We usually went to Wyatt’s house on Sundays since Darren and I didn’t have to be anywhere. After we both got off work on Saturdays, I would go to Darren’s house and stay the night, or we would just go straight to Wyatt’s house. I was still no closer to knowing Darren’s secret, but I still hadn’t met his mother yet, which I thought was strange.

It took a while to meet Wyatt’s parents. They were cooped up in their room, home office, or just weren’t home. One time, though, when we played video games in Wyatt’s room, his mother came in.

“Hello boys,” she said with a mousy voice.

“What up, Ma?” Wyatt greeted.

“Oh, hey there, Darren, how are you doing? How’s my sister? Er- your mom?” she asked.

My ears perked up. I finally wondered if I would get some insight into their secret.

“Hey Aunt Rita, my mom is doing pretty good, no complaints. How are you?” Darren said.

Damn. Nothing.

“I’m doing pretty well. Glad to hear that. I’m sorry I’m not able to visit you and your mom more, but Wyatt always lets me know that you’re coming over. I trust that he delivers my greetings to you?”

“Yes, of course, he does,” Darren said.

I never heard Wyatt say, ‘Oh hey, Darren, my mom says hello.’

“Good, I just wanted to make sure. Oh, I see you have a new friend that I haven’t met before. Hi, I’m Rita.” She walked over to shake my hand while Darren and Wyatt paused their match.

“Nice to meet you, Rita,” I said.

“Mom, he’s been coming over for like the past month. Where have you been?”

“Well, I apologize, Wyatt, but sometimes it’s hard for me to stop working to hang out with whoever’s over. Besides, you’re getting older, and it’s hard to keep track of all of your new friends,” Rita said. She seemed sincerely sorry. “Since dad’s out of town, I thought we could get a pizza delivered, and you guys can get whatever you want. So get extra breadsticks, soda, and even a dessert. Go crazy. Just get a small cheese pizza for me.”

“Thanks, mom,” Wyatt said.

“Would you mind ordering for us?” his mom asked Wyatt.

“Not at all.”

“I forget. Do you need my credit card at all?”

“No, I’ll just order it online, and I already have your card information saved on my computer.”

“Okay, sounds good,” Rita said. “Don’t forget to tip 25% on the card!” Rita headed towards the door.

“Thank you, Aunt Rita!” Darren hollered.

“Yes, thank you!” I beamed.

His mom waved back at us and smiled. Darren and Wyatt resumed their match.

“Dude, your mom is an angel,” I said.

“Yeah? That makes me happy to hear. I’m a big fan of mom-ski,” Wyatt said.

That night we had a feast, but we didn’t order any pizzas with meat on it since Wyatt was a vegetarian. The three of us each took down a medium pizza of our own design, which was exciting at the time, but my body was in pain the following day.

The following weekend Darren and I went to Wyatt’s house on Saturday night, but he was busy hanging out with friends from Northwestern. I was freaking out. It was crunch time. We had to buy our passes by next week to play in the tournament.

I could have paid for my own pass, but I didn’t want to go by myself. Darren said he would only go if Wyatt joined because Darren knew he wouldn’t win money by himself. We didn’t decide if we should plan to purchase the doubles tournament tickets, but there weren’t nearly as many people that signed up for it, so it was possible to make that decision the day of. Fortunately, the next day, Sunday, Wyatt was free, and he let Darren and I come over.

Darren drove, and on the way there I knew I had to have a serious talk with him.

“I’m nervous, Darren.”

“About talking to Wyatt?”

“Yeah, he hasn’t brought it up these past weeks that we’ve been playing Elite Crushers. I was hoping by now he would’ve shown some sort of interest in the tournament, but he hasn’t asked a single question about it or anything.”

“You can still do the tournament, though. I mean, you can’t plan on him to say yes.”

“Frankly, I don’t want to go by myself. That would just be too much of an emotional challenge for me.”

“Well, you know what, Gordie, I’ll go with you,” he said with his heart and soul.

“But it won’t be the same. We won’t have a chance at our larger goal of getting Wyatt in the top eight.”

“Who gives a damn about Wyatt getting in the top eight. Maybe you or I can sneak in. We’ve both gotten better at the game in these past few months. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I definitely feel sharper, but I don’t think I will be any match for those guys that play -please forgive the pun- at the elite level.”

“But you said it yourself that you want to be a professional player that can hold his own against the best. You should go no matter what, Wyatt or not. And you don’t have to worry about going by yourself because I’ll be there with you like the good friend I am.”

The car went silent. Darren focused on driving while I thought about what he said, and he was right. Although I still liked the plan for Wyatt to join and get in the top eight because at least then we’d have a guaranteed way of making money with the Miami tournament invite, but Darren was right. I should only worry about myself being a pro. As we drove closer to Wyatt’s house, an idea sparked in my head.

Arriving to Wyatt’s, we made ourselves at home: cracking open a soda and heading up to his room to play Elite Crushers. Although Wyatt didn’t greet us when we walked in, he was nowhere to be found.

Going upstairs, we knocked on the door, but it opened for us.

Wyatt was lying down on his bed with a tiny garbage can next to him.

“Oh god, it smells like vomit in here,” Darren said.

“Sorry, brochacho’s. Drank a little bit too much last night. I’m hungover as hell.” Wyatt groaned.

“No worries, it’s just Gordie and me. We’re just going to play some Elite Crushers, if you don’t mind. Feel free to join if you’d like, but first and foremost, I’m going to take care of this trashcan real quick.” Darren took the trash can out of the room and went downstairs.

“What’s up, Gordo?” Wyatt asked.

“Not much. I realized that today is one of the last few days to buy a pass for the singles tournament, which is a month from now, so I’m going to do that real quick on my phone,” I said.

Yes, this was my genius plan. As I bought the pass, it would remind Wyatt to buy his pass. Piece of cake.

“Oh shit, the tournament is a month from now?”

“Yes.”

“Right on, man, should be fun.”

“Yeah, it will be a blast.”

C’mon, Gordie, just ask him if he’s coming or not!

“Are you coming?”

Wyatt opened his eyes; they looked glazed and red. A slow smile grew on his face. “Gordo… Gord-Ohhhhhhhh!”

“Yes?”

“Gordo, maaan. I don’t know. Can I decide later or somethin’?”

“There’s not much time left to buy a pass. You’d have to decide in like two days. What’s holding you back from doing it?”

“I told you, man. Those people are reaaal jerks, like, huuuge pricks. I ain’t tryin’ to subject myself to them for 24 hours.”

“But you’ll be with us, Darren and I. We’re your buds. We’ll have a great time together. And I’m serious, you’ll make the top eight. Hell, maybe even first. I still haven’t beaten you, and I think you’ve gotten better these past months. Then when you make a splash, and we go to the Miami tournament, that’s when the guaranteed money comes in from just the invite.”

“I don’t know, man. That’s your vision to be a pro. I don’t think it’s mine.”

Darren was next to me. I didn’t hear him come back into the room. “Dammit, Gordie. I heard your whole speech. Don’t twist his arm about it.”

“Why can’t you just go by yourself, Gordie? Darren isn’t too big on those pro tournaments either, so don’t force him into it.”

“I just think it’d be fun.”

“Yeaaah, maybe for you, but Darren and I don’t really care for it.”

At that moment, I froze, and thoughts of my brother flashed through my mind. All I could think about was his disappointment that he would never have another chance to play Elite Crushers again. What I would give to have seen him play through the tournament two years ago. Hell, what I would give to just see him smile.

“Gordooo, you all right, man? You look sad,” Wyatt said.

The tears gushed down my face, and I plopped down on the couch, trembling.

“Gordie, you alright?” Darren asked.

I was having a tough time collecting myself and breathing normally. Thinking about Michael in just the right (or wrong) way gave me an emotional overload. I felt sadness, anger, confusion, and pain conquer my consciousness all at once.

“Gordie, it’s all right, just take a deep breath. No need to rush it,” Darren said as he rubbed my back, sitting next to me on the couch.

Wyatt stared at me with hopeless eyes and a frown.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale again.

Exhale again.

Finally, I found my voice. “S-Sorry, Wyatt, I haven’t told you yet, b-but my brother and I always used to play Elite Crushers. We went to the tournament together t-two years ago. He was sick, but he wanted to play.” My throat was choked by tears and emotion, but I pushed through the thick syrupy voice. “Turned out Michael was d-dying. Even though he made it to the top 32, he had to s-surrender his match b-because he passed out. He was hospitalized for a month after that and p-passed away.

“So, I’m s-sorry, but I just wanted to go with one of you guys because I-I knew I would be an emotional wreck if I w-went alone. And this w-will probably sound cheesy and pathetic, and I’m sorry if it d-does. And I’m sorry if I-I’m apologizing too much, but dammit… You guys are my only f-friends. I don’t talk to anyone at s-school, I have nothing g-going for me, and I’ve never really had that wasn’t my brother. So it j-just means a lot that you guys like hanging out with me, and I just don’t want to mess that up b-because I pushed you into going to this s-stupid tournament.”

“Dude, you can push me all day to go to the tournament, and that wouldn’t change my opinion of you, Gordie. You’re a really cool dude, and we’ll always be there for ya,” Wyatt said. He slid out of bed and came around to sit next to me wearing his usual tank top, but he was in his boxers. “Let me think about the tournament, and I’ll get back to you, alright?”

I nodded.

“Don’t worry, Gordie, I’ll go,” Darren said.

“Want to play a few games of Elite Crushers?” Wyatt asked.

I nodded.

Darren stood up from the couch, turned the Arakan Sphere on, and booted Elite Crushers. He pulled out two controllers, gave one to me, and gave one to Wyatt.

Wyatt’s bedroom door flew open, and a tall, lanky, bald man wearing a button-up shirt and black slacks stormed into the room. “Goddammit, Wyatt!” he screamed as he yanked the power cord to the TV.

“Yooo, Dad, not cool,” Wyatt said.

“You’re unbelievable! I walk into the living room, and I see your cousin cleaning up your trashcan full of puke. What kind of host are you to your family and friends?”

“Dude, I didn’t even ask him t—“

“Honestly, it doesn’t even matter. That is the smallest reason why I am so pissed off at you! You know, I’ve just let all my frustrations at how much of a hippie loser you are, bottle up! Well the cap is coming off now! When the fuck are you going to get a job? When the fuck are you going to move out of this house? When the fuck are you going to stop breastfeeding from your mom’s cash teat?”

“Oookay, Dad, didn’t need that imagery,” Wyatt said, shockingly calm.

Darren nudged me and whispered, “I think we better go.” Darren shot up, and I followed. We were hustling out of the room.

“You guys don’t have to leave,” Wyatt said.

“I’m glad they’re leaving, Wyatt! You need to think about how you’re going to start changing your life instead of playing all these damn video games and getting stoned and drunk with your friends while mooching off your mom and I. Maybe take a page out of Darren’s book and get a job! Who cares if it’s a grocery store, it’s a thousand times more respectable than the shit you’re doing now!”

Darren closed the door, and we rushed downstairs. In the living room stood his mom with her head buried in her hands.

“I’m sorry, boys. I know you weren’t here for too long, and I tried to stop him, but o-once Anthony gets upset about something, he just-he just- loses control,” his mom said while quivering.

“It’s okay, Aunt Rita. It sounds like they have some other stuff they’re discussing. We’re just going to head out,” Darren said.

“I just wish that Anthony saved this conversation for during the week when you boys weren’t here… but he gets home so late from work, and he’s so tired that he just puts it off. He’s been wanting to talk to Wyatt for a while.”

“He’s been wanting to talk or yell?” I joked, but I immediately regretted it because it made Mrs. Reynolds frown. “… I was just kidding, but, uh, we should really get going.”

“Bye, Gordie, bye Darren. Hopefully, you boys can come by next weekend and things will have settled down.”