Brent was closest to Blake. It was his brother. Brent and Blake grew up together. They have memories of their childhood together and things to reminisce about. Brent remembers that Blake was curious and accidentally fired a gun. Luckily, the gun backed away and jammed the hammer into the net between his thumb and forefinger. This accident left a scar between those two fingers. But when Blake became a drug dealer, he abandoned his brother before his death. Brent has become heartless to the point that: “I told myself to feel for the sake of hearing. I had already mourned Blake and buried him…I skipped the funeral” (Staples,408). Brent probably knew his brother more than anyone. Brent throws away all the memories they shared because Blake was a drug dealer. I understand that Blake was ignoring his brother's warnings and it was making him frustrated, but that's not a valid excuse for not attending your brother's funeral. The thing that broke this bond was the fact that his brother was a drug dealer and that was his closest family member's need to abandon him