One Day…
by Drew Alexander Ross
(Originally published in Door Is A Jar Magazine)
“One day, he’ll get you back.”
That’s what my father said to me when I first crossed the line of teasing my little brother. Benny used to be obsessed with his stuffed Teddy Bear. It never left his hand regardless of if he was sleeping or awake. He even brought it on family trips. So one night, I decided to hide Mr. Bear. I put him behind the decorative plates on the top shelf of our kitchen cabinets. My mother and father tore up the house, trying to find Benny’s Teddy. My little brother sobbed and wailed. I tried to keep the huge grin off my face while I “helped” look for his stuffed companion.
Unfortunately, Benny caught me giggling and went apoplectic.
“Ginny did it! Ginny took Mr. Bear!”
My father took me aside. I swore my innocence, but he saw through it.
“If you tell me now, you won’t get in trouble.”
I was doubtful, but I thought prolonging the inevitable wasn’t a good tactic. I defended my position, though. Benny was getting too old for stuffed animals. He just turned 6! What I did would help him in the long run.
My father sat me down and said I was planting a seed that would grow. I listened politely and nodded my head. I said I was sorry. I pouted my lip and tried to look like the angelic 12-year-old I thought I was. Father shook his head.
Going forward, I continued to torment my brother when he annoyed me or when I got bored. I didn’t think it was a big deal. My mother always sided with Benny, though, which infuriated me as much as the curfew I had in high school. Coincidently, my curfew was exchanged for an outright ban on going out because of an incident with Benny.
It happened at the town fair at the end of my senior year of high school. Benny played with the kid from down the street, Gerard, and I told them to stay away from me and my friends. The guys we hung out with were going to pick us up in an hour, and I didn’t want my little brother around to tattle to Mom and Dad. However, it was a small carnival for a small town.
My friend Betsy wanted to get a bite to eat. Gerard and Benny stood fixated by the food tent as they peeled long ropes from blue and pink cotton candy. I wasn’t even hungry until I spotted Benny’s cotton candy. When I saw him, I strode over and told him to give me some. He refused. He was small for twelve, and I was much bigger than him, so I snatched the bag. Benny held on and didn’t let go.
I yanked him around like a small dog who wouldn’t let go of a chew toy. His determination surprised me. The look on his face was what made me do it. Benny actually thought he was going to win. I finally decided to impose my mantle of big sister and ripped the bag as hard as I could. I heard a loud POP, followed by familiar sobs and wails.
My parents appeared out of nowhere. I didn’t even know they were at the festival. Benny cried and held his arm, which didn’t look right hanging low in his t-shirt. Mother coddled him, and father took me aside.
“I guess he really wanted that cotton candy,” I observed.
My father’s face turned a funny shade of maroon. I thought there must have been a wire malfunctioning because he didn’t look like he remembered how to speak. I waited patiently, though. I was off to college in a couple of months. I didn’t care. That’s what really set him off.
“You’ll see.”
That’s all he said to me. I pretty much lost all privileges for the remaining time I stayed at home. That sucked, but I finally made my peace. I packed my bags and waited for the summer to end. I had bigger and better things waiting for me.
For the next few years, I didn’t visit home much. When I did, I rarely engaged with my brother. He was so much younger than me; he didn’t really register on my radar. As far as I could tell, he was becoming the nerd I always thought he would be.
On my five-year high school reunion, I came back to stay at the new house. I had a new HR job in Atlanta and couldn’t wait to catch up with my old friends. While I was getting ready, my brother “trained” in the small pool in the backyard like a fish preparing to migrate. After an hour or so, I decided to go out and make fun of the little guppie.
I watched him go back and forth, lap after lap, and told him how big a loser he was swimming on a Friday night. Don’t you have any friends? What about Gerard down the street? Did he get tired of playing Dungeons and Dildos with you? I went on for a while and felt energized for the night ahead.
Benny finally swam over to the side of the pool and pulled himself out in one quick motion. He did not look like a little guppie. He looked like a burly marlin. When did that happen? That was the thought that went through my mind as he scooped me up as quickly as a hot spoon in cold ice cream. There were no thoughts when he threw me in the pool, where I proceeded to melt.
I emerged with my hair clinging to my head and my make-up streaming down my face. Benny strut into the house without a backward glance. My father poked his head around the door, looked between my brother and me, and howled with laughter.
“I told you! One day…”
