AN: Hey, thanks so much to everyone for reviewing! I appreciate it so much, I really do! I'm trying to work out a direction and plot angle for the rest of this story. I've got some ideas, but I'd like to hear what you all think. Any suggestions you've got would be great.
"Bobby's got a girlfriend, Bobby's got a girlfriend," Angel chanted not quite under his breath. He stuffed a spoonful of Captain Crunch in his mouth just as I looked up from the morning paper to glare at him.
"Thin ice, little brother, thin ice," I threatened, going back to my reading of the police blotter. I'd found one of Jack's lighters on the kitchen table and I absently played with it, flipping it open and spinning the wheel before flipping it shut again.
"How can you tell he's got a girl?" Sofi groaned, walking into the kitchen, her eyes drooping. She'd just gotten the fuck out of bed and her makeup was still fucking perfect. Never in my life had I met a girl that bent on her appearance.
She collapsed in a chair next to Angel, pulling her robe tighter around her body and squinting in the morning light.
"The only time Bobby's quiet is when he's got a girl on the brain. It never happened often, but when it did, things sure would get peaceful around here," Angel said, one cheek fat with cereal. He grabbed the box and poured more on top of what he already had in the bowl.
"Let it go, man," I responded dully. "And don't talk with your mouth full."
"Guys! I need a lift," Jack shouted from the living room.
"It's your turn," I said, still not looking up.
Angel shook his head, pointing at me accusingly with his spoon. "That is bullshit. I'm eating. You know the rules. The guy who isn't eating takes care of baby brother. Besides, daytime's your shift, bro."
"Not for ten more minutes. It's only six fifty and I haven't even fucking been to bed yet."
"Don't be a lazy ass, Bobby," Sofi cut in.
"Don't be a lazy ass?" I got to my feet, slamming the paper and lighter down and leaning across the table toward the two of them, both palms spread flat on the wooden surface shoulder width apart. "I don't see you working all fucking night to support this family, Loco Ono. I don't see you trying to help pay off Jackie's fucking medical bills or helping Angel take care of him! You can't cook for shit and you don't even clean the Goddamn house. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kick your ass out the fucking door right now! The way I see it, you're taking food out of my baby brother's mouth and I ain't havin' it no more!"
"Man, don't talk to my girl that way."
"Your girl, Angel? Your girl? Your girl got down on her knees to suck my cock when you were still in junior high! You were second choice after me, but now you're stuck with her. Either teach your girl to clean the fucking house and start paying her share or she's evicted tomorrow. No exceptions, no excuses. To—fucking—morrow!"
"Bobby! I really have to go!" Jack groaned from the next room.
I let a pause sit between me and those two, staring each of them down in turn. I finally straightened up, kicking the chair I'd just been sitting in out of my way. They both jumped when it slammed into the wall.
Jack was sitting up, wearing nothing but boxers and a t-shirt. He'd just recently fallen out of the habit of wearing his sling, but he still kept his right arm close to his chest, guarding it with the rest of his body.
"Took ya long enough," he said when I grabbed his left arm and pulled it over my shoulders, helping him to his feet.
"Had some business to take care of," I said, leading him toward the stairs.
"I heard. Kicking the dog?"
"I prefer to call her a bitch."
"I think she's taller than you, Bobby. She could probably scratch your eyes out with those claws she's got."
"Yeah, well, you know what they say. Never fuck with a pyro who knows where you sleep."
He laughed at that one.
"So, you really got a girlfriend?" he asked. He was sitting on the toilet, reading Guitar World or some shit like that. I was brushing my teeth at the sink, getting ready for bed.
"No," I said, spitting into the sink.
"Don't you lie to me, Mr. Mercer," he said, mimicking the high, nasally, slightly gay-ish voice of the local high school's vice principal. A man I'd dubbed 'Seamore Butts' during my reign of terror. The nickname had stuck at least through Jack's graduation date.
I would've made a crack about how homo he sounded, but I laughed so hard I almost choked on my toothbrush. I spat three more times into the sink, and then rinsed my mouth out. "That was pretty good, Fairy," I said when I finished coughing.
He grinned in typical shy-ish Jack fashion. "You like that?" he asked, keeping his eyes on his reading material.
"Yeah. You ever actually use that one on old 'Seamore?'"
"No. But I did break into the school with some guys and left a big can of turtle wax on his desk. You know, so he could buff that shiny chrome dome of his."
I nodded, my features taking on a 'whaddya know' expression. "Not bad, Cracker Jack. Prank like that's almost good enough for me to take credit for."
He chuckled. "You did take credit for it, man. Note on the wax said, 'Dear Butts, this is for your head, not your dick. Love, Bobby.' Cops spent three days looking for you before they decided to just blame the vandalism on kids from across town."
"So why didn't they look you up? Question you about the break in?"
He shrugged. "Note said 'Bobby,' not 'Mercer.' Nothing but circumstantial there."
My brow furrowed and I started counting on the figures of my right hand, frowning a little as I had to start over a number of times.
"What is it?" he finally asked, tearing his eyes away from his magazine, absently rolling it up in one hand.
"I think you just said a four syllable word without your brain overheating, Jackie. Hang on, I need to count one more time to make sure..."
"Get bent," he said, using that wingspan of his to smack my leg as hard as he could with the rolled up magazine. I only just hopped out of the way before he could smack me a second time.
"Hey, I think that was four syllables. I'm gonna go call Jerry at work, he'll never believe it," I said, laughing as I walked out of the bathroom and jogged down the stairs.
"Fuck. Fuck, Bobby! Bobby, don't fucking leave me here, you jerk off! Bob—ahh shit... I need some fucking toilet paper!"