The Life of Buddy

Chapter XVII

The first thing on Brian's mind when he awoke was the condition his parents would be in. Neither of them had been in the best state last night thanks to their overindulgening in alcohol. And he had a feeling that their hangovers would be brutal if not almost crippling.

He looked at the clock that sat on a nearby dresser, the blue digital display informed him that it was three minutes to six. He could not help but find it funny that even without an alarm to stir him, he still managed to wake up on time. Of course his internal alarm clock had long ago been conditioned to get him up promptly at six.

Even after getting an intense whipping from his brother and being up a mere two hours ago did not change that. His body knew when it was time to get up and obeyed.

Brian slowly rose from bed rubbing his aching backside. Several welts had formed on his posterior to go along with the bruises that were on his thighs. As he moved his pajamas irritated both the bruises and welts making the pain worse.

It was not going to be an pleasant day. His school clothes were going to feel worse as they rubbed against his injured flesh. He was not going to be comfortable sitting on the hard class room seats and would probably spend most of his time readjusting his position to make himself comfortable. And today was also a Phys Ed day so everyone in the locker room was going to see his injured backside.

Then again according to his three law of certainties he probably will not be the only boy in the locker room with a backside covered in welts. He could take some comfort that he won't be alone in that regard. Though he probably would be the only guy there who got a whipping from his older brother.

He quickly made the bed and mused how softer and more relaxing it was than his own. He could almost hear the bed calling to him, telling him to come back and revel in its comfortable embrace. He was tempted but he knew that would risk him a second whipping and he really did not want two in a twelve hour period.

Another thing he loved about his sister's room was that it had its own bathroom. It was only one of three rooms that had one. The others being the master bedroom and the room across the hall. The room across the hall was occupied by his half brother through his mom. Mason was the twenty one and away at college.

He could not help but feel a little envy towards his older siblings over their room assignments. He would give his left arm for one of their rooms but doubted that his parents would ever allow them to switch even though the two were barely there.

No, Esther was daddy's girl and she had him tied around her finger. And Mason was a true mommy's boy who was the jewel of his mother's eye. He and Brandon might be her babies but Mason was her prince. He was certain that she would make a shrine of his room the day he moves out for good. If she had not done it already.

No he thought I am stuck in my tiny, cramped room until I move out in a couple of years. And it probably will not become a shrine to him.

He laved and then splashed water in his face to help wake himself up. As he dried his face with a Hello Kitty hand towel he could not help but notice some facial hair growth. He told himself that he would have to shave before going to school.

His mother liked her boys clean shaven and frowned upon any sight of facial hair. And he had already disappointed his mother enough this week, he did not want to disappoint her any further.

Brian walked out of the bathroom as there was a knock at the door. He froze in place and stood at attention focusing on the pink flowers that adorn the wallpaper. He could not help but think how his sister truly was a hardcore girl.

"Good morning little brother." Brandon said as he walked in.

"Good morning big bro." He questioned if it was really a good morning though. His mind flashed to his father and his anger towards his mother. He was sure neither of them were too fond of the other right now.

"How did you sleep?" Brandon asked as he walked past him. Brian kept his eyes forward as Brandon walked over to the bed and inspected it.

"Pretty well." Brian answered.

Satisfied that the bed was properly made he faced his brother. "I guess it was pretty weird sleeping in here."

"Yeah it was." Brian said. "I'm not use to sleeping on pink sheets."

Brandon then let out a smirk. "You can relax Buddy."

"Thank you." He said and then rubbed his backside once again. Not being able to rub his backside was the hardest part of standing still for so long.

"I need you to get ready quickly, we are going out to eat this morning."

"Out to eat." He said stunned. Going out to eat for breakfast was unheard of in his family. His mom insisted that they always have home cooked meal for breakfast. The only exceptions were vacations and when they were taking his siblings to college.

"Yeah mom texted me that we were own our on for breakfast." He said.

"Texted you?" He said flabbergasted. He did not even know that his mother knew how to text. He wondered how long it took her to figure that out.

"Yeah texted. I was shocked as well." He said with a laugh. "I guess she does not feel like getting out of bed this morning."

Or maybe she just does not want to see me he thought sadly.

"I was going to see if you wanted to make pancakes but dad gave me permission to take you out to eat this morning." Brandon said.

"That was nice of him." Brian said.

"Yes it was." A thoughtful look then crossed his face. "But he probably has a headache and didn't want us making a lot of noise in the kitchen."

"Probably not."

"So lets get ready, we'll leave in twenty minutes." Brandon said and then walked out of the room.

Brian followed him out and then stopped once he got into the hall. He eyed his brother's room and was compelled to go inside. He thought how it had been awhile since he had seen the inside of it. The last time he had been in the room was before Mason left for the fall semester. He did not even go into his room while he was back for Christmas break.

He stepped in and looked around. The room was in pristine condition. He thought how this is probably the room his mom spends the most time cleaning. There was not a hint of dust anywhere unlike Esther's room that had some layers of dust on her furniture. He wondered if his mom had even bothered to vacuum it in the last couple of months.

And of course all the pictures on the dressers and nightstands were of him and their mom. There were no pictures of Mason and his own father, or of him and his dad, or him and his siblings. Just pictures of Mason and their mom.

A little creepy he thought.

His thoughts were interrupted when he was forcefully turned around to face an agitated Brandon. "I told you to get ready man." He was then grabbed by the ear causing Brian cry out in pain. He was then marched out as Brandon said "You know you are not suppose to be in there." Brandon closed the door behind them.

"I know." He said as his heart began to race. "I'm sorry Brandon please let me go." He begged.

Brandon ignored him as he walked down the hall pulling him by his ear. When they reached the bottom of the steps he let him go and Brian quickly covered his throbbing ear. "Get your butt up there." He ordered and Brian ran up the stairs.