oh brother

Writing ex – 9/3/08: 6m – 1425 (54m)
“But I have untold thousands more years” to bother you. If I stop now, look at all the teasing and humiliation I will take from you, the thousands and millions of laughs I’ll have at your expense.”
“You’re such a jerk. I don’t want to look at you right now. You’re stupid face makes me want to throw up.
“Well if I’m a jerk it’s only because I’ve had to put up with you for so long. I mean who wouldn’t want to tease someone as stupid as you.”
“I hate you.” Paul stormed out of the room, down the hall, the stairs and into the kitchen to grab some cookies. He sat at the table in silence, munching on his cookie, trying with the first bite to transfer his pain into the cookie, and then looking unsatisfied as the taste of the cookie allowed him to feel good, but not good enough. I don’t want a brother. He never does anything good for me. All he ever does is push me around, tease me, take my stuff and break it. Sometimes I just wish he were dead.Paul finished the cookie and chewed, staring at the light brown grain on the table, a small scattering of crumbs on the table under his face. What would I do if he were dead? I don’t think I would stay happy for that long. I bet I would miss him sometimes. Ok, maybe I don’t want him to die, maybe I just want him to feel what I feel right now, to know what it’s like to live in fear and hatred of someone you should be the opposite of in closeness.
Sam walked in the kitchen, his bare feet smacking on the floor. Paul stared with a sense of defensiveness, Sam a curiousity, though Paul could not tell if it was because Sam was curious how Paul was feeling, or curious because he was looking for a weakness to attack. They remained locked as Sam walked past Paul to the counter. He uncorked the jar and took one of the cookies from the top. He analyzed how to bite it so he’d get a whole m&m.
“You know.” He bit down. Chewing, “we make really good brothers some times.” He smiled and looked over at the look on Paul’s face, a vision of perfect confusion and disagreement. He swallowed. “I mean, we make really good brothers because we fight so well. I’m sure all brothers fight like this. I bet fighting is just as much a trait of brothers as it is to be loving friends. In fact, I bet most brothers our age with a few years apart fight just as much if not more than we do.”
“Lucky them.” Paul shot in to pierce him with his lack of interest. “You should teach a class then, if you’re such a role model.”
“Ha. That was a good one. Only if you’ll come along and let me give nuggies in front of the class.” Sam said as he jumped over, slid his left arm around Paul’s neck, turned behind him and gently rubbed his knuckle on Paul’s head. “You know I give the best nuggies in town.”
“Stop it!” Paul bit down on Sam’s forearm.
“Oww!” I was just jokin around”.
Paul threw Sam’s arm off of his neck. “You’re always joking around.” He stood up and pushed the chair back with his butt, it tipped over slaming on the tile. “I never asked you to joke around with me like that, so why do you think you can? Some day I’m gonna be bigger than you, and I’m gonna give you one heck of a nuggie!” He stood with a rigid finger pointing at his face. “So bad your hair el fall out and every where you go people are gonna be like, “What happened to your head?” (his finger down, mimicking the people’s questioning faces) and you’ll be like “Well, I uh, my little brother’s not so little anymore” (a face mocking retardation), “and uh, he’s making up for all the times I was a total jerk face” he shouted.
“A total jerk face…” Sam mocked, smiling as he shook his head back and forth at each word, coming closer to Paul’s face with each one.
“Yeah, you jerk head!” He pushed Sam back with his finger on his forehead. “And don’t you forget it!”
“Boys?” Their mom turned the kitchen light on, to which they all squinted – Paul covering his eyes with the blue sleeve of his superman pajamas.
“Moommm…It’s too bright.”
“Well, maybe you should’ve thought of that before you got me out of bed.” She leaned down to pick up the chair off its side. She set it upright and slid it under the table. “What’s going on? Were you fighting?” She stood between them, reaching down and guiding them in with each hand on their heads.
“Paul, were you picking on your older brother again.”
“What!” He turned his head up to look at her face, though it was covered by the hand she was resting on his head, now on his face. She smiled, “what’s a matter Superman, can’t see me?”
“Psh” He swung his hand and hit her wrist.
“Hey, that hurt. Be nice to mommy. I’m the one that made those cookies I see you’ve both gotten into.” She smiled as she looked at the crumbs on Sam’s face. “Now what’s going on here for real?”
“He’s been really mean to me. He gave me a nuggie and then he chocked me!”
“Sam.”
“But, I was just joking. We were playing. He made a joke about how I was so mean I should teach a class, so then I showed him what I would teach them. I was only practicing. I didn’t do it for real.” He looked down at the lines between the tile, then at his toes as he wiggled them up and down.
She lifted his chin with her finger. “How’d you like me to practice some nuggies on you without your asking?”
“Yeah mommy, do it! Do it real hard! Make his hair fall out and his brains too!”
She let out a slight giggle. “No Paul, I’m not really going to give him a nuggie.”
“Ahh, come on! He deserves it!”
“Maybe, but we don’t always get what we deserve now do we. Sometimes we have to show a little grace.”
Sam smiled, then wrinkled his nose at Paul. “Ha!”
“But that doesn’t mean you won’t say you’re sorry.”
He kept his wrinkle… “srry”.
“No, Sam.” She placed her hand under his chin and a thumb around his cheek. “Show me a smile,” hanging on the last word as she waited for him to budge, only to resort to tickling him on his neck with her forefinger. “There you go.” He laughed a bit.
“No fair.”
“Don’t you remember. Life’s not always fair.”
He gave his own wrinkle to her cheerful gaze, but couldn’t hold it long, as she knelt in and tickled his tummy.
“Hey, no fair, he was the one being a jerk head.”
“Paul Jones, you don’t call people names, especially you’re brother. He loves you very much. So much that he’s going to make you pancakes tomorrow for breakfast.” She gasped and shot a glance at a similar hole in Sam’s mouth.
“But-”
“Ha! You’re gonna make me a hundred million pancakes!”
“Aw, isn’t that cute, you just volunteered to make him bacon to go with those hundred million pancakes. That was nice Paul,” she grabbed him around the waist and tickled his side. She took Sam by the waist and yanked him to her side as well, tickling his ribs.
“Well you boys better get cookin, you might have to stay up all night preparing all those pancakes and bacon strips.”
“Nooo” Paul said shaking with laughter.
“Ok, get to bed. But I don’t want to hear about any more name calling or nuggie fighting.” She kissed Paul’s head, then spanking his bottom, “Now get!” He jumped a bit then ran around the corner and up the stairs. She leaned down to kiss Sam’s cheek, but he twisted and wretched his face.
“Ew, no mommy cuties!”
“Ok buster,” she turned and spanked his bottom, shooting him into his jog to his room.
-
“Sam.”
“Yeah.”
“I forgive you for being a total jerk face.”
Sam laughed under his breath.
“Yeah, I suppose I forgive you too, you and your hundred million pancakes.”
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, brother.” I love you Sam.
“brother.” love you too Paul.