Care

Gene made two flights that day. They were brief, and only required him to fly for about three hours there and back. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary for him. The skies were clear and blue as the airplane trembled slightly. He'd tried to take Annabelle with him on several occasions, but every time he did, she'd start fretting and worrying about how high up they were. He looked down at the brown and green fields that covered southern Texas. The high and low spots of airflow made the plane lurch and rise on occasion, though they weren't really anything to worry about. Mrs. Dwight's voice came in through his headset while he was still an hour away from home, making sure that everything at the other airfield was up to snuff.
     "They should've sent you an email saying that I already did the inspection."
     "I would've seen that!" Replied Mrs. Dwight, but a few seconds later, he heard her speak again. "Seems you were right. Just checked the inbox. Carry on."
     "Yes ma'am."
     His job was relatively simple. 
     Mrs. Dwight's husband owned a small collection of airfields throughout southern Texas. He'd created his own airline company, offering cheap flights to anywhere he had a claim. Gene had found out about the company when his mother and Mrs. Dwight got into a conversation at church a few years ago. The Dwights had been the ones to pay for Gene's flight training, and they'd given him his first job as a pilot for their company.
     They'd since promoted him to quality inspector, which meant that he would fly to their various airfields and make sure everything was up to their standards of customer service. He still flew clients around, but that took up less of his time than it used to.
     By the time he'd finished putting the plane away and was walking back into Mrs. Dwight's office, his phone buzzed. He checked it quickly as he approached the metal doors of her office. It was from his father.
     "Your sister got another letter; she wants you to come over ASAP." 
     He shook his head and put his phone back into his pocket as he stepped into Mrs. Dwight's office.
     "Anything else you need today ma'am?" He asked politely.
     Mrs. Dwight briefly looked up from her desk at Gene, then looked back down.
     "You're free to go for today Southwell."
     "Thank you ma'am." He turned and left.
     The drive to his parents' house was the same as ever. He'd turn past the gas station, drive along the empty country roads, pass by a dairy farm, then drive through a series of mismatched roads that the GPS didn't even recognize. Once he pulled into their dirt driveway, he saw Annabelle sitting on the porch, waiting for him.
     "You're excited." He said with a smirk as he stepped past Annabelle into the house. He gave her a pat on the head and ruffled her hair. She stayed completely still as he did so, but once his hand left her head she immediately smoothed her hair back down.
     After greeting his parents, he and Annabelle went back into her room and shut the door.
     "Alright, hand it over." He said as he leaned against the wall near her window.
     Annabelle gazed longingly at the letter, then passed it to her older brother slowly. Once he held it in his hands, he shifted it around a little.
     "Thank you for not opening it." He said sincerely as he opened the envelope and started speed-reading it.
     Anna plopped herself onto her bed and let her hair fall down one side of it in a wavy black cascade. She looked up at her brother as he scanned the letter from her favorite idol. She watched as her brother's face relaxed slightly.
     "Okay. It looks all good to me." He cleared his throat, then started reading it aloud.
     "Dear Annabelle and Gene Southwell. Thank you both for being so kind to me. I'm very thankful that you said I can send as many letters to you as I want, and I would like to extend the same invitation to you. It's very nice to know that there are people out there who care about what I have to say, even if what I'm saying isn't a music video or anything like that. So... here's how my day has been. This morning, Mukashi took me to another recording session for 'Heaven Sent' but even though I did everything right, I don't think the director was happy with how it turned out, so tomorrow we're going to be doing another recording session for it. Also..."
     So he read the letter.
     He'd stop whenever Annabelle told him to, and he would watch with a smile as his sister asked him to clarify what certain words meant or what was going on. The experience of reading to her, in and of itself, was very nice. 
     There were even a few moments where he'd read it and imagine what Miya was doing. 
     He thought about what she must have looked like when she was doing recordings. Did her hair bounce and sway, or was it kept in place somehow? Did anyone know what color her eyes really were? Was her normal voice different from her singing voice?
     Then the letter ended.
     Gene felt, slightly, disappointed. 
     "Can we tell her about our day?" 
     Gene looked down at the letter in his hands thoughtfully.
     "She, uh, probably wouldn't care to hear about-"
     "She said we could send her letters too." 
     Gene bit his lip and turned to look out the window of Annabelle's bedroom. At the edge of their parents' property, there was a line of dry shrubs and old trees that marked where the neighbor's property began. 
     He didn't want to admit it, but he kind of wanted to send letters back too.
     He sighed and put his hands on his hips.
     "I guess it'd be a bit rude not to." He said as he pulled out his phone and opened his note taking app. "What do you wanna tell her about?" He sat down on her bed next to her.
     Annabelle nodded thoughtfully.
     "Yesterday, I saw a hawk flying over the house." She said calmly. "It was as big as two or three chihuahuas, and it kept flying in circles really slowly."
     "Why didn't you tell me about this?" Gene asked, a little surprised.
     "Because you already fly."
     Gene took notes while his sister talked about what she'd been up to recently. She told him about frogs and lizards and school. She told him about how she'd nearly gotten into a fight with a thirteen year old during lunch, and about how their parents had argued about whether or not to replace the couch in the living room.
     Once she was done talking, he looked at the notes skeptically.
     "Anna, all of this stuff is..." He looked at the list he'd made again and sighed. "Never mind. I'll write it all out when I get home, okay?" He stood up off the bed, put the phone back in his pocket, and started walking towards the bedroom door.
     "What about your day?"
     Gene stopped in the doorway. He turned to look over his shoulder at her.
     "What about it?"
     "Aren't you gonna tell her about it?"
     Gene sighed quietly.
     "There's nothing to say." He stated.
     "Yes there is." Annabelle replied bluntly.
     "I'm not a fan of hers."
     "She sent the letter to both of us."
     Gene bit his lip.
     "These are your letters. This is your favorite K-Pop idol. Not mine."
     Annabelle stood up from her bed with surprising speed, then marched right up to her brother and looked him in the eyes. She had a very serious expression on her face. Her hands were on her hips as her big blue eyes gazed through him.
     "So you don't care about her at all?"
     He didn't respond.
     Annabelle looked up at her brother. She could tell he was trying to look tough.
     "Fine. A little." He admitted. "I care about what happens to her a little bit."
     Annabelle nodded, satisfied. 
     "Good." She walked back over to her bed and threw herself onto it. Gene rolled his eyes and smiled as he stepped out of her bedroom and walked out of his parents' house.
     Once he turned his pickup truck on, he took a moment to breath.
     The stars weren't out yet, but it was getting somewhat dark. The light of the sun was dimming as seven pm went on longer and longer. He held the key in the ignition and listened as the sound of the engine drowned out the silence. 
     He wasn't a fan of K-Pop. 
     But for some strange reason, he cared about what happened to some random blue-haired woman on the other side of the world.