A Skeleton in the closet

One day like any other

With all the brotherly love on the Earth, Taylor pointed his right index finger at his brother who was next to him, angry and self-confident. Thomas was laughing because he was proud of his mischievous trick.

"You're such a jerk, Tommy! Now, you're in trouble! So you have to give me your cookies and I might forgive you ... right, Mommy?"

"Taylor, he can eat the ones that aren't chocolate chip!'

"Oh ... So I don't get to eat them because it's unfair! Listen, Thomas, your punishment is to eat those disgusting cookies! Mommy, why aren't there chocolate chunks? I need to know!" said Taylor, his brow furrowed to intimidate me. In doing this, he reminded me of politicians and their ridiculous subject of debating.

"Because a creepy monster's eaten all the chocolate candies, the chocolate milk, the plain chocolate and all the foods which contain chocolate, my Chocolate Boy!"

"Oh ... I wonder myself who could have done this terrible crime. We need to entrust this inquiry to our best detective!"

His look of fake innocence made me smile. Like all mothers, I love my kiddies in spite of their flaws and vices.

"Also Thomas, I'm gonna leave you at school tomorrow. Warn your friends, their parents may agree to bring you home and explain to them that you defied your poor mother who gave birth to you. What's more, you beat your brother!"

I was serious and frightening while I warned him. I would be unable to abandon Thomas or Taylor or any of the stuff I own.

My seven-year-old son turned pale and kept silent for a while. Meanwhile, Chocolate Boy was trying to convince me to pick him up but leave Thomas at school, or as he said:

"Take him to school and not me. You can tell them that ET brought me home!"

"Just give me one reason that I should keep you at home?"

"It's so simple! If I don't eat some chocolate, I'll wither and turn into dust! Do you want me to disappear? No, of course not! So tomorrow I have to stay at home with you so that you can buy all of chocolates in the world! And I won't die! Woohoo!"

"If you leave me there, I'll tell to Miss Goodman to call Daddy! I'll cry and Daddy'll come to pick me up and will chew you out!" contrived Thomas.

"How will he react when I inform him that you tried to scare your innocent younger brother?"

"Are you listening, Thomas? I'm innocent!"

When we reached downtown Charlotte, I had to stop the car because of a traffic jam. Even though the light was green, we couldn't move forward. I was particularly fed up with this route but it was useful for us to come home directly. Step by step, previous cars helped the town empty out. But little by little, my lovely kiddies got impatient with this damn rainy day. Taylor didn't prevent himself from repeating that he was bored, hungry, and tired. But Thomas and I were too. Yet I managed to keep my calm because he wasn't the cause of this damn trouble. Nevertheless, fifteen minutes later, Thomas complained too, so I quickly turned around to him:

"Sweetie, you do have homework, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

"So do your homework. Day after day, I have to deal with this mess, this damn traffic jam and your stupid remarks ... It's boring for me too, but it's like that, whether I want it to be or not! Your daddy works as a cop here and we have to make do with that! This town stinks, it's a real shithole! and ... Look at that, this low-life cuts me up! Son of bitch! Stupid bastard, reread the Driver's Manual! So ... here we go, we're going home!"