My gaze traveled over my stepbrother with his baggy T-shirt and sweatpants, his boyish features and tousled hair. He was a good-looking person who certainly had no trouble with sexual conquests. The proof was in the numerous holes carved into his bedroom wall from that overused headboard. But the playful spark in his eyes seemed fabricated—a well-crafted veil for everything stored behind the ruse. Gabe was happy-go-lucky, but I didn’t believe he was truly happy. The women, the alcohol, the drugs…they were all vices to temper his loneliness. Therefore, his opinion felt invalid to me.
