#41 – Ephemeral
Jake
I was sitting on the couch, enjoying an old cowboy movie and eating Doritos, when Tom came into the living room to ruin my very rare downtime.
"'Sup, Midget?" he asked, rudely reaching into the bag of chips on my lap and grabbing a handful.
"Trying to watch this," I stated the obvious.
"Well, I don't have anything going on this afternoon, and I was thinking about hitting a few balls at the batting cages. Want to go?"
A year ago, I would have been stoked to death. Tom acted like playing some one-on-one with me in the driveway was mild torture; him offering to take me along to the batting cages would have been a dream come true. Things were different now, though. I saw the offer for what it was – an attempt to get me alone so he could pressure me about The Sharing some more.
"I'm good," I said, trying very hard to focus on the movie and wishing him away.
"Come on, man, don't be like that," he said through a mouthful of Doritos. "I know we don't hang out like we used to, and I'm trying to fix that. Let's just go hit some balls, maybe grab an ice cream. My treat. Well, Mom's treat," he corrected himself.
"I said I'm good, Tom," I growled, trying not to get edgy and totally failing.
He gave me that trademarked big brother grin, the one that said 'I'm the boss, so why even fight it?' "There's no ulterior motive, dude. I'm not going to crawl up your butt about The Sharing. I just want to go and smack some balls. None of my friends can go…not to mention the fact that Mom'll fund this trip if I take you. So what do you say?"
"You've got Dorito on your lip," I said coldly, waiting for him to give up and go away. Before that could happen, he got an unexpected ally; my mom walked into the room and planted her right hand on her hip. I knew that pose. That pose meant she was about to lay down the law.
"Jake, go with your brother," she commanded. "He just said he wouldn't bother you about his club, which is the only thing you two ever fight about. Go and spend some time with your brother." She pushed a twenty dollar bill into Tom's outstretched hand.
"Mom, he's not going to honor that," I explained, trying to remain calm and logical. "Things will start out fine. We'll have a good time. He might wait until after the batting cages. He might even wait until after ice cream. But I guarantee you that before we pull back into this driveway, he will be hounding me about The Sharing."
"I won't," Tom said, but he had a teasing look in his eye. Fingers crossed? I thought sourly.
"He won't," my mom seconded. "Get off your butt, Jake. Go. Now." She left the room, having laid down her edict.
Tom crossed his arms and grinned, waiting. He'd won, and he knew it. You won for now, I thought, sighing and getting off of the couch. But don't get used to it, Yeerk. It won't last.