Brawnly and the Bet

“Brawnly Stewart” he replied shaking her hand. He took his time assessing the young woman. She was older than him he was sure of that, around 20 or 21 if he had to take a guess. Her blonde hair was light and reached about an inch and a half away from her shoulders. Her green eyes regarded him much in the same manner that he was giving her. She was assessing him.

“Nice to meet you Brawnly, not under the circumstances I suppose but still, nice to meet you all the same.” He saw her vision to stray to the left where Cain was standing behind him.

“Hey Laverna” Cain drawled causing an annoyed expression to fall across Verna’s features

“Don’t call me that Cain or I’ll be forced to kill you.” Came her bored response along with a roll of her eyes.

Brawnly suddenly felt awkward in her company and he cursed himself.
“So, uh, Verna? Can I get you a drink?” he asked, why did everything he said to her suddenly have to turn into a question. Brawnly could tell that Cain picked up on his nervous behavior and prayed that he’d keep his mouth shut for once in his life.

“Yeah I’d love some root beer if you can find it, I’m DD tonight” she explained.
With a nod Brawnly acknowledged her request and went about fulfilling it.
As Brawnly turned to venture off back into the crowd to find Verna a drink, she turned her attention to Cain .

“Wow, that girl was a bitch.”

“Yeah, I know. Most of these little shits are. I shouldn’t have invited them.”

“I hear that, I mean just because he’s a twig doesn’t give her any right to embarrass him. So he’s not some perfectly sculpted Adonis, he seems like a real sweet heart.”Verna said allowing a small smile to grace her features at the boy she’d just met.
She regretted it when she saw a smirk to invade Cain’s face.

“Oh Verna are you falling for my little brother?” Cain inquired with a playful tone.

“Pft, yeah right.” She said defensively. “He may be a sweet heart but, while I’m not bothered by it, appearance and attitude are important. He just can’t hack it.”Verna said with an air of all knowing in her voice.
Cain was more entertained with every passing word that escaped her lips then he’d been all night.

“Is that so?” Arrogance flooded from his form. “Well how ‘bout this. Brawnly will be going to the University in the fall, I bet you a grand that by the time class starts up you’ll be madly in love with the kid.”

Verna scoffed and rolled her eyes, it was something she was used to doing in Cain’s presence.

“Don’t piss around; you know I don’t have that kinda money to goof around with.”
Cain pulled her closer to him, it was a position neither of them was new to when Cain was drunk.

“Really now? I’m sure we can always arrange some other method of payment “His voice was purposely husky and it annoyed Verna.

“You’re retarded…and drunk” She added as an afterthought. “Besides it’s impossible to bet on emotion; that just fucks with people’s heads.”

Cain, always a cocky son of a bitch was not one to be deterred.

“Fine we’ll bet physical. I bet $1000 that by the end of the summer, my step brother, Brawnly Jacob Stewart will be so irresistibly attractive that you’ll be dying to, if you haven’t already, sleep with him. Basically, you’ll fall in lust with him. If you have the self restraint I’ll give you the money, if you don’t you’ll – “

“I’ll be your live in slave for a month!” Verna exclaimed. She’d seen the wicked glint in his eyes and decided on a pre-emptive strike.

“I’m not doing any Kinky shit though if that’s what you’re looking for Cain.”

“Well there’s an awkward conversation to walk in to” Brawnly announced as he joined his brother and the bizarre woman; handing Verna her drink.

“Thanks” she said taking the proffered beverage from his hands. Then without warning she threw the sugary contents of the plastic cup up into Brawnly’s face. Verna turned heel and walked away with a swagger in her step.

Brawnly was flabbergasted, what had he done to her to deserve a soda in the face, and not just any soda, root beer. Brawnly hated root beer yet he’d gone out to look for the disgusting drink for the girl because she saved his ass from the agonizing hell that would have followed him Monday morning. But no instead he was rewarded with fucking root beer in his face.

Had Brawnly not been so preoccupied with wiping the bubbly substance from his line of vision he would have seen the purposeful wink she directed at Cain.

The two brothers allowed their gaze to follow her slender body as she wove gracefully through the crowd. Her blonde hair acting almost like a beacon, keeping her in their sights before she finally disappeared into the mass of bodies that were completely clueless and content.

Then slowly Cain and Brawnly spoke; each only uttering a single word, one with admiration and the other with resignation.

“Damn”

What felt like hours but was in reality only a minute or so they boys were shaken out of their thoughts by a commotion out in the yard and the distant chanting of their peers.

“FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT”

“Well I’d better go check that out, I don’t think Dad would appreciate any corpses on his lawn when he wakes up in the morning. You can leave now if you want but you’re getting up by at least noon tomorrow.” Cain instructed before chugging down the beer in his hand that he’d been nursing for the last half hour.

Brawnly looked at Cain with a clear look of skepticism and doubt.

“And why dear brother would I do that?”

“Because dude that bitchy girl tore a strip into you and not in the good way then Verna Mitchels of all people had to come save your ass, all because you have shit for a back bone. Starting this week you’re my personal project. You’re gunna grow a set of steel this summer even if it kills me.”

Brawnly blanched. He’d seen how serious Cain took things once he’d set his mind to it. He groaned. All he wanted to do was climb up to his room and finish his screen play for the Young Screen Writers Competition in September. He didn’t want to do whatever Cain had planned. Not because he didn’t trust his brother but because usually anything Cain did had an ulterior motive.

“Noon or you’re getting a bucket of cold water in the morning instead of a lukewarm root beer.” And with that Cain left.

Brawnly huffed and made his way to the door. He saw Mina on his way out and she shot him an apologetic shrug as if to say:

’What can you do?

Safe to say she saw his earlier altercation. He felt his cheeks redden, first with embarrassment then with anger at himself. Brawnly was done. He was tired of being a blushing bashful idiot around other people and the normal guy he was around his family and Mina. He pushed any possible agenda Cain had in mind and decided that now was the perfect time for him to put up or shut up. So with a renewed vigor in his step Brawnly Jacob Stewart exited the pool house that his brother lived in and headed towards his attic bedroom in the main house, confident that tomorrow would be the start of a new man.

Cain watched from the back window as a solitary figure cut across the dark path towards the main house and knew it was his brother. He wouldn’t lose. It wasn’t about the money or getting at Verna, no, it was about Brawnly. For two long years Cain had watched how people judged him before they even harbored the idea of getting to know him which was their loss in his mind.

Brawnly lacked confidence; this was a perfect way to help him in a more hands on approach. While still in high school Cain had looked out for his step-brother. Telling people to back off, threatening them with the wrath of the football team and hanging the silent threat over the team that should anything happen to Brawnly and they could have prevented it they’d be benched faster than they could say Quarterback. But now he wouldn’t be able to do that, next year Brawnly would be in the real world with the rest of them and no one would be there to save his ass except himself.

It would start now.

....The bet was on.