Ambush

Soothingly, a breeze swept by my face with a touch so gentle, I momentarily closed my eyes and dropped my tense shoulders and stood in a more relaxed stance. When I opened them again, a very familiar face met mine. The face of a mischievous yet caring man, a man of his words, a man who spent his younger years truanting school and took late night bicycle trips to the corner shop with his friends. Donovan, my older brother.

There were three minutes left for us at the free drop-off parking lot at the airport, so I ushered him over to him with a wide smile on my face. It was almost impossible to not smile around Donny, he was incredibly goofy and funny. There were cars circling the area in desperate need of finding an empty slot to park, people were hauling suitcases out of the trunk, others were hauling them in with an accomplished smile, and some, like me, were waiting for their pick-ups.

Donny picked up his medium sized suitcase with ease and jogged over to me. He hurriedly put it down on the pavement and dragged me into a wide hug. His iron grip on my back made my eyes widen a little but I dismissed it and hugged him, trying to somewhat match his strength. I was engulfed in his fresh soap-like smell and immediately my mind was swarmed with memories of the two of us, nothing special in particular, just candid stuff we would do before he left for his year-long trip.

"Oh, how lonely and boring it must have been without me," he said melodramatically as he slowly pulled away. I laughed and shoved him off me, gesturing to the car as I spoke.

"Yeah, no, I've never experienced this sort of peace in my life when you were gone."

Donny laughed heartily and sat in the passenger seat as I sat in driver's seat and turned the car on, itching to leave the parking lot or I would have to pay extra. We exited the area as planes flew dangerously low over us. As I drove, Donny was talking about his time in Russia, it was a strange place to go to find your journey and purpose in life and although we- mum, dad and I- questioned it, we were never really against him going for that long. The first few months, he would call frequently and send many pictures of the beautiful country but for a month he would cut all contacts with us then randomly call us again, then go back to being MIA, this went on for six months until eventually, he gave us the news that he was coming back home.

"-We were quite hungry and since, you know, we were so far into the woods we literally had no choice but to hunt," he sat up in his seat and animatedly continued when he was satisfied with the surprised look on my face. "Of course, I didn't know how to but a mate of mine did- he knows everything that guy, he's really talented- he caught a rabbit within fifteen minutes, can you imagine? He also caught a fish and even started the fire for us- he's brutal, an absolute genius, him. It was damn well delicious, too."

"Yeah, I could imagine anything would taste better when you do it all from scratch," I remarked. "So you made friends with the Russians?"

Donny glanced at me and scratched the back of his ear, "something like that, yeah."

Normally that nonchalant comment would go unnoticed by me but the nervousness seeping from the action of scratching behind his ear? I knew my brother for 23 years, so I know when he was lying or at least nervous. I didn't comment on it though, I let it slide this once and smiled just a little.

The rest of the journey back to our parents' home was spent reminiscing and make jokes out of one another. It was a two-hour car journey spent well. Donny fell asleep during the last thirty minutes, so I had some alone thinking time. When Donny was excited as he spoke, he would give out more information than necessary.

For example, when speaking about this waterfall in a rural area, he also mentioned how his friend didn't speak Russian so they had a misunderstanding with one of the tour guides. But what he failed to remember was that during the time he spent in Russia (months ago), he told us no one knew English and it was tough for him. Did he lie to us about going to Russia alone?

I don't see why he would lie, though. Men are strange anyway, I shouldn't bother wasting any energy thinking hard about it.

I looked over at him for a quick second before turning back to the road and sighed a little, sagging my shoulders and putting all my upper weight on the steering wheel. He was a strange man.

There was this sort of innocence radiating off him as he spoke happily but when he held back from saying things a certain way, when he was calculating what to say next, he seemed scheming and cunning. Like there was a bigger reason for hiding things from me and my parents.

I could only hope he would be honoured everywhere he goes and makes a name for himself.