Graham Birch
“Did you fucking follow us here?” My sister shouted.
“N-No.” Clancy replied shyly. He was still rubbing his face from the punch I gave him.
Spencer put an ice pack on my knuckles to soothe them. I kept staring out the window as my sister and Clancy shouted at each other.
“Graham?” Spencer called me. I snapped out and turned to him. “Would you like me to call the police?”
I stood up from the stool and cracked my neck. “No. I need to deal with this.” I replied.
Before I stepped out of the house, Spencer grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him. He hugged me and kissed me on the cheek.
“You don’t have to, Graham.” He said.
“No, I have to. It’s been years. The wounds have healed. While they still hurt sometimes, they can’t be ignored any longer.”
I stepped outside the house and the yelling had stopped. Rebecca huffed loudly and her husband finally managed to pull her side.
I broke the silence quickly by saying, “What are you doing here?”
Clancy and my ex both must’ve been shocked that I talked to them.
“Hi, Graham.” Clancy said. “Uh, how have you been-”
“Answer the damn question!” I shouted. My brother and ex both stepped back.
Clancy then stood tall. “I’ve been wanting to reconnect for a while. But you changed your number, and Rebecca wouldn’t give me your new one.” He replied.
Rebecca scoffed loudly. “So how did you manage to find this place?” She asked.
It seemed like Clancy didn’t want to talk anymore. So, my ex stepped forward. “We saw the text conversation between you and Graham a few weeks back on the Fourth of July.” She replied.
“You went through my phone? Are you serious, Clancy? Can’t even respect the privacy of the only sibling who even gives an atom of a fuck for you?” She began to get irate. Amir pulled her aside to calm down.
Now, it was me and Clancy, facing each other once again. I must’ve been a few inches taller than him.
“Tell him,” My ex, Amalie Calliandra, whispered to Clancy. I saw her hand and saw a ring on her finger.
“Did you propose?” I asked.
“Yeah.” Clancy replied. “A year ago. We’ve been planning the wedding and…” He trailed off.
“And what?” I asked.
“I wanted to ask you if you wanted to be my best man. I know a lot has happened between the two of us. But hopefully we can put our differences aside and move forward. Like how we used to be.”
That was the funniest thing I had ever heard. I couldn’t help but laugh loudly, almost to the point of falling onto the floor.
“Really? You think suits and cake can fix this? It won’t! You wanna know why? Because there is nothing there to fix anymore.” I shouted.
“I-I know, but still.” Clancy said, his face growing worried.
“If you think that us becoming brothers again will get mom and dad on your good side to save your failing business, guess what, I won’t do it!” I snapped.
Clancy’s face quickly turned angry. “Who fucking told you that?” He asked.
“You forget, Clancy. But you’ve always been a failure. Maybe if mom and dad didn’t coddle you growing up, you would’ve learned like the rest of us how to do stuff. Instead, you rely on our parents to save you when things get rough.” I told him.
“You-” Clancy tried to land a punch on me, but I blocked it. Amir stepped between us and began to push me back. I could hear Juniper from inside barking loudly.
“Hah! Can’t even punch me! And I’m the biggest target here!” I mocked him.
“Clancy! Stop!” Amalie shouted.
He smirked at me before stepping back. His arms reached to my ex and hugged her close to him.
“That’s why she’s with me.” He muttered.
Even when he said that, I didn’t even feel angry.
“Just leave, Clancy.” Rebecca said from behind me. “Drop it because Graham isn’t ever going to forgive you.”
The door opened and Spencer came walking out. He stood next to me and placed his hand on his shoulder.
“Let’s call the police, Graham.” He said.
“No.” I said. “That’ll be too generous.”
Clancy saw how close Spencer was to me and narrowed his eyes. “Don’t tell me- Did you turn queer after getting dumped?”
I grabbed him by the collar and pulled Clancy close. “At least I’m happy in my relationship! Don’t forget that you’re getting my sloppy seconds! And who knows, once a cheater, always a cheater!” I spat in his face.
“And to think that mom and dad don’t think you’re a violent person.” He said.
Rebecca got closer. “What do you mean?” She asked.
“Ha, nothing.” He said.
Amalie then stepped forward. “Clancy, he told your parents that after what happened, that you were threatening me and him.” She replied.
“What the fuck, Amalie! Why would you tell them that?” Clancy shouted at her.
She looked down.
“At least now we know why mom and dad have been distant with you, Graham.” Rebecca said.
Spencer then clapped his hands loudly to attract our attention. “Look, it’s Sunday, the Lord’s Day. I’ve got a brunch to prepare, and I just want us to enjoy it without any distractions.”
Clancy looked at him weirdly.
“That’s classy for ‘Please get the fuck out and leave us alone.'” Spencer added. “I’ve got the police on speed dial. And we have a vicious dog and cat inside who can distinguish friends and whores.”
Clancy muttered, “Whatever.” He began to walk away. “Come on, Amalie. Let’s go. There’s nothing for us here.”
Amalie stayed and looked up at me.
“I should go.” She said.
“Before you do, why?” I asked her. “Why him?”
She sighed. “I wish I could answer that too, Graham. But I can’t. I was stupid and made a stupid choice. If I could go back and stop myself, I would.” She said.
I nodded at her. Though I thought I was angry, now, I just pity her. She’s stuck with someone who is essentially an adult child.
“Goodbye, Amalie.” I said.
“Goodbye, Graham.” She replied. “I hope you two have a good relationship.” Her attention turned to Spencer.
“Give him what I didn’t.” She said. She then left after Clancy called for her. She ran to the car and got in before the car drove away from the house quickly.
“Well, that was…” Spencer said.
“Why don’t we head inside?” Amir suggested. “Where’s Angela? I hope she didn’t hear any of that.”
“I put some headphones on her. Figured she didn’t need to hear the adults shouting.” Spencer replied. He then turned and smiled at me. “You alright, Graham?” He asked me.
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Do you wanna eat right now? Or do you just want to relax? Either one is fine.”
Him putting his feelings before me was admirable. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
I placed a kiss on his forehead. I grabbed his wrist and began to pull him into the house, but he didn’t budge.
“Aren’t you coming?” I asked.
“You go ahead. I have to talk to Rebecca about something.” He replied.
Rebecca gave a raised eyebrow but walked over. Amir and I entered the house. Juniper walked up to me and began to rub himself on me. He knew what to do when I was feeling down.
“What do you think they’re talking about?” I asked Amir.
“Who knows?” He rubbed my shoulders. “I’d rather not ask. Probably plotting something.”
I entered the kitchen and began to prepare the food. Angela walked in and stood on a stool.
“I wanna help!” she demanded. I shook my head while laughing.
“Here.” I handed her a bowl of mint leaves. “Pick some of the leaves off.”
Angela got to work. The two of us did the rest of the cooking. The silence was relaxing, but I was already missing Spencer’s voice.
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