Brawnly and the Bet

The following morning Brawnly awoke with what was fast becoming a familiar ache below his waist, he groaned and rolled himself onto his stomach which inevitably caused more pain to shoot through his body but he was reluctant to get up, he’d had another dream about the elusive Verna Mitchels and he wanted nothing more than to return to it.

After twenty minutes of restlessness Brawly gave up, as it seemed sleep was avoiding him like the plague and went about his morning routine. Get up, use the bathroom, take a cold shower, brush his teeth, got dressed in his favorite pair of jeans and a shirt Megan got for him when she went on a shopping spree last month. Brawnly made his bed which for him consisted of straightening out his sheets and comforter and having his pillows sitting straight at the head of his bed. Then he moved to his desk while his computer booted up he went through his notes for which scenes he’d planned on working on today. When his home screen popped up he saw that he had an e-mail message from Facebook and an instant message from Cain. He rolled his eyes at that one, why couldn’t the lazy ass wait till the morning to talk to him or text him even; the message was quick

Hey Bro call that mona chic u 2 b @ mine by 3 pce!

His msn speak made Brawnly shudder, call him a dork but he was a stickler for spelling and grammar, it was the writer in him he couldn’t help it.

The second message the one from Facebook was simply a friends request, that was odd considering the only reason he even had an account was to keep in touch with his family, especially the ones on his moms side.

Verna Mitchels would like to request you as a friend

Hey Brawnly I was just surfing Cains’ page when I stumbled onto your name, I hope you add me and sorry about the other night No hard feelings? You didn’t deserve that. Anyways see ya around sometime.
V

It would have been an understatement for Brawnly to say he was happy she’d contacted him, he was ecstatic, the grin on his face was undeniable as he hit the confirm button and relayed his own message thinking it out rather carefully.

Verna no harm done, unless you ask my mom who wasn’t too impressed with me getting her floors all sticky with root beer, and I’ll most defiantly see you around.

In all good conscience he couldn’t repeat her words of ‘no hard feelings’ because in all
honestly he’d been having nothing but ‘hard feelings’ as of late and it was getting increasingly ridiculous as time wore on.

It was only 10am so Brawnly decided to wait for a few hours before he’d call Mina and see if she’d want to come over for whatever it was that Cain had planned but like he’d stated in the past they were school friends at best and he wasn’t going to go begging her to get in the middle of his personal business, what he was more interested in Cains plans could possibly be and why they included Mina.

Brawnly continued working on his manuscript for a few more hours before his stomachs incessant grumbles became more aggravating then slightly amusing as they’d originally started off. He descended the spiral stairs and made his way towards the kitchen where Megan was fiddling in the kitchen while his father followed her every move looking very much like a puppy being ignored. Brawnly felt it best to make his presence known now before he walked in on a possibly embarrassing situation between himself and his parents.

“Hey mom, Hey dad what’s for lunch?” he called out from his obscured position in the hall.

“Jesus! Brawnly honey you scared the bejebers out of me” Megan cried as she braced on hand on the counter behind her and the other covering her heart as if it would leap out of her chest. Steven cleared his throat and took a definitive step closer to his wife wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back towards his chest and cradling her there as if to tell his son

‘I love this woman and will show that love no matter who’s watching or what they think.’

Brawnly laughed and set out in making himself a sandwich while the two adults returned to their previous actions, though Megan kept shooting her husband discrete glances to behave himself.

Around one o’clock Brawnly deemed it appropriate to call Mina, Cain wanted them at three so calling now would give her plenty of a heads up.

The phone rang four times before she picked up.

‘Hello?’

“Hey Mina; it’s Brawnly”

’ Hey Brawnly; what’s up?’ she replied. Brawnly could hear the confusion in her voice and the inevitable curiosity that was present as well.

“ Well sorry to bug you but I was wondering if you could help me out with something, now I’m not exactly sure what that is because Cain refuses to tell me but I’d pay the favor back in a heartbeat.”

’Well it depends on what the details of the favor you do know are’

Brawnly gave a nervous laugh before he responded, he was glad he knew Mina, she made high school bare able.

“Well all I know is that he wants us to be at his place at three for something I think has something to do with what I’d rather explain to you in person later if that’s okay.”

You’re lucky I’m like a genius or else I’d have to ask you to repeat that atrocious sentence
into something I could understand. her voice was light and teasing, he could hear shuffling in the background along with the chime of a doorbell and the unmistakable sound of dogs barking that followed.

‘Okay I’m in I’ll be there around three but I gotta head out someone’s at the door I’ll see you later. Bye.’

“Bye Mina. Thanks”

‘No Problem Brawnly then she hung up. He tossed his cell phone behind him and on his bed and then looking at his alarm clock decided that he had ample time to go for a swim so he could think about some things before it was time for whatever Cain had planned.

Swimming laps was pretty straight forward and an excellent time for Brawnly to just relax and reflect, he set himself off at slow and steady pace and once he’d gotten into the rhythm of it he let his mind wander.

Swimming had, from what he could remember, been his mothers’ favorite pastime when she was alive. According to old yearbook photos filled with peace signs and other hippie paraphernalia were photos of him mom on the swim team back in high school, winning dozens of metals and awards always with a look of utter serenity on her face. The love of the water hadn’t faded after her glory days; in fact it only seemed to extend well into her adult life. She would take Brawnly to the public pool every Sunday to swim with other children and was the one who taught him how to swim.

Brawnly remembered the day she died. He was 9 years old and hadn’t wanted to leave the water no matter the ruse his mother had attempted to get him out, after much badgering and empty threats Brawnly had exited the pool taking his sweet ass time collecting his belongings as his own form of punishment for his mother ruining his fun.

Brawnly stopped swimming as the scene came flashing back into his minds eye. He could picture it so clearly as if it was presented in High Definition on a 3-D IMAX screen.

Him doddling along behind his mother as she set out towards the car in the parking lot digging through her bag in search of her car keys, then as he approached the curb she herself had only moments ago stepped off of was the unmistakable sound of screeching tires followed by the bone shattering thud of his mothers’ body hitting the pavement.

Taking a deep breath Brawnly submerged himself and sat on the bottom of the shallow end, watching the clear water reflect the warm sun amongst its mild waves and project themselves onto the pool walls.

That was back in the time when cell phones were rare and no one ever had a quarter handy at a public pool. He could remember the driver, an elderly woman, rushing as fast as she could to help his mother along with several other adults in the vicinity. Once his mind registered what had happened he fought his way through the small crowd that had gathered and flung himself down on the ground next to his mother. He held her weak bloodied hand in his own and spoke what he later would determine to be reassuring words to his mother.

She in return spoke one of her favorite phrases to her only son.

”Love life and Live B.J”

She died before the ambulance got there. She bled out with dozens of people watching clutching her sons small hands in her own till her dying breath.

As he came up for air Brawnly could feel water cascading down his face, not all of which was from the chlorinated pool.

For weeks he’d beat himself up. If only he’d gotten out when she’d asked him to there would have been no car on the road there to hit her, eventually he stopped speaking and his father at his wits end sent him to a therapist who recommended Brawnly keep journals and write out all the emotions and frustrations he was experiencing.

That was the moment that sparked his love of writing. It was so much easier for him dealing with the sudden death of his mother when he wrote it out as fiction, a life being lived out by another person as if he was just a reader being pulled into the story’s vivid plot.

Other escaped reality by reading fiction, he wrote to escape the reality of a fiction like moment that life decided to throw at him.

It had been nearly ten years since the accident and he’d been able to come to terms with all that had happened that day but sometimes the ideas of ‘what if’ still haunted him.

Brawnly shook his head expelling any excess water from his hair and having it whip to the left of his head nearly whipping him in the eye, that was all he needed to decided that he needed a trim.

A half hour later found Brawnly sitting on the small plush couch in the pool hall freshly showered and slightly irked that Cain still refused to inform his as to what this impromptu meeting would be entailing, and why it was imperative that a certain red head be included in the evenings unfolding.

“Cain I don’t see why you’re being so secretive, I’ll be finding out in the very near future whatever it is that you’re hiding.”

“Brawnly, I don’t see why your being so annoying over something you’ll be finding out in the very near future, whatever it is that I’m hiding from you that it.” Came the mocking response from the older man.

“Fuck you” was the only thing Brawnly deemed worthy to say to his step-brother for the next forty-five minutes until Mina showed up, twenty minutes after three.

“Hey Brawnly sorry I’m late”

The first thing that came to mind when he saw Mina come in through the front door was, Isn’t she cold?

She was wearing a purple tank top and barely there jean shorts, also known as Daisy Dukes. He’d been a big Dukes of Hazard fan in his adolescence.

Before Brawnly could make any sort of remark, greeting or otherwise Cain briskly sauntered into the room grasping her hand and unceremoniously dumped her into the lounge chair opposite from where Brawnly had parked himself in earlier. He sat on the table facing her with his back to his brother, this stance and the sudden change in the air that he’d felt did nothing to ease his frazzled nerves.

“Myra, you’re going to be Brawnlys’ girlfriend.”