“Mel… Mel, wake up!” shouted Dwight. Mel didn’t even bother to open an eye as she murmured for Dwight to go back to sleep. She was nowhere near ready to get up; it felt like they had gone to bed only a couple hours ago.
It had been a long night that originally started out as a classy dinner date with Dwight’s closest friend Damon and his wife Gina and ended up turning into a whiskey-induced karaoke contest between the two couples.
“Get up, you’re going to want to see this!” said Dwight. Mel ignored him and tried to go back to sleep although she was a beginning to grow a little curious deep down inside. It was very rare Dwight, a normally monotone and even keeled guy, sounded this excited.
“Mel, just look!” Before she knew it, he yanked the covers off her, jumped on top of her like an excited kid on Christmas morning, and shoved something in her face that was definitely made of leather by the smell of it.
“Do you remember this?” Mel could barely see since she had once again fallen asleep in her contacts. They were technically contacts made for one day use, but Mel was a budgeteer and always stretched her one-year supply to make it last three or four years. She rubbed her eyes for several seconds before she could finally make out what he was holding. The item that drummed up so much excitement from Dwight appeared to be just a little leather notebook.
“Sure” she said, clearly unamused. She recognized now that it was the little black book his second eldest brother, Toney, had given him as a gift when they parted ways in Texas.
Dwight spent over year in Texas, helping Toney through what they referred to as a rough patch, which was really drug abuse, mental illness, and an addiction to scratch off lottery tickets. Dwight received a call one day from concerned relatives that his brother couldn’t hold down a job anymore, and that he had officially burned bridges with all his friends and family in Texas. He was also becoming increasingly paranoid each day that the Asian Mafia was out to get him. Most of his friends and family were deemed untrustworthy as his paranoia led him to think they were in cahoots with the Asian Maria. Although there were still two family members who were barely willing to let him stay with them, Toney refused since he no longer trusted them.
Without hesitation, Dwight immediately went to Texas once he heard what was going on. He was the only person left that Toney semi-trusted. The trip around the world that he and Mel had planned and saved up for was now postponed until further notice. He worked diligently and delicately with Toney to get him into a treatment program, and to get him to stick with it. Some days, most days, he had to fight tooth and nail just to get his brother out of bed in the morning. It was exhausting to say the least. Dwight spent all the money he had ever saved in his life on his brother’s treatment program, their extended stay hotel, and food, a lot of food. Every single day he was amazed at how much his brother could eat. Dwight himself had won a couple eating contests back in college, but his brother could put him to shame any day. Dwight would be woken up between three and four every morning by the sound of Toney rummaging through the fridge and cupboards looking for more food. Eventually, things settled down with Toney and Dwight began to see vast improvement in his mental health and behavior. He continued treatment, took his medication, mended relationships with his family, and even made a decent amount of money day trading which shocked the whole family, and was able to pay for some of his rehabilitation costs. He eventually began working and was able to hold down a decent job. He also started dating someone he met at group therapy. For the first time in his life, Toney seemed genuinely happy and healthy.
When Dwight was finally leaving Texas to head back to California, Toney gifted him a little black book with his name embossed on the front.
Dwight hadn’t thought much of it and shoved it into his backpack without even opening it.
It hadn’t been a great time for Dwight to up and leave his life in California for an undetermined amount of time. His dream of leaving the corporate world and starting his own gaming company was finally coming to fruition right at he heard the news of his brother. But he went without hesitation. Mel admired that he did what he needed to do for his brother without ever considering it to be a burden. She often thought to herself that he was determined to be the man of the family ever since his dad left when he was young. And he pretty much was, even though he was the youngest of four boys.
“Well open it!” said Dwight, nudging her excitedly. Mel laughed out loud because he had the biggest grin she had ever seen, and she loved the adorable, child-like look on his face. It was such a rare sight to see him this excited. As she blinked a few times, still trying to fully wake up, she grabbed the little black book from his hands. She noticed the word “gratuiti” engraved on it and asked what it meant. Dwight told her it was Latin for “selfless”. Mel thought that was the sweetest thing his brother could have called him, because it was the most accurate description of Dwight.
“That’s really sweet, honey.”, she said as she gave him a little kiss on the tender spot of his neck.
“No, look under the flap.” he said as he rolled his eyes, clearly becoming antsy for Mel to find out what he was talking about and join him in his excitement. Under the small flap in the very back, there was a winning scratch off lottery ticket for $20,000.
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The Habit Nobody Applauded
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