“Are you ready?” Peter asked as he opened the front door.
“Yes.”
As she joined him, she wondered whether or not she should stay home. She didn’t think Peter’s statement regarding Tom was a nice one but needed time to think through what she should do about it, if anything.
***
“Here comes Tom. Watch out or you might lose your hair, Ma!”
Tom glared at his twelve-year-old brother who was sitting at the kitchen table with a fork in one hand and a knife in the other.
“Joel.” Their mother shot him a warning look as she turned from the cookstove with a spatula in hand. “That’s enough of your teasing.”
Tom sat across from his pesky brother who snickered at him. He couldn’t wait to get his own place. Then he wouldn’t have to put up with his annoying brother anymore. The dog hastened by Tom’s side and panted in anticipation for the meal to come. Tom usually snuck in food to the animal during meals because he couldn’t stand having the poor dog peer up at him with those sad eyes.
Joel glanced over his shoulder and when he saw that their mother had her back turned to them, he set his fork and knife down and made a screaming motion as he grabbed his hair.
Tom grabbed Joel’s fork and knife and let the dog sitting next to him lick the utensils. Just as Joel voiced his protest, he swiftly returned them to Joel and smiled.
Their father and Dave came into the kitchen and sat at their usual places.
“Ma!” Joel screeched. “Tom let the dog lick my fork and knife. I need new utensils.”
“I did not,” Tom lied.
Their mother looked over at their father. “Did you see anything?”
Their father shook his head. “When I got here, the utensils were where they belonged.”
“Well, I am not eating with these.” Joel picked them up as if he were handling a dead rodent and pitched them into the sink.
“That’s it, Joel. You’re helping me with dishes,” their mother stated.
“What? Why?”
“Because you just made more work for me, young man.”
“But they had dog spit all over them.”
“Are you arguing with me?” She placed a hand on her hip and stared at him.
Joel sunk into the chair. “No, Ma.”
When Joel turned his attention to Tom, Tom raised his eyebrows and gave a slight smile. There. That should teach the little weasel to harass him. Tom hadn’t had a moment’s peace ever since Dave told everyone what happened. Too bad Dave witnessed the whole thing. He sighed. He really needed his own place. His two younger brothers were such a nuisance.
“So Tom,” their father began, “when are you going to get your own place?”
Tom inwardly groaned. Not this question again! “I’m waiting until I get engaged.”
“Oh great,” Joel muttered to Dave. “We’ll never get rid of him.”
“Joel,” his father warned.
Fifteen-year-old Jenny entered the house. “I’m done hanging the laundry. Tom, I’m sorry but I couldn’t get that hair off your shirt without cutting it. I’ll sew it back up after supper.”
Tom decided to ignore his brothers’ quiet chuckles.
While their mother and Jenny set the food on the table, their father cleared his throat and looked in Tom’s direction. “You’re already twenty. It’s about time you thought about owning your own land. Not everyone waits until they’re ready to get married to get established. Your brother Richard lived by himself for two years before he met Amanda.”
“I know,” Tom grudgingly admitted.
The men waited until the women were seated before they said grace and started to eat.
Their mother shook her head at her husband. “There’s no hurry in any of this.” She patted Tom on the arm, which only succeeded in making him feel like a child. “Don’t rush into anything.”
Across the table, Joel pressed his hand to his heart and pretended to cry.
Tom straightened in his chair and grabbed a roll before the other hounds ate them all. “Look, it’s not that I don’t want to get out of here. I just don’t have enough money yet.”
“What do you mean, you don’t have enough money?” Dave asked after he took a drink of water. “You’ve been saving up for two years.”
He sighed. He had to use a good chunk of that money to buy a present for Jessica so he could make up for his blunder at the dance. Otherwise, he’d never be able to look at himself in the mirror again. But he didn’t care to explain that to his little brother!
“Never mind, Dave,” their father said.
Dave shrugged and returned to buttering his roll.
“I’ll tell you what,” their father continued. “I’ll let you start building on that space of land east of here that you said you like. We can even help. A sod house is all you need to get started, and it’s relatively inexpensive. In the meantime, I’ll find some work for you to do to pay me back.”