys around him smile, Enzo looks at me, bites his lips, and holds his member with one hand over his clothes, while pointing to the place he is holding. The gesture is not at all erotic or exciting as he pretends, so I focus on Emmanuel, who is moving very slowly, contrary to a moment ago. " Come on, Manu." I shout and applaud loudly, my brother is my pride, every day that passes, I thank life for being able to have him with me. " Are you Enzo's girl?" We head home, we live in State residential complexes, where families, after requesting government assistance, can access apartments with favorable rents. People call them."city's" and they are characterized by being popular and poor neighborhoods, where a considerable number of immigrants live. " No, not at all. Where do you get these things from?" I ask him while messing up his hair, I am ten years older than him, but he has already caught up with me. " People talk, you know." I mess up his hair again." Gia! I'm not a baby, stop doing that." We keep walking, I love these moments, when I can hug him, do an activity together, or watch him play sports. Although now it happens less and less. When I finished high school, my brother was diagnosed with type one diabetes, even though France's social security was excellent and covered all his check"ups, treatments, and medications, including insulin, my little brother's eating habits changed completely, and my mom and I were forced to buy more expensive products and prepare all his meals at home. Previously, he ate at the school restaurant, which was very affordable, but being declared with special needs, we are now in charge of his food at school." My mother was called repeatedly from the school when my brother was not feeling well, and she started working less. I planned to enter pre"med school, but I decided to save money and enroll the following year, but then I realized that I not only had to pay the university tuition, which was ultimately not expensive, but also had to cover all my expenses, so one year turned into another and I continued living with my mother and working hours as a cleaning lady in homes and businesses." This year, I finally decided to take the entrance exam for university, so I dedicated myself to studying in the few hours I had free. Although, between helping take care of my brother and working, in the end, I didn't have much time and started going to bed later and waking up earlier, so I slept very little until two days ago, when I finally took the exam. "You will always be my baby," I reply to my little brother, hugging him. I love him so much, that sometimes I think I couldn't bear it if something bad happened to him. "Don't do that, Gia, I'm a big boy and the kids in the neighborhood will laugh at me," I bite my lips to keep from bursting out laughing. Every day, when I finish studying and go to bed, I stop in his room and watch him, anxiously waiting for him to breathe. When I doubt whether he is breathing or not, I approach and touch his chest. I need to feel my hand moving to the rhythm of his breathing in order to sleep peacefully. "Don't worry, I get it, you're a great kid, no hugs or kisses," I say trying to sound very serious. "Don't take it so literally, Gia, at home you can still do it," he says, and I force myself to refrain from hugging him. "How kind of you, young man," my little brother looks at me, smiles, and a second later stops smiling, he bends over and puts his hands on his knees, then fades in front of me, as if someone had turned him off, just like that."Manu!" I shout and move as fast as I can to prevent him from falling to the ground."Help!" I shout and in seconds some of our neighbors approach."Emmanuel, please answer me! Emmanuel!" My cries and tears blend in with the murmur of the people, I can't lose him, he's my little brother, I have to protect him. "I don't know what to do," I haven't slept much in the last three days, Emmanuel had a diabetic coma and apparently it's something that doesn't happen very often, my mother had a crisis and blamed herself for what happened. I'm distressed, now my brother's illness has become much more complicated, my mother has to stay at home for a while taking care of him and despite the help we have from the state, we can't neglect his nutrition, so I've been working much more in the last few days, but it's not enough, I haven't been able to save more money and I have no idea if I'll be able to go to university, studying I won't have time to work and help my mother.