A Simple Promise

Chapter 2

After that scare, Mario kept an eye on Luigi, especially when he got sick. Otherwise, Luigi grew into a happy, sensitive and very bright and inquisitive eight year old. Mario, now 12 years old, was beginning to show signs of facial hair and was close to hitting puberty. He still loved to tease and play with his baby brother, but he was still fiercely protective of him as well.

One morning, a day after summer vacation began for the two, Luigi and Mario were watching the sports channel to pass the time, and the sport they were watching just happened to be soccer. The graceful yet rough movements of the team players, the fans cheering them on, and all the bright colors caught the boys attention-and made them want to do that at home.

This caused Mario to ask- no, begged- Sylvia for a ball so the brothers could play outside. Finally, after almost two weeks, she finally agreed, under one major rule- not to play soccer ANYWHERE in the house. Their father would have a fit if anything broke. So long as they agreed with that, she allowed them to have the ball, and gave them some money to pick one up from the store.

Shortly after they two got their long awaited present, Mario and Luigi were heading to the supermarket to pick up a few items for their mom and dad. They talked about heading home to change their clothes and play some soccer before it got late and they were to be ready for the Friday night dinner outing they always did.

"So bro?" Luigi asked as they walked.

"Yeah?"

"Where are we getting clothes from? You think Daddy will let us get some?"

Mario shrugged, tossing the ball up in the air and back down again. "Well, yeah I think so. He and Mom were talking about us getting new clothes for like, ever now. What better timing than summer, right?" He glanced at his ever-growing, lanky brother and shook his head.

"Although with the way you're growing... they may have to buy clothes for you every year..." he commented, laughing when his little brother playfully hit him in his arm and pouted.

"Not my fault you're short, bro..." Thankfully, Mario didn't hear the comment, or if he did, he didn't really mind it much. They soon reached their home, and immediately went upstairs to change their clothes. As they headed back down, they called to Sylvia to let her know they would be outside playing. Their mother turned to acknowledge them, but when she saw the two in their sports gear that they had torn and destroyed last summer, she instantly said, "No, No, NO! Those outfits are terrible! Come on, boys. You need some new sports gear."

Mario, ever the boy he was, and also having an issue whenever they had to go clothes shopping, grew very impatient very fast. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he quickly regretted it when Sylvia quickly turned around, fire blazing in her eyes. She knew who groaned, and although Mario knew what was coming next, and he knew he couldn't outrun her, he ran. Mom caught him, though, and she pulled both of Mario's ears. Luigi laughed as Mario cried out, "S-Sorry, Mom! OWWWWWW!"

"You know better and I don't want to hear anymore complaints or that soccer ball isn't going to be used any time soon, giovanotto! Now, move it!" Luigi had to fight to hide his snicker as he followed them both to the car.

She dragged Mario in the car, and Luigi hopped in and shut the door. As Luigi fastened his seat belt, Mario rubbed his ears, which hurt. Luigi struggled to suppress a giggle as Mario gave him a death glare.

"Shut up, runt."

Luigi did, as soon as their mom came in the car, tossed a small pad in the passage seat, and started the engine. Luigi noted how fine she seemed, and suppressed yet another giggle. Mario cut another glare at him but let it slide. He'd get revenge later.

"Now first, you two need some new sports outfits. Afterward, I have to get Luigi's refill for his inhaler, and then I'll drop you two off before I pick some stuff up for dinner. Sounds good?"

"Yeah." the two said together, settling in for the ride. As they headed to Walmart and Sylvia drove over the boulevard, she got a call and placed her Bluetooth on so she could talk while the boys chatted behind her.

"Hey, Weegie. Bet you five bucks you can't see those large red cars in front of us." The older brother smirked as he watched his younger brother lean and strain his neck to see the massive trucks in front of him. Something similar to 'I Spy', except they counted cars with matching colors instead, Mario was currently in the lead with twenty-seven cars... or so he claimed. Luigi only counted seventeen, and that was only because he zoned out sometimes.

"Where?! Where, Mario?" Luigi leaned over to his left so he could see past his mom, and right in front of them were three huge cars. They were all in front of them, from what Luigi and Mario could see, anyway. Luigi gasped; he had never seen cars that big in his life!

"Whoa..." he said, still amazed. For the moment, it seemed like 'I Spy' was out of the question. They looked like those monster trunks he had seen on a commercial recently. Mario settled back, content with winning their counting spree, and watched the fascination spread across Luigi's face.

"When I'm older, that's the kind of car I wanna get. I can drive down the street and run anyone over who gets in my way!" Mario said, getting excited at the thought of a shiny red truck.

"But what about the people INSIDE the cars? Wouldn't you being crushing them, too?" Luigi asked innocently. Mario shrugged and pointed at himself, grinning.

"Nope. Because I wanna be so rich, I can buy one for all our family and friends!" Luigi could see the daydream going through Mario's head and waved his hand in front of his brother's face.

"Hello? Earth to Mario. You there?" Mario looked at him, his eyes lit up. "Luigi...I really wish we could drive right now."

Luigi laughed. "Me too. I wanna go everywhere and see everything."

Sylvia had finished talking on the phone and checked on her sons. "What are you two talking about back here?" she asked.

Luigi smiled. "Mom, when we grow up, we wanna drive and tr...Tra...well, go a lot of places." he answered. Both Mario and Sylvia chuckled at the fact Luigi still had a hard time pronouncing 'travel' correctly. Luigi's face turned red and he pouted, crossing his arms.

"At least I know what it meant..." Mario shook his head and ruffled Luigi's hair. That only made Luigi pout even more, which caused Mario to laugh more until they arrived at Walmart. As soon as she found a good parking spot, Mario and Luigi hopped out the car and locked the door. Then they proceeded to follow their mom to the department store entrance.

Mario and Luigi had one thing on their minds every time they came here: the toy aisle. This time, however, Luigi had something else he wanted to check out. Sylvia extended her hand out to the boys, and Mario and Luigi followed suit. Since Walmart was pretty big and Luigi was still fairly young, she bought them watches that synced off at a set time she choose. They knew to come back to the checkout line, and she always stuck to the same three- numbers 5, 6 or 7, to make it easy should they get lost.

Knowing what they were going to do, Sylvia simply said, "Make sure your watches are synced."

Mario and Luigi checked them, Sylvia double-checked them, and the two brothers ran off. They looked down at their watches and noted they had about an hour to find what they wanted. They were always excited every time they came here, and who could blame them? Toys were everywhere! At least, to Mario.

Mario halted in front of one of the newer toys, a Transformers robot. He had asked his dad if he could have a reward when they got their report cards. Of course, they were each getting a toy-and a bike. Mario walked down further, stopping every once in awhile to check out anything new or something he never really noticed before.

"Hey, Weegie. Isn't this-" Mario paused. His brother wasn't there. Wasn't Luigi supposed to be right behind him? He ran out the toy aisle, but he still didn't see him.

"Luigi? Where are you?" he called. He started to walk down a bit further past the toy aisle, and then stopped. He remembered that there was an art aisle a few paces back, not far past the toy section. Having no idea as to why he was remembering that, but also having no idea as to where to start looking, Mario wheeled around and ran back up.

His hunch was right. About fives aisles away from the toys, Mario spotted his brother staring at a vast collection of colored pencils, markers and other stationary items. Luigi's forehead was scrunched in thought as he stared hard, looking for his special pack.

"Luigi! Mom said we're supposed to stay together!" Mario said as he approached him. Luigi looked at his brother briefly before returning to staring at the markers and pens.

"I know, Mario, I know. But I wanted to ask Mom if she'll buy this for me. I'm trying to find a good pen set to go with it."

Luigi walked a bit further down, to the fine and extra fine point sets, frowning as he kept searching. "But I can't... find the darn thing..." Luigi mumbled in slight annoyance.

Mario sighed, his brother ever growing into a huge artistic nerd, and shrugged as he followed him. As much as he wanted to stare at the toys until the store closed, he didn't want to leave Luigi by himself, even though Luigi was a bit too busy worrying about finding pens.

"I'll help, if you want." Luigi was a bit surprised- Mario wasn't a big stationary enthusiast, and he figured he'd be okay until their watches went off.

"I-It's okay. I thought you wanted to go look at the newest toys." Mario shrugged, and picked up a pen set, nonchalantly reading the back of the package.

"Don't worry. The toy I want isn't here yet. So I'll help you out for now." Luigi wasn't sure if Mario was telling the truth, but he was sure glad his brother didn't poke fun at him for wanting pens.

"Thanks, Mario." Mario smiled back, putting the package of pens away. "Nessun problema, fratello." The two stared a bit more in front of them before Mario realized- he had no clue what kind of pens his geeky brother wanted.

"... say, Weegee... what kind of pens were you looking for?"

Luigi laughed at the forgetfulness of his brother. "I forgot the name, but the pack I want is extra fine and has like, nine different colors. It was really nice. Dad already said I could get a color pencil set after report cards come out."

The whole time, Mario was looking for the pens, until he came across a Sharpie pen set that had over ten colors. "Hey Weege, how about these? It has …twelve pens in it." Mario handed it to Luigi. Luigi's eyes lit up when he saw them.

"And they're cheap! Don't know if it was these but they look awesome! Thanks, Bro!" Luigi smiled and gave his brother a hug, and Mario was glad. He actually had to thank the fact that the toy he wanted never arrived. Just then, a beeping sound was heard.

"Come on. Mom should be at the checkout place by now." "Okay."

As they hurried down, Mario asked, "Hey Weege, since when did you like to draw?"

Luigi's face tinted red with embarrassment. "Since last year. I'll show you some drawings when we get home." Mario found it strange that he had never seen any of his brother's drawings. He decided to ask his mom and dad later.

They met their mom, who was in line. "I found the cutest outfits for you two. You're going to love it! And I got your refill, Luigi." Luigi showed her the sketchbook and pens and asked, "Mom, will you get this for me? Please?

Sylvia sighed, knowing that Luigi's adorable face wouldn't allow her to say no, and said, "Sure, honey. What about you, Mario?" Mario shook his head and threw his arm about his brother's shoulders, grinning at him.

"Nah. Luigi's sharing." Luigi realized that since Mario helped him look for the pens, he should be allowed to use them, even though he didn't think he would- he wanted to play with his toys when they finally came out. Toys and soccer and video games. But still, Mario helped him, so it was good enough for him.

"Yeah, he's right. We'll share!"

A few minutes later, once they were in the car, Luigi asked, "Bro, do you still want to play soccer?" Mario leaned back and looked at the clock. It was a quarter past four.

"Yeah, if Dad says its okay, anyways."

"Well, your father should be home soon, and dinner's on him tonight, so let's head back, okay?" Sylvia said as she pulled out of the parking lot, and soon the trio were headed for home.

As Mom drove along the freeway, and with Mario snoring away next to him, Luigi looked out the window, his new items clutched tightly in his arms. He was excited; school was almost done for the year, Dad was going to take him shopping for his new colored pencils, and he and Mario were going to have an awesome summer. He could feel it!

Smiling to himself, he thought, 'I'm really going to enjoy this summer. I know it.'