Twenty-nine #2
I knew for a fact that it wasn't my aunt who left them there. She would never leave anything in our reach, especially not something as tasty as muffins. She was stingy and greedy.
Then I noticed a sticky note next to the box. Written on the note was 'Take one' with a smiley face next to it. If it wasn't me who bought them and I knew it wasn't my aunt, then that only left my siblings. Maybe the baking with Javier inspired one of them to take up the hobby themselves.
I assumed it was Emerson because she was the only one disciplined enough to make such pretty muffins. If it was her then I wouldn’t get berated for taking one because she had been on a nice streak lately. As nice as Emerson could be, anyway. I opened the container and took one.
The muffin was a bit drier than I anticipated, but it was tasty. I would have eaten another, but I did not want to test my luck. I looked around the empty kitchen, feeling oddly lonely at the quietness.
It was ridiculous. When the twins would insult and pick on me, I wanted nothing more than for it to stop. One would think that the one time of year where they actively tried to keep their distance from me that I would love it. Instead, I was feeling lonesome without their assholery.
I went on a walk to try and occupy myself. As nice as holiday breaks were, they were also very boring. There's only so much free time you can have before you start to go crazy and start to realize that your life is actually pretty damn boring.
I found a tiny turtle outside, and it made me realize that I had never seen a turtle in person before. It was moving incredibly slow, as turtles do. It seemed like it was going toward the drain, so I helped it out and made it go in the other direction. I was a Good Samaritan.
Anyway, I was back to my home in less than twenty minutes. It took that short time for my entire family to show up. I had no clue if they went somewhere together or if they just so happened to come back from different places at the exact same time.
"You ate my muffin,” was the greeting I got from my lovely brother when I walked through the door.
"Boo hoo, it was one muffin," Emerson said, exhausted. Easton must have been complaining about it before I came in.
"Don't make it seem like I'm overreacting." He huffed as he slammed the container shut. "If they were just some random muffins then it would be whatever, but they weren't random muffins."
Emerson's eyes darted to me and then back to her twin. "Uh, what was so special about them?"
Aunt Macy hadn’t been tuned into the conversation before, but she was definitely listening now. She glared at him. “What did you put in those muffins?”
Easton’s lips pressed together. “How do you feel, Eli?”
I stood idly before them. “Uh, fine?”
“You sure?” he asked as he moved closer to me. “You don’t feel tingly? Lighter? Chill?”
“Why would you have your pot muffins on my countertop?” Macy yelled.
“I was coming back to move them, sorry I didn’t think this thief would eat one.”
I gulped. I had done a lot of shit in my life, but weed was never one of them. I hated the smell of it and hated how my brother always had it in his system, so it deterred me from ever trying it myself.
“I’m gonna be high?” I whispered.
“You shouldn’t be too bad off,” he said calmly. There was a hint of worry behind his eyes, maybe even guilt too. He quickly blinked it away the moment I caught wind.
Emerson pinched the bridge of her nose. “Easton, you’re so stupid sometimes.”
“Again, he ate one without permission!” my brother shouted.
"My bad for thinking the muffins that literally say, ‘take me’ were up for taking,” I said sarcastically. Done with the conversation, I tried to step past my brother to head for the bedroom.
When I was about to make it past him, he slid his foot out and blocked the way. He stared down at me with a taunting smirk, picking on me just for the hell of it. I guess because he missed his chance yesterday.
I wanted to keep the peace. "Can we not?"
He shrugged. "That depends on you."
I tried to move but he took a step to stand in my way once again.
Already over it, I looked to my sister who was already looking with pleading eyes.
She didn’t have to speak for me to know what she was getting at.
Emerson was warning me to stay away from Easton because his wrath had been taken up three notches thanks to the anniversary of our mother’s death being just the day before.
My eyes found my aunts to see if she'd say something about the way he was clearly trying to cause commotion. Normally she would be in her room avoiding us all to keep her sanity, but she was currently sitting at the dining table beside us. Her attention had been taken by the phone in her hand.
"You want to go back there so you can get back on the phone with your boyfriend ," he cooed in a sing-song voice as he blew kisses into the air.
That grabbed Macy’s attention. "Boyfriend?"
"‘Just stay on the phone with me, Javier. Fall asleep with me, kiss me.’" he mocked in a baby voice.
I looked him up and down. "How old are you?"
"‘You're the only one who gets me. No one's nice to me but you.’" He balled his hands into fists and put them by his cheeks as he fake cried. "‘I love you, marry me!’"
"Boyfriend?" my aunt repeated with the same revolted tone.
"No, this is just Easton causing unwanted problems," Emerson said in a dull tone.
"Incorrect, it's just me being funny." His finger pointed upward as he spoke as a matter of fact.
My eyes narrowed. "I'm not laughing."
He shoved my shoulder in a playful, yet provoking way. "We know. You're always so serious and that's your problem. Learn to take a joke, kid."
“You eavesdropped on my conversation and now you’re mocking me for it. So, no. You aren't making a joke, you're just being a dick."
"You think because you've got somewhere to run when things get stressful that you can say whatever you want now?" he challenged with an intense stare.
"Boyfriend?"
"Are you a broken record or something?" Easton's aggression shifted to my aunt. "Jesus Christ, I was joking . But so the hell what if I wasn't?"
Her head jolted back at his harsh words. Partly because she didn’t expect it, and partly because she couldn’t believe he would dare to speak to her in that manner. "Excuse me?"
He scoffed. "You're excused."
"How dare you speak to me like that?" She slammed her phone on the table as she spoke with utter disbelief. Now that she was being disrespected, she became fully present in the interaction.
"Imagine caring whether Elias fucks dudes or chicks.
Well…he might not be the one doing the fucking.
Would he be? Hell, what do I know? My point is that it's not a big deal, Macy.
" His eyes darted between us all as he threw his hands up in defense.
"By the way, I don’t regularly think about my brother's sex life. That's a little weird."
"I'm uncomfortable." I muttered.
"You’re right, it is weird." Emerson's face was scrunched up with disgust. "Elias is a child."
I shook my head. "No, it's weird because you're my siblings. You act like I’m twelve-years-old when I’m literally one year younger than you both.”
Emerson shrugged. "You'll forever be a prepubescent child in my head."
"He is still prepubescent, he can't even grow a mustache," Easton laughed.
"Lying is your only talent," I deadpanned.
"Shut up, all of you!" Macy yelled.
"Sorry, this whole thing started with me making fun of how Eli acts when he's talking to Javier. His voice gets high-pitched, and he talks like a little baby." he taunted.
"No, I don't." He was lying, I did not talk to Javi in a baby voice. "You're just upset that I've found someone who makes living with you a little less shitty. Sorry that you don't have someone that can put up with your anger issues."
"You think he's going to stay when he sees all of the crap you got in your life?" Easton laughed incredulously. "Wait till he gets a real taste of the crazy. He won't come back."
My fists clenched by my sides. "He's already seen some and he's stayed. You don't know anything about him, but I do. All he's done is prove to me that he cares, unlike you."
"Keep believing that and when he eventually turns on you, you'll be in shambles," he spat. "That man doesn't care, baby bro. He thinks he does right now but give it time."
"I'm walking away." And I tried, but he put his hand on my chest to keep me in place. I felt the heat rise inside of me at his refusal to let me pass.
"Actually, I can see why you two work out. You both think that you're better than everyone else just because you're smart. News flash: being smart does not make you important. You are massively annoying and Javier's so damn cocky that it pisses me off. He acts like—”
Easton finally shut the hell up when I swung at him.
For the first time in my eighteen years of living on the planet, I punched my brother square in the jaw.
My fist came into contact with his jaw, and his face whipped to the right at the forceful impact. Easton’s right hand shot up to hold the hurt area as his jaw dropped. He couldn’t believe I dared to hit him.
There were lots of feelings coursing through my veins.
Anger, adrenaline, rebellion, fear, it was all terribly overwhelming.
I usually never fought back. Sometimes I’d speak up, but I would usually take the insults and threats and move on with life.
I couldn't this time, though. He talked badly about my Javi, and no one would speak ill about him if I had anything to say about it.
I felt proud of myself after the initial blow. I heard sharp gasps from my sister and aunt because they too never thought I would have the guts to throw my fist in his face. It felt empowering to see that I could stand up to the bully that was my brother if I truly wanted to.
Though, in just a few short seconds Easton showed me why I tended to forgive and forget in the first place.