Unspoken

"Okay, what? You don't put half and half in your coffee, you put in quarter and quarter? Come on dude, life's too short! Live it up!"

Raymond felt like he'd had this same conversation with his brother a hundred times. "You don't have a heart thing. So, easy breezy for you." Raymond knew his defense wouldn't discourage his younger sibling, it never did.

"You don't have a 'heart thing' either, bro!" Harlan was in full denial, and probably didn't care. It's simply what he needed to do.

Everyone handles loss differently. Neither brother was ready to lose their dad last year, when a routine appendectomy went very wrong. Somehow, their quietly strong mother kept them all together.

Harlan cannot acknowledge his older brother's serious but managed heart condition, and both understand why. It goes unspoken, but the fear is named.