Giving Hope to Misery

The first thing the boy remembered from today was being told that he'd have to go on this trip alone. The last memory of his mum was her smiling and crying and pushing him to the line without telling him WHY she couldn't come with him. He kicked his heels on the floor as he walked through the HUGE place with all the airplanes like the one he just got off of, but he didn't know what to do now. Aodan wanted to cry because this was too much and he just wanted to go HOME, but his feet took him to a mean looking man with a uniform on it; he opened the phrase book his mum gave him for the trip and read out from it once he had the man's attention. "Help. I am lost and horny. I can't find my brother," his voice held hints of frustration and fear and other things he didn't want to think about, like how hungry he was. The child tried to put the phrasebook back but dropped his pink bunny; good for him that the mean looking man picked it up with a smile that looked funny. He took Aodan's hand and took him to another HUGE place where he said nice men would help. At least that's what Ao thought he said; the phrase book didn't speak as fast as the man did.

The new man looked nice after the last one and his name tag said Lieutenant Yamamoto; it took him a lot of staring and looking at his phrasebook to puzzle that one out of the strange script, but the boy was proud of himself! The Lieutenant had given him some crayons to color with while he asked him some questions in English since Ao couldn't speak Japanese and the officer couldn't speak Irish. Ao had found a coloring book in the Lieutenant's desk when he'd left to get the crayons and some paper, so he was happily amused while answering the questions the nice man asked. When they reached who Ao was supposed to be meeting here, the boy handed over the envelope his mum had given him. She had told him that his brother's name was written on it in the funny script the Japanese used.

The Lieutenant picked up the phone and called someone; Aodan wondered if that was his brother. He colored one of the octopus tentacles blue and another red while he thought about the kind of person his brother would be. Would he be excited like Ao was?

Ace paid the taxi driver to wait for him as he stood in front of the Kobi Police Department. His mind spinning, he walked into the building and told the uniform at the front desk that Lieutenant Yamamoto was expecting him. After the officer had confirmed this, he led Ace back to a conference room, where the Lieutenant stood waiting.

"Would you like to tell me why you failed to pick your brother up at the airport, Hayes-san?" Ace tried to get a peek into the conference room, but the Lieutenant's broad shoulders blocked his view.

"I swear to you, I'm an only child. There has to be some mistake. Who is this kid?" "Passport's from Ireland. Boy's name is Aodan o'Neill, ten years old. Doesn't speak a lick of Japanese, but keeps asking for his brother and has a letter addressed to you." The Lieutenant gave Ace a withering glare. "Still want to lie to me?"

Ace cursed and ran a hand through his hair. "I've never even heard of this kid...Wait, did you say he was ten? My mother was murdered ten years ago. I didn't have a baby brother."

"How about you start telling the truth?" The Lieutenant sighed and shook his head, switching to the paternal act. "Look, I get it. You're a college kid. The last thing you want is to have to look after your kid brother, so when your dad sends him--"

"My father is in jail for killing my mother. If this kid's his, the mother would have sent him. But, I swear to you, they've never contacted me before. I don't know who this kid is, I..." He let out an aggravated growl. "Look, let me talk to this kid. Maybe I can find out what's going on here, how his parents know my name."

After a few moments, the Lieutenant finally nodded and let him through. Ace sighed gratefully and walked inside, taking the chair next to the little boy with the giant stuffed bunny. "Aodán? An bhfuil tú ceart go leor?"

{"Aodan? Are you okay?"}

The boy looked up from his coloring book with the pretty lady dancing with the octopus half-colored. His amber eyes flew to the man sitting beside him, speaking his language. With red hair. Well, kind of red anyway, but his eyes reminded Aodan of home. He hadn't cried the entire time he'd been here, but now the dam broke, and he hid his face in the bunny his mum had got him for this trip. After he'd cried himself out some, he answered the new man in a rush, as if he couldn't say it all if he said it slowly, "Mam dúirt Daid ag teacht a fháil ar dúinn agus bhí sí a choinneáil dom i bhfolach agus ní féidir saoire a íobairt sin chuir sí chugam anseo chun teacht ar mo dheartháir mór a bheith sábháilte. Ach níl a fhios agam a ainm agus a Mam dúirt nach raibh a fhios aige mar gheall orm, agus tá mé scanraithe agus ina n-aonar agus ocras agus ba mhaith liom ach dul abhaile!" He wiped his tears and runny nose on his coat sleeve as he waited expectantly for this stranger to fix it. Maybe he could even show Aodan where his brother was! If he wasn't so tied up in knots, the boy would be tired after the day's events, but since he was, he toyed with the pages of the coloring book instead of sleeping.

Aodan didn't care that the Lieutenant couldn't understand a word he'd just said or that the new man might think he was just whining. He felt better to have been able to get that out in the open. He closed one eye as he rested his head on the arm stretched across the table toward the coloring book. The open eye fixed on the stranger with eyes that reminded him of home as he screwed up the courage to ask, "An bhfuil a fhios agat cá bhfuil mo dheartháir?"

{First set: Mom said Dad's coming to get us and she had to keep me hidden and can't leave her sacrifice so she sent me here to find my big brother to be safe. But I don't know his name and Mom said he didn't know about me, and I'm scared and alone and hungry and I just want to go home!}
{Second set: Do you know where my brother is?}

Ace's heart broke for the poor kid as he told his story. When he seemed to be finished, Ace brushed a lock of the boy's hair away from his eyes. "An Leifteanant deir go bhfuil tú litir le mo ainm ar sé. B'fhéidir má thaispeáin tú dom, raibh mé in ann cabhrú figiúr tú amach seo?" He kept his eyes on the boy, praying that he actually could be of assistance. No child deserved to be so scared and alone, in such a strange place. He ought to know.

{"The Lieutenant says you have a letter with my name on it. Maybe if you showed it to me, I could help you figure this out?"}

The open eye widened in surprise when the man said the envelope had his name on it. His tail swished eagerly against the chair as he sat up to give the man the letter that he'd kept under the coloring book - to make sure he didn't lose it. His mum had told him that the name in the funny script on the letter was his brother's! Could this stranger be the big brother he'd been waiting to meet his whole life? His amber eyes studied the man closer once he started reading Ao's mum's letter. He didn't look anything like Aodan - or like anything he'd expected. He looked down at the word on his hand, HOPE, and wondered if maybe things would be as okay as he'd hoped they would be. That was all he had to hold on to right now in this strange place. He didn't think it would be so bad if this stranger was his brother; he seemed nice enough, after all. But what if he wasn't? Then the boy would be left alone again. Aodan didn't like being alone, and the thought of it was enough to dash his mood back to the ground. His whisper was miserable as he laid his head back down, no longer wanting to look at the stranger, "Ba mhaith liom mo dheartháir."

{I want my brother.}

Ace smiled as he accepted the letter from Aodan. Sure enough, his name was written in cursive on the front of the envelope. He braced himself for whatever he was about to find, then opened it and slid out a letter and a wallet-sized photograph. The image on the small, glossy bit of paper made every muscle in his body tense up. There was a woman, who looked so much like the boy sitting beside him in every way, radiant with the unmistakable glow of pregnancy. But she wasn't what had him transfixed as a deer that's just alerted to danger. No, the terror he felt breathing down his neck was due to the man standing beside her, hand on her rounded belly.

Erik Hayes. His father.

Shaking off his dread, he turned his attention to the letter.

Dear Donavon,

I wish I'd been able to contact you sooner, given you time to come to terms with all of this, but I'm afraid St. Bridgett's wouldn't tell me any more than that you were in Japan. My name is Deidra o'Neill, and the boy with you is your half-brother, my son, Aodan. Please, Donavon, look after your brother for me, as I can no longer protect him here. Your father...

I was young and naive when I met Eric. He spun a sad story about being wed to a cold-hearted woman who didn't understand all he'd sacrificed for her and their son. Like a fool, I believed him and fell in love. Aodan was born a month after your mum's death. I remember how horrified I was to learn all the evil Eric had done. His lawyer has harassed me for years, trying to make me bring our son to meet him in prison. I couldn't, I can't and I won't let that monster near my angel.

He's out on parole, Donavon. They say he's been a model prisoner, but I've heard rumors. People around here say he's been hurting the working girls. All I know is that he's looking for me, and for Aodan, and I had to get my baby to safety. I must stay with my partner, and she is forced to remain here, so I had to send him alone and pray the police could find you.

I only pray that I was right to believe you would grow to be a better man than him. Please, tell Aodan I sent my love.

Deidra

By the time he'd finished reading the letter, Ace was in shock, tears frozen halfway down his cheeks. Finally, his trembling hands folded the letter and deposited it and the photo back inside the envelope. Wiping his cheek, he gave a shaky laugh. "Bhuel, tá sé cosúil go mbainfidh tú a bheith ag fanacht liom ar feadh tamaill, Aodán."

{"Well, it looks like you'll be staying with me for a while, Aodan."}

The silence stretched out as the man read the letter, and Ao started crying again into his arms - quietly this time. He'd been so sure that this stranger would have had the answer, but maybe the letter said things that he wouldn't understand; Aodan wasn't sure, since his mum hadn't let him read it. The boy lifted his own tear streaked face at the man's words. The laugh had sounded weird, but that was okay since at least now he'd get some answers. Aodan's ears cocked forward to catch every word, and his tail thumped slowly, as if unsure. "Mam dúirt nach féidir liom dul in áit ar bith le strainséirí." He said the words, but really all he wanted to do was eat and go to sleep. He didn't want to have to wonder about his brother any more; he didn't want to worry about his mum any more. Ao held on to the hope that everything would be okay, even though he felt like he was going to be sick when he asked, "An bhfuil tú mo dheartháir?"

{First set: Mom said I can't go anywhere with strangers.}
{Second set: Are you my brother?}

He gently brushed his hands over his brother's cheeks in an attempt to dry his tears. A gentle smile warmed his features, as similar to their father as Aodan was to his mother, and he nodded. "Sea, Aodán, Dealraíonn sé tá mé Tá brón orm nach raibh mé in ann a fhreagairt tú roimh. Aon duine a dúirt riamh dom go raibh mé deartháir leanbh." He tucked Ao's hair behind his ear. "Fhéachann tú an oiread sin cosúil le do mháthair."

{"Yes, Aodan, it seems I am. I'm sorry I couldn't answer you before. Nobody ever told me I had a baby brother."
"You look so much like your mum."}

The boy froze for a second as if unsure what to do. Well, he didn't know what to do. He'd never had a big brother or a father, so he did what he'd done with his mum's sacrifice. Ao shook his hair free of his ear, since it felt weird, and hopped up out of the chair. He grinned up at the male and hugged him. He took a deep breath  to calm down like his mum had taught him and buried his face in  his big brother's chest. Not how he'd wanted to meet him for the first time, but that was okay. He was here now. His brother was comfortingly warm and had eyes that reminded the boy of home, so he felt brave enough to pull back to look up at the man's face and ask a question that would make him sound stupid. "Deartháir? Cad is ainm duit? Ní bheadh ​​Mam inis dom."

{Brother? What's your name? Mom wouldn't tell me.}

Ace barely hesitated a moment before returning his brother's hug, petting his hair. When Ao pulled back and asked his name, he gave him a quirked smile. "Ah. Is é mo ainm Donavon Hayes. Ach ba mhaith liom sé go mór más mhaith leat glaoch orm Ace." He took a step back and offered the boy his hand. "Anois, conas mar gheall théann muid ar ais go dtí mo áit ionas gur féidir leat a fháil ar roinnt eile. Tá a fhios agam gur féidir an eitilt ó Éirinn a dhéanann tú tuirseach."

{"Ah. My name is Donavon Hayes. But I'd like it very much if you would call me Ace."
"Now, how about we go back to my place so you can get some rest. I know the flight from Ireland can be tiring."}

The boy grinned up at the man, tail wagging and ears perked. "Bhí mé i ndáiríre codladh orm go dtí go bhfuair tú anseo." His tummy growled as he reached for the coloring book. He wasn't finished with it yet, so he couldn't just leave it back in the Lieutenant's desk. He stuffed it in the suitcase and grabbed the bunny. Only then did he grab the offered hand. "Ace, an bhfuil rud ar bith a ithe ag d'áit?" He treasured being able to say a name he'd waited his whole life to learn. He was excited to learn all about his brother, but he was starting to get sleepy again, so he'd have to eat and then learn tomorrow. That was okay though, he'd waited this long, so one night wouldn't hurt too much.

{"I was really sleepy until you got here."
"Ace, is there anything to eat at your place?"}

Ace chuckled softly as Ao's stomach gave a soft grumble to alert them to his hunger. "Is féidir linn a stopadh ag tiomáint tríd ar an mbealach ansin, má tá ocras ort." He took his little brother's hand and led him out to the taxi, where he stowed the suitcase in the trunk and made sure the boy was buckled in. "Ach tá sé cosúil is gá duit an staighre níos mó ná aon rud eile."

{{"We can stop at a drive through on the way there, if you're hungry. "
"But it looks like you need a nap more than anything else."}}

[Ace and Ao are leaving the police department and headed to City Lights Hotel- Rm. 119 (Ace's Place) ]