Page 61 of Story of My Life
“The man had a stroke. Maybe it’s a bad math day,” my annoyingly optimistic brother guessed.
I shook my head. “He’s up to something.”
“See? This is where we differ. Dad’s up to something and you automatically assume it’s something bad. I, on the superior-son hand, can’t wait to be entertained.”
“Hi,” a gratingly familiar voice called out from the street.
“Fuck me,” I muttered under my breath as Hazel and Zoey came into view on the sidewalk. She was still wearing the blinding yellow shorts and T-shirt she’d bought from the store and looked like a ball of sunshine.
I started to turn back to the work, but Gage grabbed my arm.
“Who. Is. That?”
“That’s Hazel, moron.”
My brother shook his head, still not taking his eyes off the approaching women. “The one with the…” He lifted his free hand and made some weird floaty gesture.
“The head?” I supplied.
All I did was yank my arm free. I swear on Gram’s lemon squares I didn’t push him even though he was annoying me and deserved it. Bishops might like our horseplay, but we didn’t fuck around on roofs.
All the same, Gage wobbled and stepped sideways to counterbalance. But he kept right on staring as his foot slipped.
“Shit,” I said as my brother toppled off the roof right into the holly bush.
Hazel and Zoey rushed forward.
My dad and Levi stood sipping coffee and waiting for Gage to emerge from the bush.
On a long-suffering sigh, I headed for the ladder. To be clear, I was ready for coffee. I wasn’t in any way concerned about how many broken bones my brother might have. Levi and I knew from big brother experience that Gage’s bones were made of rubber.
Gage’s foot popped out of the bush first, followed by an arm and then his head.
“Are you okay?” Hazel asked.
My idiot brother stared up at her. “Hey, Big City. Who’s your friend?”
“Gas Station Hero,” Hazel said, recognizing him. “You just fell off a roof.”
“Eh. It was only one story.” He brushed mulch and leaves off himself.
“Gas Station Hero, this is Zoey. Zoey, this is my gas station hero from yesterday, and judging from the eyes, he must be the third Bishop brother.”
Gage held up both hands. Hazel and Zoey each took one and pulled him to his feet. “Gage Bishop, at your service,” he said gallantly.
I stomped over to my dad and helped myself to a coffee.
“You’re bleeding and you have a leaf in your ear,” Zoey observed.
Gage grinned. “It’s all part of the experience.”
“Like I said,I broke down the estimate by project to make it easier for you to pick and choose,” Dad explained to Hazel.
“There. Good as new,” Hazel said, as she applied the last mustache Band-Aid to the scrape on my brother’s chin as he sat on the tailgate of my truck.
“Chicks dig mustaches and scars, right?” Gage said with a wink.
“It makes you look very tough,” she promised.
