I had to chase him around the ring for the rest of the round. When the bell rang ending the first round, we each went to our own corner, me the suprem...ly confident warrior, him a scared little boy. He sat on the middle rope with his head hanging. I did catch him glance up a couple of times, taking a quick peek at me.When the bell rang for round two he got up slowly and taking a defensive stance met me in the middle of the ring. We began throwing jabs again, my three to his one. Mine were. Susan was afraid to stay, afraid of being caught there seeing something strange, something she knew she shouldn’t be seeing. She was more afraid to go, and she stood there with the longing to see her mother’s face, to know that she was okay. He cried out, a low, grunting noise, and stopped moving. She strained to see past him, around him, to glimpse her mother’s face, needing to see her to reassure herself that this was okay, that she was all right. Susan held her breath until he lifted his. ”“No, I suppose not. I miss you guys.”“I know; us too.”I laughed. “Maybe you do; it doesn’t sound like Jake is dying to see me.”“He is, Heath. He misses you every single day; you’re the brother he never had.”That choked me up, because I knew it was true; he was the same to me. He was an only-child, and I had only a younger sister, so ultimately, we’d bonded like brothers – closer than brothers, in fact. We’d been inseparable until a woman – Teri – came between us, and even that astonishing girl. It felt damp I thought. She called me a pervert and bounced down to the pool. Well the party started breaking up around two AM and I saw the guest out to their vehicles. After all the cars where gone I noticed Tim's little car parked beside our garage. I went in to see if he was still here. I found him and my wife setting in the den smoking a number. I hinted that I was tired and we should be going to bed soon. My wife told me to go ahead and go to bed that she would be back there after Tim had.