Chapter Five

“I guess,” Theodore said. As much as he knew this was going to be upsetting to Charlie, he couldn't put aside his own resentment for his little brother. Not to mention, it did sound like a good bit of revenge. Hadn't Charlie done the same thing to him by denying him access to the computer? If anything, maybe it was time Charlie got a taste of his own medicine.

With their plan decided, Ewan shifted focus back to getting Theodore to finally battle him in Pokemon. Theodore was surprised to find his own game console tucked away in his suitcase, and was even more surprised to find upon booting it up that he had his own team of buffed up monsters that would only be possible if the player had put in some serious time in training them up. As the two battled, Theodore felt himself getting into it. For the first time that day he felt like he was actually able to blow off some steam and forget about his problems for a moment.

Charlie entered the room some time later, bringing a pause to Theodore's brief respite.

“You guys battling?” Charlie asked, spying the game console in the two other boy's hands. He went over and sat next to Ewan to peer over at the screen. “Can I watch?”

“No,” Ewan said, pulling the game console away out of the boy's eyesight. “This is just for me and Theo. Besides, I thought you were busy playing on the computer?”

“Oh, Mom said I had to get off. Besides, Uncle Rob had some work he had to get done.” Charlie gave a brief pause before his eyes lit up again. “Oh yeah, I was supposed to tell you that Mom wants everyone down in the living room for a family movie night - but she said we should all get our pajamas on first.” Charlie said as he got up to go towards his suitcase, noticing the fox sitting on the dresser.

Charlie walked over to the fox, giving a suspicious look back towards the other two. It had moved from the spot he had placed it earlier in the day. As he went to grab it, he found his hands blocked. Charlie made a curious face as he went to try again. Theodore observed that the more Charlie tried, the more frantic his attempts became - just as Theodore's had been.

“W-w-whats going on here?” Charlie stammered, still trying to grasp at his coveted companion.

“Oh looks like Mr. Fox wants to be left alone,” Ewan said in a mocking tone, getting up from the bed with the control tablet in his hand. “Maybe he thinks you're a little too big for him.”

“You guys did this?” Charlie asked, looking to Ewan and then to Theodore, a betrayed look on his face. “G-give him back,” Charlie whined before turning back to the fox as he began to swipe against the invisible barriers. Tears were now starting to form in Charlie's eyes as he turned back towards Theodore. “Make Ewan give him back please,” Charlie pleaded to Theodore.

On one hand, Theodore could see the prank had run its course, yet seeing Charlie's crumpled little face as tears fell down his cheeks made Theo feel pity for his brother. It was not out of sympathy however, instead being borne out of spite. The only reason Charlie was reacting like this was because, unlike Theodore, he had been babied and coddled by their mother all his life. Ewan had been exactly right. Charlie needed to grow up - and to do that it was time for some tough love.

“Quit being such a baby all the time,” Theodore said gruffly as he rolled his eyes.

“I'm not a baby,” Charlie said, stamping his foot in frustration.

“We'll give him back,” Ewan said. “But only if you prove you still need him.”

“What do you mean?” Charlie asked, his voice quivering.

“Admit you're a little baby who still needs his stuffie,” Ewan said with a satisfied smirk. “Go on and say ‘I'm a widdle baby’ just like that and you can have it.”

“I won't, you can't make me,” Charlie said, the corners of his mouth turning downwards as his chest began to heave up and down.

Ewan merely shrugged, showing that he was not going to budge unless Charlie fulfilled his part of the bargain. Meanwhile, the boy was growing more and more panicked.

“I'm a widdle baby,” Charlie finally whispered. Ewan held his hand to his ear, leaning a bit forward.

“What was that? Couldn't hear you,” Ewan said with a laugh.

“I'M A WIDDLE BABY,” Charlie blurted out before breaking down into full-on tears. Ewan let out another laugh as Theodore looked on with his arms crossed and a muddled expression on his face. He shook his head a little. Theodore was starting to feel like this wasn't really the prank he had been sold on.

Theodore took a step to go and grab the tablet from Ewan's hand, but was stopped by a knock at the door.

“Charlie honey are you alright in there?” Mom's voice asked from the other side. Yet Charlie gave no response as he kept on crying hysterically. The door opened and Mom walked in, immediately seizing upon the fact that something was very wrong. Charlie ran to his Mom wrapping his arms around her.

“They won't give him back,” Charlie cried out, yet his voice was muffled as he had buried his face into his Mom's body. Before Mom could even begin to question the other two boys, Uncle Rob appeared in the doorway.

“Hey, I just got a distress alert from this room on my computer. Is somebody hurt here?”

“They took my fox,” Charlie weeped. “I can't get him,”

Uncle Rob spied the fox on the dresser and rolled his eyes a little. “What is the matter with you two?” he said, giving Theodore and Ewan a displeased look as he walked over to the dresser. Uncle Rob made a grab for the fox but found his hand stopped by the invisible barrier. He pulled back his hand a little before looking over at Ewan, who still had the control panel limply grasped in his hand at his side. “Oh, I get it now,” Uncle Rob said, walking over and snatching the tablet out from Ewan's hand. He made a couple of swipes on the tablet before motioning with his head towards Mom, who proceeded to grab the Fox and give it to Charlie. He clutched it close to his chest as he continued to whimper, his crying having subsided.

“Ewan, why do you have administrative permissions attached to your profile?” Uncle Rob asked, looking up from the tablet.

“I uhh well,” Ewan dribbled out, squirming under the furious gaze of his father.

“Is everything okay here?” Jessica asked, poking her head into the room.

“Everything is fine,” Mom said, picking some flannel pants and a white long sleeve undershirt out of Charlie's suitcase before ushering Charlie over to Jessica. “Do you think you could take Charlie and Luke downstairs for me?”

“Sure,” Jessica said, putting an arm around her younger cousin. “C'mon buddy we can get nice and cozy on the couch together.” she said as the two began to walk away.

“Go ahead and start the movie without us,” Mom called out before shutting the door and turning around to face the guilty boys in the room. “I'm hoping to hear a darn good explanation out of the two of you,” she said, her tone turning dire.

Theodore could only gulp, seeing that his day was only going to get worse.

***

Mom had been furious. Their weak excuses falling on deaf ears, she’d subjected the pouting pair of bullies to a proper dressing down - making sure they felt suitably ashamed of their infantile behavior before banishing them to their respective rooms for the night. According to Mom, Theodore was lucky he was staying at his uncle’s, or else he would have spent the remainder of the night with his nose pressed against the living room corner where everyone could see how bad he’d been. That particular remark had drawn a muted titter from Ewan, but his superior attitude was short lived, Mom informing the pair that neither boy was too old to go across her knee.

Theodore knew that was nonsense, of course. Mom might have been cold, and she might have been crazy, but she would never actually hit him. Still, despite Theodore’s adolescent angst, she somehow knew how to elicit a healthy helping of shame in the boy. Excluded from the family movie night and confined to their bedrooms, Theodore now found the tools of his own cruel prank turned against him - the touchpad on the door now steadfastly refusing to recognize his fingerprint, and the forcefield in the window warding against any and all irresponsible escape attempts. Similarly shut out of his console, Theodore had nothing to do but brood - staring sulkily at the shimmering force field that had earned him this fate.

Somehow, he couldn’t help but think about Charlie. The kid had really freaked out, and all over that silly fox plushie. Theo thought back to himself at that age, wondering if he had been quite so emotional - but no. Looking back, Theodore was quite certain he’d only cried once between the ages of eight and eighteen. He had been eleven years old at a violin recital, having just royally screwed up his performance in front of the entire elementary school. He’d hidden in the bathroom for half an hour before he’d managed to get over himself, terrified that some other kids might see him crying, and even more terrified of what his Mom might say.

Theo felt a sickly nauseous stab of jealousy deep in his stomach, scrunching up his fist. He couldn’t possibly imagine bawling out big blubbery tears over some stupid toy at Charlie’s age. His Mom would have told him to get over it and pull himself together, yet she seemed perfectly happy for Charlie to burst into tears every hour of every day! The kid was so coddled, he’d probably wet his pants if he ever had to deal with anything close to what Theodore was made to put up with. Not that that was ever likely to happen. Mom treated Charlie with the tenderest most juvenile of kid gloves, insulating from even the slightest inconvenience, and the ten year old was quite happy to coast along on the good life! He acted like he was two years old, and everyone else was expected to walk on eggshells - treating him like a pampered little prince lest he run to Mommy!

As the hours ticked by, Theodore only grew more and more resentful, pacing around his bedroom cell like a tiger prowling up and down his cage. He had once again resorted to staring into nothing sitting at the end of his bed when the door finally opened, Mom leading a yawning Charlie back into the room. The stuffed fox still cuddled affectionately into the crook of his arm, the ten year old wandered sleepily up to his bed, happily accepting a hug from his Mommy before he burrowed under the covers. Theodore watched the adorable scene with a festering resentment, a warning glare from his mother keeping his boiling anger simmering just below the lid.

“Theodore.” she instructed curtly when she was finished, pointing to the door. “A word outside, please.”

“Can’t I just go to sleep?” Theo moaned. “You already chewed me out.”

“Now, Theodore.” Mom instructed. The teenager moaned, getting to his feet and deliberately stomping as noisily as he could as he schlepped his way out into the corridor.

“What?” he moaned, his tone dripping with disrespect.

Mom firmly closed the door, shielding Charlie from earshot. “We need to talk about your behavior today.” she said in a sinister tone. “I don’t know what you thought you were playing at, but-”

“I know, I know!” Theodore interrupted impatiently. “I already told you it wasn’t even my idea!”

“And do you really think that kind of attitude is going to be accepted at Holyoke?” Mom snapped right back. Theo’s demeanor shifted at once, the remainder that he would soon be returning to the hated boarding school filling him with dread. “It’s a prestigious school, Theodore.” Mom continued. “Not every kid gets a chance at that kind of helping hand in life. The last thing you need is to mess it up with some absurd attempt at silly teenage rebellion!”

Theodore was silent and glassy eyed, staring off into space. The reality of his situation loomed a lot more threateningly that any lecture his Mom could give him. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. The impatient egomaniacal teachers, the stupid knuckle dragging students three times his size, the loneliness of it all. He’d have to do it again. The whole thing. For four long, long years.

“Do I make myself clear?” Mom demanded, putting a finger under Theo’s chin to force him to meet her gaze. “Hmm?”

The boy scrunched up his face in defiance. “No!” he yelped.

“What did you say?” Mom demanded.

“I said no!” he repeated, gathering his courage. “Maybe…maybe I don’t even want to go to Holyoke!” he screamed, the words he wished he’d said four years ago tumbling relentlessly off his tongue. “Maybe I don’t care about…about music…about any of this stuff!”

“Theodore!” Mom exclaimed in shock. “You don’t mean…”

“Well I do!” Theo interrupted, an embarrassing voice break punctuating the exclamation somewhat impeding the dramatic point. To his surprise, he could actually feel a couple of stray tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. He quickly wiped them away, desperate not to show any weakness.

Mom’s hard disciplinarian frown faded away for just a second, a look of deep concern instead passing across her face. “Theodore…” she repeated. “If you’re nervous about the boarding, you know we’ll always be there for you? Me, and your cousins, and your brother Charlie…”

The mention of his brother’s name was like a venomous fang, piercing Theo’s heart and poisoning any honest confession of his feelings that might yet have been recovered from the conversation. “No!” he shouted petulantly, filled with spite. The only thing he cared about now was hurting her as much as he possibly could. “Don’t you get it? It’s you I’m sick of!” he screamed.

He turned his back on her, running through the bedroom door, slamming it behind him again, and diving under his covers. Mom didn’t try to follow.

“Theo?” Charlie’s little voice called out in concern. He felt a small hand prodding at his side, but he only groaned in response, holding his comforter in front of his face like a shield. “Are you okay?”

“Go away…” Theo groaned. He knew he was fully crying now, but he refused to acknowledge that reality, as if keeping the sheets held stubbornly over his sodden face would make it not so.

“Were you fighting with Mom again?” Charlie asked innocently. “We could talk about it, if you want…”

Theo momentarily removed the covers from his face, scowling in fury at his stupid, condescending, interfering, little brother. “FUCK OFF!” he screamed, and smushed his face into his mattress. He scrunched his eyes closed, willing himself to sleep.