Pursuit of the Whole

XLII. A Hunt for Kai

I stare at the flyer.

It's wrong to hunt for Kai.

I can hear a loud laugh from the living room.

Kai and dad are watching some action-comedy movies.

I think.

After I finish the laundry, I walk into the living room.

"What are you showing him!" I grabbed the switch and paused the movie.

"Come on, hun," dad says. "It's funny!"

"It's Deadpool! Kai is six!"

"I took out that scene," he whispers. He's talking about the sex scene. "I mean, come on, he likes it." Dad rests an arm over Kai's shoulder, "You like it, don't you, little bud."

Kai nods, "It's funny! I like it when he-" Kai got up and attempted to do a fighting scene.

"He's going to get nightmares," I said.

Dad rolls his eyes.

I cannot believe he rolled his eyes!

"Chill girrrrrl," Kai says.

Kai said what?!

Kai turns towards dad, "Did I do that right?"

Dad nodded and slowly gave him a thumbs up.

"What are you teaching him?" I ask.

"Stuff."

"Dude stuff," Kai deepened his voice. He holds up a fist.

Dad pounds on it.

"I do not believe what I'm seeing." I walk away from them. I left Kai in dad's care for a little while, and he turned into this unknown child. When I turn my back, the movie resumes.

Mom walks into the room, humming a tune.

"Mom!"

"What?"

I spread my arms toward the duo.

Mom waves at me, "They're just being boys."

I scoff, "Then, you two deal with the brat you're making." I grab the plate of fruits from mom.

"It's alright! Another one won't change things around here!"

Parents can be so cruel.

Someone rings the doorbell. With a plate in one hand and barely juicy watermelon in my mouth, I peek through the hole. "What do you want!"

"Open the door!" Eric screams.

I open the door, "What up. Why are you here?"

"Oh! Fruits!" Brian grabs a fruit from my plate. His face scrunched up when he tasted the oranges. He forces himself to swallow it and tries to put what's left back on the plate.

I moved it away, "No," I said. "Now, why are you two here?"

"We remember something," Brian says.

"What?"

"It's Brenda's birthday."

"Brenda is your twin," I responded. How can he forget his twin birthday?

"Oh. I know." I'm not too sure about that. "But, we're here because we need your help."

"With?"

"A birthday gift," Eric intervened. "We don't know what to get, Brenda."

"Jewelry. Purses. Shoes. Clothes. Oh, so much to pick from. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go binge-watch a mindless show in my room with this plate of barely flavored fruits."