Oh Brother Read online

  Lauren peeked over at the other tables. Some kids were talking quietly as they worked. Others seemed to have finished. Callie and two of the other girls were laughing behind their books. It didn’t look like they were getting much work done.

  Mr. Pittman clapped his hands, and Lauren spun around to face forward.

  “Before the bell goes for recess,” said Mr. Pittman, “I want to talk to you about a little competition.” He paused to make sure he had everyone’s attention. “As you know, every year the sixth- and seventh-grade classes have a special assembly in the last week of school.”

  A ripple of whispers ran through the class. Mr. Pittman waited until everyone was silent. “This year I would like to do something a little bit different.” He looked around the room. “For this project, I want each of you to observe your family, your friends and maybe even your own heart, and then write about what you see and feel.”

  The class groaned. Mr. Pittman held up his hand for quiet. “It can be as long or as short as you wish. It can be in the form of a poem or a short story or even a play. And you can work alone or in pairs or groups. As long as you show me what is important to you.”

  He gazed around the class again, but this time there was no need to ask for quiet. “Mrs. Dupont and I will read them and choose the best one to present at the special assembly.”

  Lauren remembered that Mrs. Dupont was the librarian they’d met when they’d come for their tour.

  “We can talk more about this later,” Mr. Pittman finished.

  The bell rang, and it was as if a spell had been broken. Suddenly the class was buzzing with noise. Alicia and Alex looked at each other, then rose together and made a dash for the door. Lauren put away her pencils and closed her notebook. She wondered if they were all dreading this assignment as much as she was. Writing was hard enough. Writing about personal stuff? Way too hard.

  “Lauren!”

  Lauren saw Callie waving to her from across the room. As she hurried over, she could feel Byron staring after her.

  “Come hang out with us,” said Callie, heading out the door. “Maddy! Treena! Wait up.”

  Lauren and Callie pushed their way through the crowd and caught up to the two other girls at the top of the stairs.

  “Hey, guys,” said Callie. “This is Lauren.”

  “We know.” One of the girls, her lashes thick and heavy with mascara, looked Lauren up and down. “I’m Katreena Peterson,” she finally said. “And this is Madeleine Chan.”

  “Maddy,” said the other girl. “Madeleine sounds like something out of a soap opera.” Her dark eyes crinkled when she smiled. “Where are you from?” she asked Lauren as they made their way down the stairs.

  “I’m from Ash Creek,” said Lauren. “In Saskatchewan.”

  “Never heard of it,” said Maddy.

  “It’s pretty small. About two thousand people, I think.”

  Maddy made a noise, looking back at Lauren with a sneer. “Well, welcome to civilization,” she said. “I’m sure you’ll like living in the city.”

  Lauren smiled but wasn’t really sure what Maddy meant by that. It sounded a bit mean.

  “I went to the country once,” said Treena. “To this tiny place in Ontario where my cousins live. I’ve never been so bored in my life. All they wanted to do was climb trees and swim in the lake and ride horses and stuff. And the hole they called a town…” She made a face. “It didn’t even have a movie theater.”

  “It’s different, that’s for sure,” said Lauren. She followed the girls out to the playground, a funny feeling settling in her stomach that had nothing to do with being hungry. She thought about her friends back home, Kat and Gemma and Isabel, and how nice they’d been to Lauren’s cousin when she’d visited from Australia the previous year. They hadn’t made her feel bad for where she came from.

  They found a spot under a tree, and Lauren settled on the grass next to Callie. “I’ve got a chocolate bar, if anyone wants to share it with me,” she said, pulling it out of her pocket.

  Treena’s nose wrinkled. “I don’t eat that kind of stuff,” she said. “Do you know how many calories are in that thing?”

  “Well, I do,” said Maddy, surprising Lauren by reaching over and taking it from her. “And this kind is my favorite.” She ripped open the packaging and bit off almost a third of it, closing her eyes while she chewed. “I haven’t had one of these in months.” She passed the bar on to Callie.

  “So what did you do out there in the wilderness?” asked Treena. “And please don’t tell me you had horses or pet pigs or something.”

  Lauren bit her lip. “No. We didn’t have any animals. We lived in town.” She nervously picked at the grass. “I did dance and piano lessons and hung out with my friends. We’d go to movies and stuff.”

  “Beauty. You’re semi-normal then,” said Treena. She laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound.

  “Alicia and Alex are from the country,” said Callie through a mouthful of chocolate. “And are they ever screwed up.”

  Lauren squinted at her, surprised by the tone of her voice. “I mean, I know they’re twins and all,” Callie continued, “but they hardly even speak. It’s like one of them thinks something and the other one does it. How weird is that? I have twin brothers, and they don’t do that. I think it’s got something to do with living on that ranch. They never had anyone to talk to but the cows.”

  “Callie, you’re so full of it,” said Maddy. She grabbed the chocolate bar back from Callie, took another bite and handed the remains to Lauren.

  Lauren stared at the gooey blob of chocolate. She couldn’t have swallowed it if she’d wanted to. Alicia and Alex had been really nice to her. She didn’t understand why Callie was being so mean.

  She looked up and saw a woman wheeling Will toward the swings on the other side of the playground. Will spotted her and waved.

  “Look at that kid,” said Treena. “What a spaz.”

  Lauren brought her hand down in mid-wave and spun around to look at Treena.

  “I thought they weren’t going to let kids like that in anymore,” said Maddy.

  “Why? What do you mean, kids like that?” Lauren asked.

  Treena leaned in close to Lauren and lowered her voice. “There used to be this kid here that was kind of—you know.” She rolled her eyes and gestured rudely with her hands. “No one ever paid him much attention, but one day he just went ape. Threw a total fit, knocked over a bunch of chairs, tried to bash the door down. Mr. Blight got punched in the face before they got him under control.” She shuddered. “They tried to cover it up, said he’d missed his meds or something, but a bunch of parents complained and made sure they got rid of him.”

  “But that was just one incident,” Lauren said, horrified. “Not all kids with disabilities are—”

  “Are you saying they should have let him stay?” Treena glared at her. “Let him hang around until he started beating up on the kids in his class?”

  “One outburst doesn’t mean—”

  “My brother was in that class, and it really freaked him out.” Treena nodded over at Will. “I tell you, those kids are dangerous.”

  Lauren looked helplessly over at her brother, now being pushed on the swing by a couple of kids not much bigger than him.

  “But he’s only little,” she said.

  “He’ll grow up.”

  Something in Treena’s voice made Lauren look back at her. The fear and hatred Lauren saw in her face was frightening.

  Chapter Five

  Over the next couple of weeks Lauren fell into a routine. In some ways it felt as if she’d been at Birch Park Elementary for months.

  Nothing was the same as it had been in Ash Creek though. She was no closer to having a friend than she had been on the first day. She hung out with Callie and Maddy and Treena sometimes, but she didn’t really fit in. Their conversations were boring. All they ever talked about were clothes and makeup, boys and how many “likes” they got on social media. That boy By
ron McAfee had still barely said a word to her and the twins…well, they were nice enough, but they really seemed to need only each other for company. Most days Lauren spent recess and lunch wandering the playground on her own, watching other kids and wishing the bell would ring.

  On Saturday morning she lay in bed, fiddling with the locket that held the picture of her three friends. What had they been doing these last two weeks? Had they gone to the Busted Nugget for milkshakes on the last day of the holidays like they usually did? Had Isabel taken Lauren’s place in the dance routine for the concert coming up? Were they planning a party for Valentine’s Day? Did they miss her?

  She sighed and threw the covers off, climbing out of bed.

  Will was in the kitchen, his face smeared with porridge and jam. Her mom was washing up his bowl at the sink.

  “Hey, Will,” Lauren said, ruffling his hair as she passed on her way to the fridge.

  He grinned at her and squeezed his fists tight.

  She poured some orange juice into a glass. “Want to go to the park later?”

  “Blake!” said Will.

  It was a new word for him. Lauren frowned.

  “Will has a play date today,” explained her mom.

  “A play date? With who?”

  “A boy in his class. One of the first graders.”

  “Blake!” said Will again, squirming in excitement.

  Lauren swallowed. So Will had made friends. Wow. She wished she could say the same. “That’s great,” she said, her voice a bit flat.

  Her mom glanced at her. “Why don’t you come along? I think Blake has a sister about your age.”

  Lauren groaned. “Mom, I’m not five anymore. You can’t just dump me on some girl and expect us to be instant friends.”

  “And you can’t expect to make friends if you don’t make an effort.” Her mom wiped Will’s face with a cloth. “Think about it. You can come along and help me get Will’s chair up the stairs. Then, if you don’t want to stay, you can come home. They only live next door.”

  “Next door?” Lauren glanced out the kitchen window toward the neighbor’s house. She’d heard what sounded like a whole army of kids playing in the backyard, but she hadn’t seen any of them yet. No one seemed to be around now.

  Lauren finished her juice and set the glass in the sink. “All right,” she said. “I’ll give you a hand with Will. But I’m coming home if it gets weird.”

  The neighbor’s house was tall and rambling, larger than their own and in need of a coat of paint. A woman answered the door, her face breaking into a smile when she saw them. She introduced herself as Bernice.

  “Gareth will be back with the other kids soon,” she said as she led them down the hall to the kitchen. “The twins’ soccer match wasn’t quite finished so they stayed to cheer them on.”

  “Blake!” said Will as a small boy with blond hair leaped up and ran over to him. Lauren had seen the boy before, on the playground at school with Will.

  Lauren picked at her nails as her mom transferred Will to the floor and Bernice bustled around getting cups from the cupboard.

  “The others won’t be long,” Bernice said, peering out the kitchen window. “In fact, there they are now.”

  The front door squeaked open, and Lauren heard voices in the hallway. A small boy came running into the kitchen.

  “They won, Mom, they won!” he shouted as three older boys followed him in. Two of them looked so much alike that Lauren couldn’t help staring. Five boys! No wonder they sounded like an army from her house.

  “Well done, you two,” Bernice said, giving the twins a hug. “Everyone, this is Will and—”

  “Lauren!”

  Lauren turned to see two more people standing at the entrance to the kitchen. A tall, thin man and a girl with her ball cap on backward. It was Callie.

  Chapter Six

  Callie seemed genuinely pleased to see Lauren. Then she noticed Will on the floor with Blake. Her gaze went from Will to Lauren, and her smile faded. A small frown furrowed her brow.

  “You two girls know each other?” asked Bernice.

  “Lauren’s the new girl in my class I was telling you about,” said Callie.

  “Of course, we should have realized,” said Bernice. “Well, I’m sure you lot are starving. Jack, Andrew, get out of the pantry. I’ll get some sandwiches going.”

  The boys slouched into the family room, the older three draping themselves on the couch, the small boy, Liam, on the floor with Blake and Will. Callie came and sat at the table with Lauren and her mother.

  “I didn’t know you had a brother,” she said, watching Blake, Will and Liam setting up a board game.

  Lauren shrugged. “I didn’t know you had so many brothers.”

  Callie didn’t reply. The two moms continued to chat while Bernice loaded the table with sandwich fixings: bread, cheese, ham, lettuce, tomatoes, peanut butter and jam. Lauren felt her face going hot as she thought about what Treena and Maddy had said about Will on that first day. And how Callie hadn’t said anything when Lauren tried to defend him.

  “I should go,” she said, pushing her chair back.

  Callie looked up. “What? But you just got here.”

  Lauren shrugged.

  “Don’t go yet,” said Callie. “Want to see my room? I just got some new Taylor Swift posters.”

  Taylor Swift wasn’t really Lauren’s kind of music, but Callie was being super friendly, like she had been that first time Lauren met her. She nodded.

  “I can’t believe you live next door,” said Callie as they sat on her bed, flipping through magazines and eating sandwiches. “Mitchell used to live there. He moved to Ottawa last month. But I’d way rather have you next door. I’ve already got five brothers. I don’t need another guy to hang out with.”

  “Five is a lot,” said Lauren.

  Callie nodded. “They are such a pain.”

  She scratched her fingernail on a perfume sampler in the magazine she was reading, brought it to her face and sniffed deeply. She made a face and set it down.

  “So do you have any brothers or sisters? I mean, besides…” Callie gestured in the general direction of the kitchen, where they could hear the boys squealing and giggling.

  “His name’s Will,” said Lauren. “And no, it’s just the two of us.” She stared at Callie, daring her to say something more.

  Callie dropped her gaze and nodded, flipping pages. “Do you play soccer?” she asked after a minute.

  Lauren let the tension ease out of her shoulders. She shook her head, glad Callie hadn’t pushed, glad to be talking about something else. Now Callie knew that Will was her brother though. And there was no doubt she’d tell Maddy and Treena. It left a ball of anxiety in Lauren’s gut.

  “I’ve always done dance,” she said. “I missed registration, though, so I won’t be able to start at the new dance place until summer.”

  “I really wanted to play football,” said Callie. “I played flag with Connor and the twins, but when they moved on to tackle, Mom and Dad said it was too rough and switched me over to soccer. I like it, but…it’s not the same.”

  Lauren shrugged. “I’ve never really been into sports.”

  Callie laughed. “With five brothers I don’t really have a choice. I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy. That’s why it’s so great to be hanging out with Maddy and Treena this year. Maddy plays soccer, but you’d never call her a tomboy. She even helped me redecorate my room over the holidays. Do you like it?”

  Lauren gazed around at the pink walls, the soft white curtains, the fluffy cushions on the bed. It wasn’t her style, but it looked really nice. “Yeah, it’s great,” she said.

  “You hate it, don’t you?” said Callie.

  “No, I don’t! It’s great.”

  Callie leaned toward her. “To be honest, I’m still getting used to it. It’s a bit too girly for me, but don’t tell Maddy I said that.” She laughed. “I used to have this whole collection of figurines on display. My sh
elves seem bare now.”

  Lauren looked over to where the magazines had been stacked next to a framed photo of Callie and Treena and Maddy. “There’s plenty of room. You could still put some of them up there,” she said.

  “Nah. Maddy said they didn’t go with the decor, and she’s right. They would look out of place.” She sighed wistfully. “I could show them to you, if you want.”

  “Yeah, let’s see them,” said Lauren.

  Callie dragged a box out of the closet and started removing dozens of figurines. She had more than Lauren had ever seen outside a games store, including a couple that Lauren had on her own shelves at home.

  “Do you like Star Wars?” Lauren asked, picking up a model of Chewbacca. It was one she was hoping to get for her birthday.

  “Do I like it? It’s only my favorite movie series of all time,” said Callie. “I’ve got Yoda and Darth Vader too. They’re in here somewhere.” She dug around in the box until she found them.

  “You should put them out if you love Star Wars so much,” said Lauren. “I’ve got Frodo and Pippin from The Lord of the Rings in my room.”

  “Do you?” Callie bit her lip and looked up at the shelf. “I guess one or two wouldn’t hurt.” She jumped up and placed the figures on the top shelf, then stood back to admire them. “Hey, that’s not bad at all.”

  “I really like it,” said Lauren.

  Just then Will called out.

  Callie looked at Lauren. “What does he want?”

  “I don’t know, but I’d better go see.” Lauren got up and opened the bedroom door. Blake and Will were right outside. Will had a soccer ball on his lap.

  “He wants to play kickball,” said Lauren to Callie. “Maybe later,” she said to Will.

  His face fell, and a lump of guilt settled in Lauren’s stomach.

  “Ball!” demanded Will.