Jasper

8-5-2006

'Hey, Mrs. Brandon what's up? What's going on?'

'Oh Jasper!' Mrs. Brandon wailed, 'I can't take it any more. That girl! Why must she do this to me? I swear Jasper she does it on purpose! Just to spite me. I've always been such a good mother, I've tried my best but that's just not good enough for her!'

'Don't listen to her lies Jasper.' the soft voice floated down the stairs.

'Alice.' she never noticed the way he made her name sound like a caress, and he was glad of it. But he just couldn't help doing it. 'What's happened?' he could see that she'd been crying, not a common sight with Alice Brandon.

'It's Ben. He came home with a black eye.' Her voice caught in her throat on the last words. She was fighting back tears. Jasper left Mrs. Brandon still crying and mumbling to herself at the kitchen table, brandy glass empty in her hand. This unfortunately was not an uncommon sight.

He followed her up the stairs and into her room. The third surprise was when he closed the door and turned around she hugged him. She held onto the back of his shirt and cried into it. At 16 he was almost two heads taller then her tiny frame, so he laid his head on top of hers' and breathed in her smell. He knew this was not the time to be thinking of her like this, but only once before had they been this close, almost a year ago when their father left. He felt her tears stop and her breathing even out. He pulled back her head to look at her red swollen eyes. 'Tell me what happened' he whispered.

She took a breath before she started. 'Well I got called up to the office at lunch, they said my mum was on the phone.' Another breath 'she told me that she had gotten a call from Ben's school saying to come and get him, because he'd been fighting.' Jasper just looked at her confused. But she continued. 'But she couldn't leave work so could I go get him, with both schools permission. Both principals agreed to it, knowing full well that I might as well be his mother, not his sister.' 'When I get to his school he's sitting in the office with an ice pack over his eye. When I took a look at it, it had already swelled up, it was red and his brow had been slit. I wanted to throw up Jasper. Who would do that?' again she tried to fight back the tears. He had no words of comfort, this wasn't his world, and he didn't know how to handle it. He wasn't as strong as her, but he could be strong for her. He pulled her close as they sat on the bed; the tears didn't come but she didn't pull away either, just continued with her story. 'When they told me that the other guy was provoked, that it was an accident, self defense, I knew who it was and I was going to murder him. They were going to suspended Ben for starting the fight. So I simply told that principal what I thought of him and his school and brought Ben home.'

Jasper just looked at her; there was more to this story. 'Alice.' he said her name sternly, 'what did you do?'

'I didn't touch him.'

'What did you do? After you brought Ben home, tell me!'

'Jasper, if I don't tell you, I won't have to lie'

'Oh dear God. Ali-'

'Just leave it ok, I took care of my brother, something no one else is willing to do.' Jasper got up to leave shaking his head in disappointment, he knew she could see it clearly painted on his face; because hers met it with shame. She knew how much he hated it when she was violent. 'Jasper don't leave me!' even if her voice wasn't saturated in desperation he would have stayed anyway. 'Ok I'll tell you. But you won't like it, please don't hate me.'

'I could never hate you-'

'I destroyed his car, then he tripped and broke his nose all on his own, I swear I didn't touch him!' she yelled in a rushed barely understandable way.

'Wait, you destroyed his car?!' she looked down and played with the seam of the bed-spread.

'Ok so maybe destroyed is the wrong word, I just fixed it so that it would never run again without a new engine installed.' She said sheepishly with a hit of pride though.

'Why don't you ever use your powers for good?' He sighed. 'And how did he just happen to trip then?'

She just looked down, refusing to make eye contact. 'He just tripped. And that's it.'

'Fine then' as he got up to leave he turned back to look at the defiant 15 yr old 'When will you grow up already.' He closed the door on her and headed down the stairs, hearing her yelling at him through the wood,

'Grow up! Grow up! I'll give you grow up! I'm 15! I've seen and done things no 15 yr old should ever have to do. Why if I-' he got out of hearing distance just as her threats were starting, her voice was just a muffled high pitch sound.

Downstairs Mrs. Brandon had calmed down and was just staring into her crystal pitcher, turning it around in slow circles.

'You know the worst thing about all of this is', she nodded with her head at the stairs 'I honestly don't know who that girl is anymore. It's just some evil yelling creature, who doesn't understand me or even try to. You know my life is just as hard, she's nothing special.' Jasper just stared at her in shock.

'Mrs. Brandon, no offense but I think you should try to cut the girl some slack, she's damn tough but could use her mother right about now to comfort her.'

'Oh Jasper you don't even know the half of it,' she finally looked up at him, 'She wants to throw away her scholarship, take Ben and put them both in the local co-ed school. The one thing she had going for her, the one thing that didn't make her completely useless.'

'Ahh Mrs.-'

'You can leave now thank you Jasper.'