Chapter 13

Kenny's POV

Connor and I are headed back home from the ER. His nose isn't broken, thank goodness! I also finally got the truth out of him about what really happened. I knew Chase hit him, I just wanted to hear him say it. "I'm sorry I lied dad. Chase scares me!"

I nod. "I know he does, but if does something to hurt you, you need to come to your mom and me right away so we can deal with it."

"He's going to be so mad when he finds out that I told you." Connor starts fidgeting.

"I'll deal with it, you don't have to worry about that."

"But dad, he'll-"

"He's not going to do anything to you!" I interrupt him. "Just tell me one more thing, did he break your guitar?" Connor turns his head away looking out the window. His silence tells me what I need to know. "Answer me Connor."

"Dad, please..." I can hear him getting choked up.

"Connor..." I shoot him a warning look.

He nods slowly. "Yes. Please don't say anything!" He looks at me and I can see the fear in his eyes.

"You don't have to be scared. I'll take care of this. Just please don't lie to me anymore. That's not like you."

"Are you mad?"

I shake my head. "No, I understand. Like I said, don't do it again."

He starts tearing up. I guess he can see my disappointment. "I'm so sorry dad."

"Don't be upset, I'm not mad."

"You sound mad."

"If I do, it's not because of you."

"I wish that...never mind..." He looks away again.

"What? What do you wish?"

He wipes his eyes. "Well when you told me Chase was moving in, I was excited to have a big brother type in the house. Now that I know that Chase really is my brother, I wish he would accept me. I always wanted a big brother I could look up to."

I chuckle a bit at that. Poor Connor, he's so innocent. "I don't think Chase is the type to look up to."

"Why not? He's so confident and cool. I'm nothing more than a shy loser..." He looks down.

"Hey!" I turn his head so he's looking at me. "You're not a loser. You're fine the way you are. Chase has a lot of issues. You don't need to look up to someone like him. You honestly don't even need his acceptance."

"I would like a relationship with him like you have with Uncle Kevin."

"That's a little different. Kevin was like a parent to Karen and me. You have sober and functional parents so you won't need to look to look at Chase in that way."

"I still want us to get along. We're family, I don't want him to hate me."

I let out a sigh. "Deep down, I don't think he hates you."

"I hope you're right…" Connor goes back to looking out the window. The rest of the car ride is silent. Once again, I have to have ANOTHER talk with Chase.

Chase's POV

The next morning, I'm texting a friend of mine. I decided to combine Aunt Karen's idea about guilt tripping Uncle Kenny with my own personal touch added to it. As I send the text, Uncle Kenny barges into my room without knocking. "Dude, do you knock?"

He slams the door shut. "I know what really happened. Why would you put your hands on a defenseless 12 year old?"

I roll my eyes. I knew that little snake would snitch on me. "Defenseless? He was screaming at me and in my face like he wanted to fight. I gave him what he was asking for."

Uncle Kenny narrows his eyes. "I find that extremely hard to believe."

"Of course you do. You couldn't imagine your precious Connor being the aggressor."

"Connor is very timid and he's a lot smaller than you. There's no way it happened the way you said it did."

"Then there's nothing for us to talk about then, right?" I walk to the door and open it. "I'm the bad son while Connor is the good one. Got it!"

He closes the door. "Why are you like this? We took you into our home to make sure you graduate and this is how you repay us?"

"Oh stop!" I snap at him. "Don't act like you did me a favor! You only did this because of your own guilty conscience for giving me away!"

"That's...not true. Believe it or not, I care about your well-being and your future."

"Yeah right..."

"I do. If I didn't, you wouldn't be here. Guilt or no guilt."

I sit down. "Why do you care?"

He sits down beside me and puts his arm around me. I push his arm away. "I've always cared. You're my son. I want to see you succeed in life."

"Too bad you didn't to raise me."

"I don't know how many different ways or times I can apologize for that..."

My eyes light up. Time to start making him pay! "Well I'm turning 18 soon. I would love to have a party and a new car."

He glares at me. I already know what the answer is going to be. "If you fix your attitude and keep your grades up, you can have both."

Wow, I wasn't expecting that. "Are you serious?"

He nods. "Yes, and that means you have to stop picking on Connor."

There's always a catch, but I'll bite. "Fine Uncle Kenny, I'll behave and leave your precious Connor alone."

"That's all I wanted all along." He starts to leave, but then he comes back. "You don't have to keep calling me Uncle Kenny, you know?"

"Okay…" He sighs and then leaves. I know he's not expecting me to call him dad. That's not going to happen.

"Hi Chase!" Aurora pops into my room sometime later. I swear this family has no boundaries.

"Hey Aurora. What's up?" I greet her.

She holds up a deck of cards. "Do you what to play Uno with me?"

I guess I can entertain her for a bit. "Sure."

"Yay!" She comes in and sits down on the bed. She hands me the cards to shuffle. "I was hoping Connor would play too, but I always beat him so he didn't want to play."

"I'm sure that's not the reason."

"Of course it is! Now let's play!"

"You're the boss!" I tell her as I tell the cards. We start playing and I look at her. "Hey Aurora?"

"Yes?"

"Did your parents tell you that I'm your brother?"

She smiles. "Yes. I heard them telling Connor so then they told me."

"What do you think about it?"

"I think it's great! I'm happy to have another big brother!"

I laugh at that. "Why because Connor sucks so hard as a brother?"

She shakes her head. "He doesn't suck! Connor is a nice brother."

"He is?"

"Yes. He's nice enough to play dolls with me when I ask him."

"What a dork..." I mumble. "Well he doesn't have friends so I guess he doesn't have a choice but to play dolls with his sister."

"He has a friend Tommy!" Aurora says confidently. "Even when Tommy is here, they still play with me so I don't feel left out and lonely."

"Interesting." She's just proving to me what a loser Connor is and I guess his friend is equally a loser. No wonder they're friends.

"I know you don't like Connor, but I think you should give him a chance. You would like him!"

I laugh at that. "You're so young and naive. I don't think Connor and I will ever get along." He's not someone I would hang out with on a regular basis. I think the world would be a better place without him.

"That's too bad! You're really missing out. Uno!" She calls out as she's down to her last card. She puts that card down. "I won!" She jumps up and down cheering.

"What the hell?" I say in shock. How did this little girl beat me.

"Don't say the H word!"

"Sorry. I can't believe you beat me."

"I'm the best uno player in the house! Do you want to play again?"

I shake my head. "Not right now. Why don't you ask one of the staff to play?"

"Okay. Bye Chase! I love you!" She gives me a hug.

"Umm...I love you too kiddo!" I tell her as I pat her on the head. She leaves the room. I close the door and pick up the phone to make a call.

"Call off your dogs. We're going to go with a different plan…" I tell the person on the other end.