Page 49 of The Other Brother
“When you and Mel were little, I used to imagine what it would be like when you were pregnant, imagined what it would be like to share that experience with my daughters. I certainly never imagined that you would choose to live with your father and stepmother over me.”
Oh, she’s bringing out the big guns. Emotional blackmail with a side order of guilt.
She listens to whatever Kate says before continuing in the same tone. “So, you’re more worried about offending your father and Heather than about my feelings?”
I wince as I grab some cereal and fling it in a bowl. I’m prioritizing speed over taste for my breakfast today, going for a quick exit so I don’t get caught up in any of this.
Whatever Kate’s reply is, it makes the scowl lines on Mum’s forehead deepen.
I spoon cereal rapidly into my mouth and concentrate on maximizing my chewing speed.
The thing is, Kate’s quite like Mum in personality. Stubbornness being a major trait they share in common.
“It won’t be the same,” Mum replies to whatever Kate said. She’s loading the dishwasher now, but it’s probably the most aggressive dishwasher loading in the history of man. “Visiting someone is not the same as living in the same house. With a newborn, you will not feel like traipsing out and about all the time. And you know I’m not going to feel comfortable coming to see you at your father’s house. So basically, I won’t get to see my grandchild.” Her voice chokes up during the last sentence.
And… that’s my cue for my exit. Waterworks are common between my mum and my sisters. However, tears are not simply a sign of emotion, they’re used as a weapon. And both my mum and Kate are advanced players in this form of warfare.
Time to get out of the combat zone. I give my half-eaten bowl of cereal a glance of regret. But when it comes down to it, self-preservation trumps hunger.
When I get back to my room, my phone is lit up with a new message.
I open it. It’s a picture of a rhinoceros with the captionreal unicorns have curves.
saw this and thought of you
It’s ridiculous how wide my smile is. The joke’s not that funny.
A quick search on Google later, I send Cody a picture of a baboon’s backside.
funny, I saw this and thought of you
He sends me a gif of someone hysterically laughing, followed by a quick text.
how’s it all going?
boring here. you? been out surfing much?
a bit. doing lots of practice but getting out most days.
send me some pics of surf so I can get jealous
will do
And that’s the start of a continuous message chain between me and Cody. Nothing major, just touching base with each other every day, sending little snippets of stuff to make each other laugh.
He sends me pictures of the surf every morning out his bedroom window. I send him back a picture of the view out my window of my neighbor’s fence. Fairs fair and all that.
The night before school starts,Mum and Dad sit me down for a serious talk. Mum takes the lead like usual, with Dad the balding supporting act. It’s the standard lecture I’d expect— it was my last year of high school, I needed to get serious about the future, live up to my potential, blah, blah.
“You need to decide what you want to do when you graduate. You can’t go through your final year completely aimless,” Mum says.
I clear my throat, deciding that now might be the time to voice something that has been bouncing around in my head.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about maybe… being a paramedic.”
“A paramedic,” Mum repeats, her voice skeptical.
“Yeah… I mean, I thought it’s something I might like.” I keep my voice casual. Cody’s compliment about how I stay cool under pressure has stuck with me. I don’t want to work in a hospital though but being a paramedic would be cool.
