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Epilogue – Brian

I pulled out of my thoughts as the apartment suddenly quieted. Texas was coming toward me with a medium-sized box in his hands, a myriad of emotions crossing his face. He paused when we were a foot apart and held the box out to me. I saw Julia scramble out of Harry’s arms and come over to me. I sat in the chair behind me and Julia climbed up into my lap, eager to see the contents of the box. I lifted the lid and let it fall to the floor.

It was an angel, dressed completely in white, with wings of gold. Her dark hair draped behind her in a style I thought seemed familiar.

“Pretty.” Julia murmured, reaching out and gently touching the angel that was now in my hand.

“It was Precious’ favorite tree decoration.” Texas explained in the softest tone that I’d ever heard him use. “She would always put it on the tree. Her grandmother, Consuelo, gave it to her when she was a child.”

Julia took the angel from me and held it carefully. “Precious pretty angel.”

“That’s right.” I agreed, thinking that she’d meant the angel was pretty. “Precious’ angel’s pretty, isn’t it?”

But I was surprised when Julia shook her head.

“Precious pretty angel,” she said again, looking up at me.

Precious pretty angel? I thought. What is she saying?

Suddenly it dawned on me what Jules was trying to say, and it brought tears to my eyes. I felt a lump begin to form in my throat.

“What did she say?” I heard Nick ask.

I tried to swallow, then explained. “Something that I definitely agree with.” I looked up at everyone. “She said that Precious is a pretty angel. I suppose that this angel is what Precious might look like if we could see her.”

I saw tears in Texas’ eyes, something I’d only seen once before… at her funeral. He wasn’t the only one that held tears, though.

I felt Julia leave my arms and didn’t notice anything until I heard her say “Tree.” I looked over and saw her standing by the Christmas tree, her tiny arms stretched toward the top of the tree, the angel in her hands. I stood and picked her up, lifting her toward the top of the tree so she could place the angel on the top. After two tries, she got it on perfectly.

I held my sister in my arms and just stared at the now-complete Christmas tree. It made the room seem happier somehow, not that it wasn’t already. I could feel the others gather around me, like a silent calling.

Suddenly, Nick broke the silence with an interesting question. “Is… is the gang over?”

I glanced at him, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking at Harry. The rest of us looked up at my brother, waiting to hear his answer.

“Well,” he said after a while, “maybe in the way we used to be, a street gang. With the Cats disbanded and Jason in jail, there’s really no reason for us to be like that. But,” he put a hand on Nick’s shoulder and mine, “there’s no reason why we can’t stay just a gang of friends that hangs out all the time.”

I smiled at my brother as he looked at me. Even if we… well, the Garrisons… had stayed a regular street gang, I wouldn’t carry a weapon. Heck, I’d be spending more time at home with Julia instead of out on the streets. I wasn’t an official member anyway, and I often wondered if I’d been more of a pain in the neck instead of helping.

I made a promise, a New Year’s resolution, dedicated to my angel up in heaven. I’d make more use of my life. I’d find a job and work hard enough so that when I turned eighteen, I could take Julia and live somewhere else. I knew that Harry should be having fun at nineteen, and I often felt guilty for suddenly coming into his life with a newborn baby. But I’d work hard, and I’d see to it that Precious would be proud of me as she looked down on me out of heaven.

Things would be different from now on, and perhaps that promise I’d made to Julia the night of the rumble would actually come true. I prayed it would.