DAY 23 OF OC-TOBER: Tito Romero

He felt like a failure.

He was the older brother. He had a certain responsibility for his younger brother. To be his protector from people who tried to take him away and from the nightmares of the incidents years later. To hold him close on their shared bed as he hummed lullabies to soothe him to sleep. To then teach him how to play his guitar, which would later become his to decorate and tune up. To look after him and give him advice, that his brother listened with a nod. Until Antonio started to grow up and do things his own way. To then rebel against his older brother and become more distant, which made Tito upset by this change of behavior. How laughter turned into screams and slammed doors. How hugs turned into being pushed away and glared at. How there were no longer whispered words just between them, only with his friends he spent more and more time with.

And how, on that night, Tito regretted ever taking those few minutes to not care out of frustration. Maybe he would’ve been there in time to save Antonio from danger once more. His baby brother. Who, no matter where they moved, or how bad their living situation got, always made Tito felt like he’s at home. Now nothing feels like home. Their house has become a holder of family albums with pictures of memories and feelings of guilt. And this guitar, now returned back to him, feels heavy in his shaken hands.

• Tito Romero the Mexican Wolf
• Artwork
-- Belongs to Radical-Alex