Brothers-ish

Saturdays

Hunger bit at his stomach. It moaned out, calling for the dinner it missed. Vik couldn't sleep. He needed food. It was well past his curfew and Vik hated to break the rules, especially since it required sneaking skills which he did not have. The bones of this nearly three-decade old house creaked out in agony under just three little pounds of weight. Except now there was no choice. Vik tiptoed past his dad's room, down the stairs, past the living room where his dad's friend was sitting watching The Simpsons, and into the kitchen. An ominous dripping of the leaky sink echoed in the empty, dark room. The humming of the fridge grew louder when Vik gently opened it. The tiny bulb that flickers on when the door opens casted a low, illuminating glow. A box of pizza was awkwardly shoved inside. He slid it out quietly and closed the fridge the same way.

"Boo bitch." A monotone voice spoke as a tall, ghastly figure emerged from behind the fridge door. Vik could feel his heart jump but he showed no physical signs of being scared. Instead he froze with the pizza box clenched in his hands. "What are you doing up?" Simon looked down upon his younger brother.

"I'm hungry." Vik answered meekly.

"Well don't eat all of it. It's mine." Simon towered over him with a sneer. His shadow was cast up across the wall from behind making the already tall man appear even taller.

Vik was always afraid to be alone with Simon. He stood ghoulish with pale skin and lanky limbs. A near permanent expression of unamusement rested upon his face. Purple-reddish shadows rested underneath his dull, blue eyes. They were the blue of an ocean during a raging thunderstorm. The same two pairs of jeans that Vik wasn't sure had ever been washed since bought were always in rotation. Baggy t-shirts, occasionally with a flannel on top, were the only things he wore. Out of Simon's entire composition, the only part of him that was regularly cleaned and cared for was his short, quiffed hair.

"It's just one piece." Vik squeaked out.

"Good." Simon snatched his car keys off of the counter. Vik checked the clock on the wall. 11:04 PM.

"Where are you going? You're not allowed to leave now."

"None of your business. I'm allowed to go wherever I want, whenever I want. I'm twenty-one." Simon hissed, now put into a defensive state. Vik smirked,

"Going to see Ethan?"

Ethan is Simon's boyfriend. Everyone knows about him and knows that Simon is a full homosexual; no matter how much he tries to act like he isn't. The blonde frequently visits his boyfriend to get baked in his mother's basement - which is where he lives. Simon always goes to Ethan's. Ethan never comes to Simon's. As a teen, he liked to think no one saw those crumpled up Playgirl magazine pages he discarded in his bathroom trash; However, Vik always spotted them. That was until Simon got in trouble for pleasuring himself to them in the school restroom. Afterwards, the bathroom trash remained empty of half naked men.

"I won't say anything about you breaking curfew if you don't say anything about me." the elder bribed. Vik nodded his head. They separated without getting caught.

The next morning, Saturday, Simon returned just shy of 7:30 AM. Luckily for him, Josh hadn't awoken for work yet and Tobi hadn't noticed the missing car when he left for Uni in a rush, so he would not be caught.

Vik sat on his bedroom floor waiting for his game to load on the old, borrowed TV. He looked across the hall into Simon's room opposite of his. The smell of marijuana leaked out. It slithered across the stained carpeted floor of his room, sprawling to various corners of the upstairs including Vik's unblemished room. The rebellious boy laid across his bed on his back with his head hanging off the edge, and a Playboy magazine in his hands. He could feel someone's stare burning into him. Simon snapped his head to the left to catch Vik spying.