Brothers and Frenemies Chapter 12

Running

There was a crunching of branches. A blur of trees. A heart beating much faster than it should be. Perspiration--enough to drench a shirt. Desperation coming out of the pores as a backpack bounced uncomfortably over the shoulders of a child. A boy. Running trying to get away—escape. The tall trees a blur as he looked behind to see if he was losing them. But he wasn’t. They were right up on him. Screaming at him—laughing.

He somehow looked inside himself for an extra burst of speed. He knew he was much smaller—weaker. There was no way he was going to outrun them. Feeling the uneven ground beneath his feet, he prayed that this time it would be different. He almost slipped as his foot pounded into a muddy part of the trail; the slushing sound was followed by the icky sensation of the substance splashing against his legs. He couldn’t stop though.

Brothers and Frenemies Chapter 11

Problems

“Just get out.” Steven threw Sebastian out of the room so he could hide away with his girlfriend, completely unconcerned that Sebastian’s schoolwork was in there—basically his whole life except for his phone. Sebastian just didn’t get how his brother could be such an asshole. He stormed down the stairs and into the kitchen. His mother looked at him knowing exactly what the issue was. She said nothing though.

“What’s wrong with him? Just a minute or two to grab my school stuff and he could make out with his girlfriend all he wants. And he locked me out.”

“He locked you out—again?”

“Yeah. Threw me out then locked me out. Like he just pushes me around ’cause he’s bigger than me.” He pulled out his phone and texted Bobby. Bobby was apparently having one of those days when other people were not welcome in his house. He didn’t understand Bobby sometimes. He got so into his conversation with Bobby that he didn’t notice his mother had left until he heard her shouting and in record breaking time his brother was in the kitchen fuming with his girlfriend. She was looking a bit flustered. No shock there. His mother had that effect on people.

Brothers and Frenemies Chapter 10

Execution

It had been a few weeks, and in the same way Marcus would do research on a project or the competition he went to work on his plan to make Lisa finally want him. It was going to be the hardest thing he’d ever done. A man who had killed people. Watched fear in the eyes of men and women as he walked by them. Yet he was absolutely terrified of what he was about to do. It was the one thing he knew he might actually not have the ability to do. And that was scary to process.

He had grilled Lisa about so many things that she had been doing a lot of laughing at him. He actually enjoyed being with her in a much more vulnerable place than he did when he was taking his original approach. It was lighter—more fun. Completely free of the underlying tension of hopes she would finally let him stick his penis inside her. If he was really honest, removing that from the equation was proving to show just how much he really liked her.

Brothers and Frenemies Chapter 9

Realisation

Marcus was at the gym doing what he had to do. Burning of his frustration. He had tried a date with Lisa the night before. Went out, had dinner, laughed and everything seemed to go well—until they got back to the house. Arumand was sitting reading a book. He was always doing something like that, reading, drawing, watching the oddest things on television. And gaming. Now that Marcus didn’t find too weird.

Marcus said hi to the sitter, a mutual friend from back in the day, as he left the house. Arumand didn’t take any notice of Marcus, which was just fine by him. The boy had taken to verbally insulting him. His language was colourful for a boy of seven. It had been months. Marcy was looking ready to drop and totally unconcerned about his lack of concern to be a dad. Besides, she didn’t even know if it was his and he was in no hurry to find out. The New Year had just gone by, and Lisa was warming up some water for hot chocolate. She preferred to add cream instead of making it with milk. It was a welcome idea in this steadily growing cold weather.

Brothers and Frenemies Chapter 8

Again

A year later and Marcus found himself yet again under the assault of a small boy. Honestly, this kid was messing with his program. The moment he could convince his mother to take him seriously the child was going straight to boarding school.

“You expecting someone?” Marcus asked as there was a knock at the door.

“Haven’t you been listening? I have a date.”

“A real date?”

“Yes. And Arumand’s coming along.”

Brothers and Frenemies Chapter 7

Marcus

It was dark and at the end of a good rain. Like something out of a movie, Marcus got out of the car and walked down to the dock, his entourage behind him and his rather ruthless sidekick at his side. She was clearly angling to be his wife. That wasn’t going to happen, but he’d be a fool to act like she wasn’t his best asset.

He had just set up a deal for some rather sensitive documents. The person who was supposed to deliver the goods had decided they would take things and sell them on the side for more money. Clearly, the cut Marcus was offering wasn’t enough.

Brothers and Frenemies Chapter 6

Home Life

“How’s my little miracle baby?” Mark's mom had just picked him up from school. Seriously, she smothered him. He tried to be like, “Stop hugging me, Mom,” but he got it. The woman wasn’t supposed to be able to have kids and had a five percent chance of ever getting pregnant again let alone surviving. His mom was a walking miracle herself, on meds for the rest of her life but she was so much more vibrant than women younger and healthier than her.

“I’m fine, Mom. Can I get in the car?” She finally released him and let him hop in the passenger side. She had one more child to pick up. Her daughter was driving age. It had been a year since her independence had started but Mark’s mom still acted like his sister had gone sixteen only yesterday. She greeted her other son with the same enthusiasm. He was much more resistant. This did nothing to deter her.

Brothers and Frenemies Chapter 5

Cooking

Bobby grabbed his favourite stool so he could get to work. He was only eight, so some things were just beyond his reach. Today's menu was something slight, mac and cheese chicken and boiled vegetables. Walking home after school was the norm in these parts. The school was practically in the neighbourhood. What wasn’t quite the norm was a boy of eight cooking a full-scale meal. But it was survival. And, more importantly, his normal. Being so young he had a deep-seated fear that his parents would starve to death if he didn’t feed them.

They were social drunks. They somehow managed to be perfectly sober during working hours then after that just plunge into madness. They only beat on each other. Their friends were enablers, found it funny how they went at each other. It was all their fault. Bobby hated every minute of it, but he wasn’t stupid. Even at his age, he realised his parents weren’t paying rent. They had good jobs, and even being who they were, were steadily climbing the ranks at their company.

Brothers And Frenemies Chapter 4

Brotherhood

Sebastian was sitting in his room, staring at his math homework. Honestly, he didn’t understand why any human with a care for other humans would inflict such torture on humans. All the numbers looked the same to him. Other than counting cash what was the point of all this addition and subtraction and… He threw his book across the room in a fit of rage and decided that finishing off his ice cream that was on the verge of being soup was more important. Ultimately, he ended up drinking it once he realised scooping it was a futile effort.

And then he decided he needed a Coke to wash away the pain. When he finally felt up to the task of doing homework again, he picked up English. More stress. Spelling. He had to memorise words well enough for tomorrow's test. Annoyed. School was torture, and he was too young to be dealing with this shit.

Brothers and Frenemies Chapter 3

Choices

Mary woke up in the hospital, happy to have successfully made it through another pregnancy. Lots of people wondered why she even bothered to have children, why she stayed with her husband. She even questioned it. Looking at him now, happy holding their son, it almost seemed like she had that perfect life she dreamed of. But he hadn’t asked her how she was doing. Didn’t care that even having a child was a miracle in itself. This was the third one, and he was clearly more concerned about the baby than her.

How did things get this bad? When did the man she fell in love with turn into this guy who just liked her because he could show her off? He clearly valued her accomplishments more than he actually valued her. She realised the only reason she stayed was that he was a good father. Not because he was a good man. And children deserved a solid home life. If only she knew that that too wouldn’t last.

Brothers and Frenemies Chapter 2

Jason

Jason walked into the hospital room. His brother had been asleep for quite some time. Attempted suicide. He didn’t even know his brother had issues or why his brother was in here. What was he hiding and why didn’t he tell it or reveal it? How could things have gotten this bad?

He hated this kind of stuff. When things got too psychological and emotional, he didn’t know what to do with himself. He didn’t like feeling as if he had no control. He always lost it when this ‘brain and feels’ stuff got in the way; acted irrational, beyond the behaviour of your typical teenage boy.

Brothers and Frenemies: Chapter 1

Lisa

She watched the flames rise, her heart beating calmly as the smoke left the building. With each toxic breath, she became calmer. More resolved. More sure of herself. She didn’t think of what her actions may have caused and would cause. She didn’t think about much at all. She acted. There was no other choice. No other way to handle the situation.

After a wonderful New Year’s Day service, standing outside a burning building, covered in blood mostly not her own, was not where she thought she’d be. She held her son in her hands; he was just as quiet as she was. Just as calm. Just happy to be with his mother. Not aware really of anything that had happened that day, only that he was finally back in familiar territory.