Chapter 24: That Can't Be My Brother

TWO HOURS LATER

The phone rang and Alvin answered it in the kitchen. Right away he recognizes the voice to be Brittany's. "Hi, Brittany, what's up?" He asks. "No, Brittany…I don't know what time Jeanette came home last night…" He stood there for a moment trying to make sense of what Brittany was squawking about. "I know, we are still waiting for Si…" That's when Simon opens the basement door and slowly makes his through. "Oh, never mind, he just waddled in…" Alvin saw that his brother's face had a pale, clammy look to it as he walks past him. Instantly he then notices the smell of alcohol on Simon and began to glare in frustration. "Hang on, Brittany…" He places a hand on the speaker end of the phone and turns to his brother. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Alvin yells at Simon.

"Downstairs…fell asleep…sorry." Simon mutters as he staggers away and heads to the upstairs bathroom.

Alvin breathed out a growl before bringing the phone back to his ear. "Brittany…I'll be right over." And with that, Alvin hangs up the phone then grabs his jacket and heads over to the Chipettes.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

FOURTY MINUTES LATER

When Alvin left the Miller's, he was not only as disappointed as Brittany was that Simon would take advantage of Jeanette, he was angered by the thought. As he stormed back to his own house, he wondered to himself 'What ever happened to the smart responsible brother? Where is the brother who would usually be the one to bail me out of trouble, not the other way around?'

As soon as he got home, Alvin went straight to his room to find Simon. Instead, he found Theodore, sitting on his bed, nervously wringing his hands together.

"Where is that brother of yours?" Alvin immediately demanded.

Theodore jumped off his bed. "W-W-Well..." he began, "As you know, Simon finally came in shortly before you left to see Brittany. Then Miss. Miller called a few minutes later, and boy, did she sound mad when she talked to Dave. I don't know what they were talking about, but I knew it had something to do with Simon and Jeanette coming home late last night…or should I say, this morning? After Dave talked to Miss. Miller, he went to get Simon out of the Bathroom and two of them had another big fight…Well, D-Dave yelled, while Simon just sort of sat there listening…I think it was because Simon smelled like alcohol again…"

"Get to the point, Theodore!" Alvin said with an impatient tone as he places his fist on his hips. "Where is Simon now?"

"Um…A-a-after Dave left for the studio; I went downstairs to see what happened. I tried to talk to Simon, but I just didn't know what to say, and h-h-he just…left." He finally finished with a shrug in his shoulders.

"Left? As in…left the house?"

"Yeah…I haven't heard from him since." Theodore let out a big sigh. "I'm so worried about him Alvin; he wasn't looking too good at all! A-and, Dave won't be gone long. When he gets back, he's going to be so mad. He told Simon to stay here till he got home."

"Dave's not the only one here mad at Simon..." Alvin growled. He tore off his jacket and tossed it hard on his bed, and then he began pacing the room. "Your brother has really crossed the line this time!"

"Now, wait a minute, Alvin. We don't know what's really wrong with Simon, so we shouldn't be making any snappy judgments." Theodore spoke up on behalf of his brother. Alvin stopped pacing and cast his gaze at Theodore, instantly making him nervous. "Maybe this is all just a big m-m-misunderstanding." Theodore stuttered.

"A big misunderstanding?" Started Alvin, with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Theodore, do you even know what your brother did last night?"

"Well, I thought that he was on a date with Jeanette last night?" Theodore answered.

"It was more then that, Theodore!" Alvin explained. "He used her!"

"For what?" Theodore asked. His trademark innocence was not allowing him to understand.

Alvin slapped his forehead in frustration before continuing. "What do you think?" Alvin whispered forcefully. "He used her!! You know in a more seductive way..."

Theodore thought about it for a moment, and then suddenly his eyes went wide. "What?" He gasped.

"I just got back from talking with Brittany. It's true!" Alvin explained. "Miss. Miller was even in an uproar with all of this. When I got to Brittany's, she was yelling to Dave over the phone as you were saying!"

"No! I can't believe it!" Theodore said, wiping a tear from his eye. "I won't believe it!"

"Theodore, wake up and smell the coffee! Simon has turned into a completely different person!"

"I don't care!" Theodore insisted. "Simon is still our brother, and I refuse to believe that he'd ever do something like that!"

Alvin sighed. He didn't know how to make Theodore understand without upsetting him further, so he just decided to leave it alone. A silence fell over the room. Alvin continued to pace in thought. Theodore sat again on his bed and sniffed back tears. All of this information was overwhelming him, emotionally, and as hard as he tried to focus his mind, he just couldn't find a solution.

"We have to do something, Alvin." Theodore finally said, looking up again. "We have to find a way to help Simon. He is our brother, after all!"

"Oh, I'm going to do something, alright!" Alvin firmly stated. "I'm going to go out there to find Simon, and when I do, I'm going to bring him back here and straighten him out for good!" Alvin pounded his fist into his left palm for emphasis.

"That's it!" Theodore said, perking up.

"Huh?" Alvin turned to Theodore, not too sure what he meant by what he said.

"You go bring Simon home, and in the meanwhile, I'll fix us up something good to eat! W-w-well, I'll make Simon some tea or broth…or something, since he no longer likes food for some reason. Then, over lunch, we'll talk this thing out, and show Simon that everything's going to be alright!" Theodore was so pleased that a solution had presented itself, and he smiled over at Alvin, who picked up his jacket and put it on again.

"Yes, Theodore. You stay here and cook up a storm!" Alvin said sarcastically as he headed for the bedroom door.

"Good luck, Alvin!" Theodore called out, completely missing Alvin's sarcastic tone. "Oh, and Alvin?" He added, making Alvin pause at the door and looking back at his chubby brother.

"What is it, Theodore?" He asked

"You don't hate Simon now, do you?" Theodore asked timidly.

Alvin was taken aback by the question. "W-what do you mean?"

"Well, I know that Simon doesn't mean to act this way, I realize he's done some terrible things this past week. Being what you just told me, would top the cake, but that doesn't mean you would disown him, right Alvin?" Theodore explained with a concerned voice and a wounded puppy-dog expression on his face.

Alvin opened his mouth to say something, but the words got stuck in his throat. He realized that Theodore had a point. He thought the point over for a moment. "Don't worry, Theodore. I'll go find Simon and bring him home. Then, together we can solve this whole problem."

"Great!" Theodore cheered as he watched Alvin make his way down the stairs and out the front door. He had a really good feeling that, after lunch, everything was going to be all right.

Alvin stepped out into the street. In his mind, he knew that this time, it was up to him. He would have to be the responsible one. He resolved that, one way or another, just like Simon had did for him countless times in the past, he would be the one to pull his brother out of the mess he was in.