the window is shattered and he’s long gone. The floor is littered with broken records. A policeman picks up one of the smooth vinyl shards and rubs his thumb across the grooves.
The brother has left the house and what remains is the broken window and records on the floor. The policeman examines the location and what evidence there is. The author shows imagery through describing what the room looks like and how the records feel on someone's fingers.
our rooms are in the basement separated by one thin wall. My bed is against the wall and at night I can hear him listening to his music. He listens on headphones but the volume’s so loud I hear everything
The author is able to create this image in the reader's head about how the brothers are so close, but still separated by a wall. They are able to hear each other through the wall and understand what the other person may be listening to.
I listen very hard and press my hand against the wall.
This quote makes you think about when you concentrate on something so hard and when you're just in the moment. When the writer describes how the character presses his hand against the wall while he listens closely.
I go back to my room where the carpet is red and cut into pictures of bricks. I hop on the bricks and play with my dolls—stuffed unicorns and bears and rabbits, all with the same tea-stained mouths.
This section is going back into the writer's memory about his brother. He is remembering the location he was in and what he did. The red carpet is a visual representation of his emotions towards this memory.
He glances at the album covers strewn across the bed and chooses one, flips it open, shakes his head. There’s this smile on his face
This imagery is easy to visualize because the writer describes the way he moves towards the bed and what he can see. I describes the things he's doing and what he's thinking.