“I don’t bitch!”
“You kind of bitch,” Dominic says.
“All the time,” I agree.
“Not that you’re any better,” Dom says to me. “Or, rather, you didn’t used to be.”
“He’s still that way,” Corey says. “Trust me. When they both get going, you’d swear they were just making high-pitched noises and not forming any actual words.”
“Fall off a cliff,” Bear and I both mutter at the same time, as if we needed any more evidence that we’re essentially the same person. How fucking annoying.
“Are you two done?” Corey asks. “It’s too early for this, and I’d like to get on the road so I can go back to sleep and let you two chauffeur me like the help you are.”
“That’s so reverse racist,” I tell him.
“I’m black,” he snaps back. “Consider it recompense.”
I’m not even going to touch that one. “Good-bye!” I say loudly, going toward the car. “Later! Good-bye, house! Good-bye, Otter! Bite me, Bear!”
“You stop right there,” Bear says.
And I do, for fuck’s sake.
He stands in front of me. I glare at him. He glares right back.
“You have fun,” he says, even though he sounds like he doesn’t mean it at all.
“You too,” I reply. “You know, with all that quiet.”
We hug each other stiffly.
“You going to be okay?” he whispers so the others can’t hear.
“I think so,” I whisper back. “Can I… can I call you? If I need to talk? Or whatever?”
“Day or night.”
“You’re going to do pretty good at this parenting thing. If you don’t screw them up completely.”
“There is always that,” he says.
“Thanks, Papa Bear.”
“Always.” He pulls away and raises his voice again. “Now get out of here so I can turn your room into an office.”
“You better not touch my stuff,” I warn him. “If I come back and anything is missing, I will burn you to the ground.”
He rolls his eyes, but I see the little smile on his face as he brushes past me. He stands next to Otter, who watches him with a goofy smile on his face, like he’s not fooled by any of this bluster. And he’s probably not.
“What?” Bear snaps at him.
“Nothing,” he says. “Nothing at all.” He wraps his arm around my brother’s shoulders and pulls him close.
“And on that note,” I say.
It’s weird, really. Driving away. For some reason, as I watch the Green Monstrosity and Bear and Otter shrink in the rearview mirror, I get a little lump in the back of my throat. It feels like I’m driving away for a lot longer than a week. Part of me almost wants to go back and hide behind Bear and Otter. But that’s not what I need.
It’s only a week. Nothing’s going to change during that time. Everything will be the same when I get back. I’ll figure out what to do with this mess of a life then.