Harley and the Mole
Part Three
Sometimes being a big brother really sucked. While, sure, it had it's advantages, for instance, he was always the boss when it came to things between him and Jake, it also meant that he had responsibilities towards his younger sibling... or so his mom told him. She made him watch out for Jake, and she was constantly telling him that he had to act like a big boy to set an example for his little brother, and that meant he had to share his toys, hold Jake's hand, and help him do things only babies couldn't do on their own like get ready for bed or brush his teeth. Sometimes, he found himself wishing Jake would go on a really long vacation and that he would take his stupid Harley with him.
Cam had wanted a pet, so, on his seventh birthday, Jason had taken him to the pound. There, he had picked out a puppy - a big, drooling, boy,Great Dane puppy. They brought the dog home, set up its kennel and food dish, and, in less than an hour, both the dog and its belongings were loaded back into the SUV and taken back to the pound. Jake had been allergic to dogs, Jake's entire body had broken out in itchy, red hives, and Jake was the one who had ruined Cameron's seventh birthday.
Instead of a dog, he got stuck with a stupid cat - a lazy, hissing, girlcat that ended up liking his little brother more than him. Jake had even gotten to name their pet, and his stupid brother had named the catHarleyafter his dad's motorcycle. While Cameron might have still been a little kid, he knew that a Harley Davidson was a boy thing, so he had fought with his brother to change the cat's name, but Jake had cried, he had thrown a fit, and their mother had sat them both down and explained the idea of a compromise. Well, as far as Cameron was concerned, with a younger sibling, compromise meant he got nothing and his little brother got everything.
And, now, Harley, despite really being hispet, followed Jake around. The two were inseparable, best friends. When Cameron tried to pet the cat, she scratched him and ran crying to Jake, purring contentedly as soon as his brother reached down a chubby, dirty hand to pet the stupid thing. She slept in Cameron's room, she sat underneath Cameron's chair at dinner time, and she even stayed in the bathroom with the three and half year old when Jake was taking a bath despite the fact that cats were supposed to hate water.
At least, if they had a dog, the dog would eat the table scraps... like carrots... that he didn't like, but, no, not Harley. Harley didn't like human food. She wouldn't eat his vegetables for him, she wouldn't drink his milk in the morning after he finished his cereal, and she wouldn't even lick off his plate so it made washing his dishes at night easier. Cameron was convinced that a dog would have done all those things for him, so it was just another reason to not like his annoying little brother.
Then there was Jason.
While Cam might not understand most of the things the adults around him said, he definitely understood the fact that he really wasn't Jason's son. Although his step-father didn't treat him any differently than he did Jake - he told him that he loved him, he tucked him in and kissed him goodnight when he was at home for their bedtime, and he would buy him just as many presents as he did his little brother, his younger sibling got to call Jason Dad and Cameron didn't. He knew that he shouldn't really blame Jake for the fact that he didn't have a dad, but he couldn't help it. To him, it was unfair.
His biological dad, whatever that meant, had died before he was even born, and, then, there was Lucky. Lucky was supposed to be his dad. He had married his Mom, he had helped raise Cameron for several years, and he had even called the cop daddyfor a while, but, then his parentsgot divorced, Lucky disappeared, and Cameron was no longer his son, leaving the little boy without a dad... again. When Jason came into their lives, his Mom always referred to him as Jake's Daddy, and, after a while, Cam had asked why Jason wasn't his dad, too. Both his Mom and his step-father had sat down with him and told him about his real dad, and Jason had even offered to be Cam's dad as well, but he had refused. After losing two dads, he didn't want to risk losing another one, even if that meant he kept calling Jason - Jason and remained, himself, Cameron Webber instead of Cameron Morgan.
And then, now, on top of everything else - his stupid little brother always ruining things for him and not really having a dad, his Mom had to go and start acting weird. Francis said she was sad, but that it didn't have anything to do with him, Jake, or even Jason, but that still didn't explain to him why his Mom was crazier than normal, why she always either sleeping or cleaning, or why she was waking him up every night by going the bathroom about a gazillion times.
Snorting irritably, he made his way up the stairs, stomping his feet against each riser, making sure his steps were as loud as possible if only to tell his mom just how mad he was at everyone and everything. Stupid baby brothers, stupid cry-baby, hissing cats, stupid fathers, and stupid girls!
Making his way into the bathroom he shared with his younger brother, Cameron got ready for bed. Jake was already supposed to be asleep, but he knew better. While his Mom might be too distracted to notice the soft sounds of the three and half year old's laughter from behind the closed bedroom door, he wasn't, and, as he took his bath, silently contemplating just how many times he would be able to get away with pulling Harley's tail the next day without getting yelled at, he could hear every single giggle his brother made, every single word he said to his ugly, fat, girl cat.
And he couldn't wait to get him in trouble.
With motivation inspiring his actions into a faster pace, Cameron made quick work of bathing, purposely forgettingto wash behind his ears, scrub between his toes, and simply skipping using shampoo. As long as his hair was wet, his Mom would never know that he didn't actually wash it, and one day with dirty hair wouldn't kill him. After all, he was a boy, a man even, and men were supposed to get dirty. Jason did. When he worked on his motorcycle, he always came home with stained t-shirts and grease underneath his fingernails. Instead of making him shower, though, his Mom would always smiled at Jason when he was dirty, giving him a hello kiss... which was gross, and making him promise to take her out for a ride after they, the kids, went to bed while the guards watched them. And Jason always agreed. If Jason being dirty made his Mom so happy, then he could get away with it, too.
After finishing in the shower, he jumped out, not bothering to dry off before throwing on his pajamas - a plain pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. Before, he always wore pajamas with cartoons on them, like Jake still did, but, last year when his Mom married Jason, he had switched, because Jason didn't wear cartoon pajamas, and, since he was going to be a tough guy just like his step-dad, he didn't want to wear them anymore either. That was one battle his Mom didn't fight him on. However, she didn't let him cut his hair, telling him she loved his little, adorable curls, so he couldn't spike his hair like Jason. Jake was allowed to, though - his stupid, baby brother.
Quickly, he brushed his teeth, focusing just on the front ones in case his Mom checked them. He knew she'd never look at the back teeth, so he was safe to rush through the twice a day ritual. He also skipped taking his fluoride, flushing the toilet, and picking up his dirty clothes. If he was lucky, his Mom wouldn't check the bathroom, and he could simply do it in the morning before she even had a chance to catch him. So, satisfied that he had done enough to pass his Mom's nightly inspection, the soon-to-be eight year old left the bathroom, a mischievous grin making his impish face look almost naughty. But the smile immediately fell, and, to replace it, a dark, annoyed frown turned the corners of his little mouth downward, almost to the point where he was sneering.
The good news was Jake was out of bed; the bad news was that his little brother was, instead, sneaking into his room, with his traitor of a girlcat, Harley, right on his heels. Running after the three and half year old and his best friend, Cameron caught up with the devilish duo just as they snatched his private, hidden stash of candy hearts. While their Mom tried to make sure that they didn't eat that much candy, she always left her own sitting around the house, within easy reach of his hands. While Jake was still too short to get into most of their mother's hiding spots, he wasn't, and he was also big enough to drag around furniture to stand on if he needed to. However, Jake made up for his size by being so stealthy.
"That's mine!"
Jake grinned; Harley hissed. "So?"
"So, that means you can't take it, dummy."
Reaching for the Valentine's Day candy anyway, his younger sibling dropped the tiny hearts into both the left and the right pockets of hisGarfieldpajama pants. "Can, too," was his only retort, ignoring his angry, older brother.
"Fine, but if you take it, I'm going to tell Mom."
Cameron knew it was an empty threat, but he hoped that Jake didn't realize the fact. Of course, he wasn't going to tell their mother. If she knew that Cameron took her candy, he would get in trouble and Jake wouldn't, and that just wasn't an option. So, instead, he was going to try to bluff his way into getting his candy back, but he should have known better. Even at three and half, Jake was already better at playing games than he was. While Cam might have been the quiet, intelligent, calm child, Jake was crafty, and, in their sibling battle of wills, crafty seemed to always win.
It was just another reason he hated his stupid little brother.
"Nah uh," Jake argued, sticking his tongue out at Cam before running right past him out of the blue, sports themed bedroom. Harley followed, managing to reach up a clawed paw to snag Cameron's pajamas before scattering out of the room as well. By the time the almost eight year old followed and found his little brother in the bedroom next to his own, Jake had already hidden the candy somewhere and was pretending to be asleep.
"Give it back."
"Make me, Cammy."
And another reason he didn't like his little brother was that stupid,girly nickname Jake always called him. What was with Jake and giving boys girl names and girls boy names? It was just wrong.
"If I make you, you'll just cry like a stupid baby, and then you'll tattle on me, and I'll get in trouble."
"So?"
"So," Cameron repeated his siblings snotty-nosed, bratty question. "Boys aren't supposed to tattle. Just give me back my candy. Now, Jake."
"Finders keepers, losers suck."
"You know that Mom and Jason don't like us saying that word."
His little brother simply rolled his eyes, making Cam even angrier. "Whatcha goin' to do about it, Cammy, tattle on me?" And, then, he giggled.
"Ugh, you are so... so... stupid! I hate you, and I hope that Mom never has another stupid baby like you again!
Yelling back at him, Jake returned, "you're the stupid baby."
"Shut up," the seven and a half year old ordered. "Do you want Mom to hear us? We'll get in trouble."
"Shut up! Do you want Mom to hear us? We'll get in trouble."
Giving up on getting his candy back and so mad he was ready to forget about the punishment and, instead, focus on how good it would feel to just go off and punch his little brother, Cameron walked forcefully out of his only sibling's room and back into his own.
Sometimes, he really wished he lived with Francis - just the two of them, both bachelors, with no stupid little brothers, no stupid cats, no stupid fathers, and no stupid girls. But, if he lived with Francis, he would miss his Mom and Jason, and he would never get to eat brownies or go for rides on Jason's motorcycle, so, on second thought, sometimes, he really wished Jake lived with Francis.
Yeah, that worked.
It was a good thing he only had one little brother, because one was more than enough. Closing his eyes to go to sleep, his small fists still clenched in anger over losing his precious candy stash, Cameron thanked his lucky stars for the fact that his Mom and Jason only had two kids. If they had more, he knew he would go crazy, and he really didn't want to end up like Jason's friend Carly. Even putting up with Jake was better than that... but barely.