The Big Five

18. Big Brother's Mischief

I jumped over the couch and gave my brother a big hug. Gosh. I didn't know I'd miss him so much.

"Whoa, there!" Trey joked. "Don't get all soft on me!"

"I missed you, Trey," I said into his shirt.

"Okay," Trey said, ruffling my hair. "How was my little Coley doing without her big brother?"

I pulled away. "Just fine," I said haughtily. "I don't need you anymore."

"Oh, you need me. How does it feel to have a cop as a brother?"

I grinned. "Awesome."

"Sweet cheese on bacon lasagna!" I bet you now know where I get my strange catchphrases from. "Trey!" I looked over at my mom, who was jumping up and down like a giddy school girl. "Oh, my baby! How were you?"

"Mom, I'm almost done with college. I'm not your little baby."

"Oh, hush," she said, pulling him into a hug. "You will always be my little baby boy, and you know that."

Trey grinned and returned the hug. I noticed the differences and similarities. Trey had inherited our dad's golden brown hair and our mom's blue eyes. He was tall, and being trained for the force, was well-built and muscular, unlike my mom's lean, small stature.

I knew my brother would be popular with the girls, and I actually thought I'd be jealous if he gave his attention to someone else.

"So, Trey," I said, plopping down on the couch. He took a seat next to me. Jack had fallen asleep on the other end.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

He laughed. "Stay out of my love life, sis. Trust me, it's messy."

I smiled slyly. "Like Clarissa?"

Trey's cheek flamed. "N-no!"

I laughed. If there was one thing my brother and I had in common, it was blushing. I decided to save him from embarrassment. It was a long time since I last saw him.

"You wanna go see Joey?" I asked, changing the subject. "I don't know if he's up yet though...." I checked my watch. "It's only eleven. He's probably still in bed."

A boyish grin formed on Trey's mouth. He looked like the Trey I always knew. The younger mischievous boy who always got into trouble and not minding at all to take his sister down with him.

"You want to go check up on him?" Trey asked, mischief glinting in his eyes.

I knew that look. It normally meant trouble, but he was going to be a cop. He couldn't get us into trouble, right?

I nodded and grinned. "Why don't we pay our friend a visit?"

****

We crept up to Joey's room. Mrs. Gordon almost blew our cover when she exclaimed Trey's name. Trey was pretty popular especially with the girls--both old and young.

We struggled to hold in our laughter. I creaked open Joey's door. He was sleeping peacefully on his bed. His hair stuck up in all directions. Trey and I crept in. Joey muttered something under his breath and turned.

He swiped his leg over so that it was on top of the blanket. I covered my mouth to stop from laughing.

Trey leaned down to Joey's ear. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that he would whisper something, but I knew my brother. He pulled the best pranks ever. I pulled out a recording camera and turned it on. Ooh. This was going to be good.

He took a deep breath and yelled at the top of his lungs. "FIRE!!! HELP! THERE'S A FIRE! JOEY WAKE UP AND SAVE YOURSELF!"

With a yelp, Joey jolted awake and screamed. "No! Fire! Help! Where? Where's the fire?! What?"