Close Friends (Brian)

Brian

 I feel a deep affection for these people on the island with me.  Darcy, Brian, and Jeremy have become my closest friends ever, each in their own and unique way.  Darcy understands me like no other, and I confide everything to her, and she to me.  Brian, who is only three years older than I, has the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known, with perhaps the exception of Dr. Jim.  When I need compassion, I go to Brian.  In a silly way, he reminds me of the Tin Man.  His quiet disposition gives way to a tenderness of soul, a friend who is serene enough to truly listen and not judge.

“Brian, does Tariq scare you?” I asked him one day when it was just he and I sitting in Central Lodge.  It was an hour before dinner, and it was raining hard.  “I mean, Tariq being your boss and all.  When you’re preparing meals with him in the kitchen, does his constant carrying on scare you?”

“Well, he used to scare me a lot at first, and he still does kind of.”  Brian adjusted his shirt over his large stomach and pushed back his curly blond hair.  “But mostly, Tariq is just full of hot air, kind of like Earl."

We were both half–laying half–sitting on the same couch at opposite ends with our knees bent, our sneakers touching in the middle of the couch.   

“Why?  Does Earl scare you?” Brian asked.

"He used to, at first,” I said.  “But I’m getting used to him.”  

 I lightly kicked Brian.  He kicked me back.  Then we kicked each other about twenty times.