Brian and Crane had let the other guys hit the head first since they were late for school, and the bathroom was in shambles when Brian finally got in there. Towels, toothbrushes, and water littered every surface. While he wasn't exactly known for neatness, since Hannah moved in and got some control of the house, Brian realized he liked finding things in their right place. Being able to locate what he wanted when he needed it had cut down on wasted time and effort. Looking at the mess left by his brothers, Brian decided to get out of there with a minimum of cleaning. He threw the towels in the tub after a quick swipe of the floor. Hannah would do a much better job anyway. She put Brian's best efforts to shame at every turn.
Unfortunately, he must have missed a puddle or two. Even worse, the bathroom door opened just as he started to slide, putting it in the wrong place when he tried to grab hold. Instead, as the door opened, it knocked his balance off even more, and there was no way to recover. His arms flailed as his feet scrambled for purchase, and down he went, whacking his hand on the sink as he fell.
"Crane! Geez! What're ya trying to do, kill me?!"
"You've been in here forever, Brian!"
"Aaahh! Dammit!" Stabs of pain shot up his arm. Brian held his hand to his chest and tried to keep from yelling.
"Let me see. C'mon, let me see!"
Brian jerked away. "No way!"
"Brian!"
Finally, he relented, "Careful." Damn, it hurt!
Crane was gentle, but the problem was easy to diagnose. Even Brian could see it. Crane was matter-of-fact, "You're thumb's dislocated. I can pop it back in."
Huh-uh. Not a chance. "No way!"
"I can fix it."
Brian lifted one brow skeptically, "Ya ever done it before?"
"No, but—"
"You're not practicing on me!"
"Quit being such a baby!"
"This is my right thumb, man, and I'm not gonna be your guinea pig!"
Crane started to laugh. "Then you're gonna have to see Meade or go to the ER." Maybe figuring Brian wouldn't insist…but figuring wrong.
"Fine, let's go."
"Brian, it's pouring!"
"It's my thumb! You're driving!"
Crane just blinked, clearly stunned, but Brian was adamant. Crane rolled his eyes but finally left the bathroom with Brian following. "Hannah, I gotta take Brian to Doc Meade's!"
She was still in her robe as she hurried to the bottom of the stairs, her hair messy from where she'd rolled out of bed. "What happened?"
Crane might've tried to hide the sarcasm. "He fell—"
"He pushed the bathroom door into me, and I fell!"
"His thumb is dislocated. I could reset it, but—"
"You're not touching my thumb! For all I know, you don't even remember how to do it right!"
Crane bit his lip, "We'll take the Jeep."
Hannah eyed Brian carefully, "It'll be wet…"
Crane breathed heavy and pursed his lips. "I'll go put the top on and try to dry it off."
Hannah watched as Crane left and then turned to Brian as he tried to keep from groaning. Her voice was tentative, "I'll get you an ice pack."
SB4SB
Daniel shook his head, and drops of water went flying, causing Evan to flinch back.
"Hey, cut it out!"
Daniel bit down on his grin. He couldn't help teasing Evan. Every opportunity had to be seized. Kind of his job as big brother. Of course, Evan took advantage of the same whenever possible. His job as little brother. Daniel expected nothing less.
What a day. First, they all overslept, leading to a shower lasting about fifteen seconds, running the toothbrush through his mouth, pulling on clothes, and flying out the door as Troy was about to drive off. Thankfully, Hannah had their jackets and books ready. Wait a second… Daniel looked at the books on Evan's lap. "You got my stack."
"No, I don't— Wait. This is yours, but geometry's mine."
Daniel looked at his own books as Evan handed him history. "Civics is you." The books must have gotten mixed up last night or this morning.
They ran through the parking lot toward school. They were wet despite slickers, and they'd be damp for a while given the chilly weather. Inside, they headed down the hall. He and Evan shared a locker because of its convenient, central location. Daniel's girlfriend, Jennifer Clapp, was waiting as they approached.
"How ya doing?" He started to give her a peck on the cheek, but she pulled away.
"Don't even think about it! You're a jerk, Daniel!"
"What'd I do?" What had he done? He couldn't remember anything…
"I just found out about that woman at the club Saturday night!"
"What woman?"
"Lucy Templeton was there."
"So?"
"So she saw you!"
"Saw me what?" Daniel had no idea what she was talking about.
Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Lucy saw you talking to that woman at the bar. And she told Janet Samuels. Janet told Sharon Knight who told Lisa Page. And Lisa told me. And they've all told pretty much everyone they know! So now it's all over school that you made a fool out of me! How dare you humiliate me like this?!"
Daniel was still trying to figure out what woman he'd talked to. Saturday, the band had played a place on Route Four called The Chuck Wagon. What woman…? "Wait, you mean at the bar?"
Jenn's smile could only be called a smile in the most generous definition. "Yes. At the bar."
"No, see, she was just complimenting the band."
"Of course, she was. How stupid do you think I am?!"
Daniel sputtered, "I don't think your stu—"
"I don't need this, Daniel! Why don't you just forget it?! And forget my phone number while you're at it! We're done!" She tossed her head as she stalked off to join her friends.
"But, Jenn—" The lady really had been telling Daniel that she liked the band. He hadn't done anything wrong!
"You handled that like a real pro." Evan leaned in to offer his two bits.
Daniel was in no mood for his brother's mouth. Idiot just wanted to say 'I told you so.' Daniel flashed a murderous look. "Do ya see my face?"
Evan was fighting a grin as he nodded.
"This is the look that means, 'Shut up already!'"
Evan stared at the floor and clamped his lips tight. Geez, Daniel had to get dumped in front of his little brother?! He shoved Evan into the lockers and stormed off. Behind him, he heard Evan laughing. "Ah, c'mon, Daniel! C'mon! I didn't mean it!" Yeah, he didn't mean it even as he couldn't stop giggling.
Rotten day.
Since Daniel never actually stopped at their locker, he was still carrying all his homework and wearing his slicker as he stormed into homeroom. Ronnie grabbed his sleeve as he passed. "Hey, Jeff called last night. Gig's off this weekend."
"What? Why?"
"Morris called and said he had a chance to book the Red Bigelow Band, so he's gonna go with them."
"But we had a deal!"
Ronnie shrugged, "If you had a chance to get Red Bigelow or us, who would you go with?"
Daniel forced out a frustrated breath. "That's not even funny, Ronnie."
"But true."
Daniel glanced around and realized that several classmates were looking at him…but trying to act like they weren't. Jenn dumping him must be making the rounds already. And now this. "But we had a deal for this weekend!" Daniel felt the need to insist.
Ronnie shrugged again, "We had an agreement. That can be broken by him or us. And he did."
Daniel grimaced in frustration. Just great. He threw himself into his seat and tried to get his temper under control. They overslept, he was wearing wet clothes, and his girlfriend dumped him. Now, this weekend's gig was off. And Evan. Getting humiliated was bad enough but for his brother to laugh about it felt like betrayal. Rat!
SB4SB
Adam stopped the truck in front of the elementary school. Guthrie just sat there. Adam looked at him expectantly, "Well?"
Guthrie didn't move. "Aren't you coming with me?" He sounded terrified.
Adam knew he wasn't perfect. And he knew his brothers realized that. But he still didn't go out of his way to make himself look like a complete idiot in front of them. And if he went in with Guthrie, that was likely to happen. "Aren't you big enough to explain this yourself?"
"Uh-huh."
"So, what're you waiting on?"
"You."
Adam slowly blew out a deep breath. The problem was that Guthrie's principal was Inez F. Potterfeld. She was Adam's fourth grade teacher and then taught Brian for sixth. The woman had to be a hundred years old 'cause she'd also been their father's teacher at some point. To Adam's knowledge, the only McFadden she thought had any value as a student was Crane. Of course, she was principal by then, and he hadn't gone to her office for discipline. Daniel and Evan had both been sent on occasion—frequently together—and that just reinforced her low opinion of the whole family. Ford also escaped her wrath, but that may have been because she seemed to think he was backward. And while Guthrie was a good kid who did well in class, he'd been called on the carpet once for cutting school. And now he was tardy. And instead of having the good brother, Crane, to make his excuses, he was stuck with Adam which could only make things worse. Not that Guthrie needed to know that. Maybe Mrs. Potterfeld would be out on rounds or something, and they'd get this done with just the school secretary.
One last try. "C'mon, Guth, it won't be that bad…" Which was one of the biggest, fattest lies Adam had ever told.
And his kid brother wasn't buying it in the slightest. He just looked at Adam with eyes full of dread.
Adam squeezed his own shut as his shoulders dropped in defeat. Not only was Hannah blaming him for the alarm clock, but now he had to go to the principal's office. "Let's go." Even to his own ears, he sounded like he was heading to the guillotine.
They ran through the rain to the school. When they got to the office, they both just stood there staring through the glass at the secretary. Finally, with a glance at Guthrie, Adam opened the door.
Miss Rumstedt looked up. "Guthrie! You're late, young man."
"Yes, ma'am."
She eyed them both and looked a question at Adam who quickly yanked off his hat. Her being a lady and all.
"Uh, see, we had—"
"Miss Rumstedt, have the class re— What have we here?" Mrs. Potterfeld came out of her office and stopped at the sight of Adam and Guthrie.
"Mrs. Potterfeld." Adam felt like he'd gone back in time about twenty years.
Her mouth twisted into what might pass for a smile on her planet. "Why don't you step into my office." It was worded like a question but most definitely wasn't.
Adam threw a silent plea toward Miss Rumstedt, but she was concentrating real hard on whatever paper happened to be in front of her. Clearly, they were on their own. He glanced down at Guthrie who looked like he'd just taken some bad tasting medicine. Adam swallowed hard and tried not to look nervous as he headed into the lion's den.
"Have a seat. Gentlemen." Mrs. Potterfeld sat behind her desk and clasped her hands in front of her. Her reading glasses sat primly on the tip of her nose and one eyebrow rose in question.
Adam tried to remember he was a grown man who'd accomplished more than most guys his age. But under her unblinking gaze, he couldn't actually come up with anything specific. Not that he needed to. No, he didn't, but… She had the undeniable ability to make him think he should.
Guthrie couldn't take it. "Ms. Potterfeld, see—"
"Mrs." Hissed like a snake.
"Right, sorry. Mrs. Potterfeld, see—"
Her eyes had been on both of them, but they zeroed on Guthrie. "Yes?"
An audible swallow from Adam's younger brother. "See, uh, we…um…"
She sat perfectly still as Guthrie's voice died away.
Adam realized he was letting his childhood fear of the woman get the best of him. Again. It happened every time he'd come in for Daniel and Evan, and now he was failing Guthrie as well. He took a deep breath of resolve; he just needed to state the facts, say he was sorry, and promise it wouldn't happen again. "Mrs. Potterfeld, Guthrie's tardy today—"
"I had noticed, yes."
"Yeah. The whole house overslept this morning. We did our best, but after getting Ford on the bus, there wasn't any way to get Guthrie here on time. It won't happen again." There.
Her eyes fixed on Adam. And they stared at each other. Adam was determined not to look away or blink first. He could do this. He knew he could. Never surrender.
Finally, she answered. "So do I understand you to say that you managed to get Ford to school on time?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Following the logical sequelae from that statement, I deduce that Guthrie's education is less important than Ford's?"
Huh? Adam was astonished. "No, ma'am."
"Let me reconstruct. You said the entire household overslept. That's seven young men. And I seem to recall hearing that you secured a spouse?"
She seemed to be waiting for an answer, so Adam nodded dumbly.
She gave a slight shake of her head at the apparent absurdity. "So there are now eight people in your household, and all of you managed to oversleep which I find difficult to believe. However, according to your statement, you managed to get Ford on his bus. And unless it broke down en route, it would follow that he got to class at the appropriate time."
She paused. Evidently waiting for answer again. Adam nodded.
"Therefore, since he got to school on time and Guthrie did not, the logical conclusion is that Ford's education is a higher priority than Guthrie's."
Adam's eyes popped in utter bewilderment. "No, ma'am."
"How else should I interpret it, Mr. McFadden?"
She had never called him Mr. McFadden. Before today, he'd always been, 'Adam' or 'Young Man.' He flashed back to a parent-teacher conference with his father for…something. Mostly, his mother had come. No telling what Adam was in trouble for that day, but he remembered Mrs. Potterfeld calling his father, 'Mr. McFadden.' Adam wondered if his dad was scared of her, too. He shook his head slightly to get rid of the memory.
She was trying to twist the morning's events to make it seem like Guthrie wasn't as important as Ford. Adam took a deep breath, "Mrs. Potterfeld, it wasn't a question of whose education is more important; it was time management and transportation, plain and simple. Better one late than both. I'm sorry, but it was just one of those mornings. It won't happen again." He waited on her next move.
The brow lifted again, and he worked to maintain his stance. No weakness. She breathed a skeptical sigh. "All right…if you insist. Just do see that it doesn't happen again." She picked up a piece of paper and began writing.
Adam nodded slightly. "Yes, ma'am." Guthrie's eyes were wide.
"Here's your excuse for Ms. Dudley. You may go."
Guthrie fled. Adam stood to go, the sooner the better. Then Guthrie came running back and scooped up his books. He tripped, turning over the chair and generally making a spectacle of himself. Adam finally managed to grab the back of his slicker, and Guthrie was able to get his balance. His face was embarrassed but grateful, and he skedaddled back through the outer office as Miss Rumstedt called after him to slow down.
When Adam turned back to Mrs. Potterfeld, she was eyeing him with disapproval over the top of her reading glasses.
Adam tried to think of something to say, but, as always when he was in front of this woman, nothing seemed appropriate. He managed to clear his throat and nodded briefly. "Mrs. Potterfeld." He backed into the door frame on his way out and turned to see Miss Rumstedt watching cautiously. Glad to have broken the staring contest with the principal, he managed a cracked smile at the secretary. "Thanks. 'Bye." And with that, he was out the door and back into the downpour. As bad as the day had been so far, after that confrontation, it had to get better.