Beached

18- Siblings

      "Soo," Brevity starts, hands resting on her thighs, "you're from Pennsylvania."

      Luca and I are seated on the sofa, Brevity on the arm chair.

      Sebastian's chin jerks down, then back up. He makes eye contact with me.

     It isn't here.

      My eyebrows draw together.

      What isn't?

     He shows me a memory of his girl.

     As you can tell, his grasp on English isn't exactly a good one. Last night I tried to get him to understand language, trying to teach him.  He seemed interested in it, but it'll take a while for him to be fluent. Still, he knows he needs to speak to fit in. He tries. I often feel him studying my vocabulary.

      How do you know? 

     "Well," Luca interrupts, his foot tapping anxiously, "I'll be right back. Gotta go to the bathroom." I make eye contact, trying to relay the message. Then I realize how quiet it is.

        I clear my throat, turning back to my host. "So how's your summer been, Brev?" Sebastian says she's not here. We need to tell Luca. He's about to start looking.

      She shrugs. "I've been working a lot."

      I look at Luca again, trying to get his attention. He gives me a what? look as he stands and turns down the hall.

     Socked footsteps bounce down the stairs.

     "That's cool," I muse, looking toward the sound. "... Saving up for anything?"

     Brevity's fourteen year old brother Spencer stops at the end and looks in our direction. His eyes fall on Sebastian

      He redirects his course and ambles into the living room with us. "Julie, afternoon." He gives a brief wave to Sebastian. "Hey."

     "This is my cousin, Sebastian," I introduce before he gets the chance to ask.

     He smirks. "Cool name. Wasn't Sebastian the crab from The Little Mermaid?"

     "Don't you have anything else to do?" Brevity inquires.

     "Yes," he smiles sarcastically. "Mike and Jason are coming over. Don't worry," he rushes, "we'll stay in my room. I just came down to get some cheesies."

     I look toward the steps, where Luca disappeared from my view.

     "And, hey," he continues, grabbing a handful of candies from the bowl in the center of the coffee table. "When's Mandy getting here?"

     Brevity looks at me uneasily, then turns back to her brother. "Just get out of here, will you? She's not interested."

     "Fine," he concedes, raising his palms defensively. "I'll go. Have fun with your conversation."  He backs away and turns to the kitchen.

     She rolls her eyes. "Siblings."

     "I hear you," I reply, mulling over Spencer's question unhappily. And I thought this didn't have to be that bad. "You love em and ya hate em."

     "Do you have any?" She asks, turning to the one beside me.

     He darts a look at me, then back at her. He shakes his head.

     "No."