Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
A quiet in the madness finds Vinnie and Ethan drying clothes the old-fashioned way - outside. But an unexpected noise draws their attention. See what's happening in this week's chapter of Bad Karma and the Family Plan. Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them. Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
Joey managed to give us a look that was both sullen
and apologetic, but he didn’t say anything, simply stood there.
“Why are you spying on us?” Ethan demanded. “What
are you up to?”
“I wasn’t spying on you,” Joey insisted, but I wasn’t
very convinced, and I was pretty sure Ethan wasn’t buying his act either.
Ethan folded his arms across his chest, as if he was
addressing a wayward child and not his older brother. “Don’t tell me you came
out to offer to help with the laundry?”
I decided to keep quiet. Not my monkey, not my
circus. I didn’t think Joey was that altruistic, and even if he was, he was
obviously too late to be of any use.
“No, I…I just wanted to see what you guys were up
to, that’s all.”
If that didn’t sound suspicious.
Despite my best intentions not to say anything, I
decided to open my big mouth anyway. “What, you were thinking you’d catch us in
the act or something? Sorry to disappoint.”
At least he had the decency to blush, once he
figured out what I meant.
“I…I…I,” he stuttered then fell silent. Finally, he
turned away from us, shoulders slumped as if in defeat, and I suddenly felt bad
for reasons I couldn’t define. I think Ethan shared my feelings.
“Wait a minute,” he said, taking a step toward his
brother, me close behind.
Joey stopped but didn’t say anything, nor did he
face us.
“We’re just going to hang out for a little bit, want
to join us?”
I didn’t remember that being on our agenda, but I
held my tongue. Joey pivoted to face us now, and I was surprised to see a
hopeful gleam in his eye before he looked back to the ground, as if for
guidance.
“Are you asking me to hang out with you?” He sounded
as surprised as I felt.
“We are,” Ethan said. “Aren’t we, Vin?”
I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I
know my Ethan pretty well, and I could hear the unspoken question in his
question. He was asking me to go along with what he said, so how could I do
otherwise?
“We are, yeah,” I quickly replied. Ethan reached for
my hand and gave it an approving squeeze, which only reinforced my thoughts. If
it would make Ethan happy, I’d even suffer spending time with his brother.
Joey shuffled his feet unsurely, before running his
hand through his hair in what I took to be a nervous gesture. “Sure, where,” he
said at last.
“How about we sit on the back porch?” Ethan
suggested. “I’ll see if Mom’s got any tea or anything.”
“Yeah, okay, sounds good.”
We all headed back the way we’d come. Ethan went
through the back door, while his brother and I picked out spots on the steps. I
didn’t know what to say to him, to be honest.
In fact, I didn’t think I’d ever been alone with him before, and our
interaction had been very limited. Not counting the time I’d punched him, of
course.
Luckily, Ethan wasn’t gone long, returning with
hands full of three plastic cups, as well as a very excited Benny. Our pup had
been napping when we’d come outside, but he was clearly awake now, and ready to
play. I took one of the cups from Ethan and handed it to his brother, than held
his and mine while he sat beside me on the step.
Our fearless Benny ran from Ethan to me and back
again, before approaching Joey, cocking his head at him inquisitively. When
Joey raised his hand, I instinctively tensed, prepared to defend our pup. But
all Joey did was to lightly pat the top of his head before drawing his hand
back.
So far, so good.
to be continued
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