Simon Shuckface Brown

Chapter 1.

"Simon!" Cedric Brown called out for his eldest son who was nowhere to be found. "Please come down here, it'll only take a minute!" he said and after another minute of silence, the sound of lazy footsteps were heard dragging on the wooden floors before a twelve-year-old boy finally came downstairs and stood in front of his waiting father. "Alright," Cedric said, looking down at the boy. "I know this isn't going to be easy, but, do you remember your Mum's friend, Charles?" the man asked his son who only blinked in response. "I'm going to suppose you do." he muttered when he got no specific reply. "Well, Charles and his wife passed away in a car accident a few days ago and since they were your mother's friends I decided to welcome their poor boy into our home."

"Why are you telling me this, Dad?" Simon asked in a small voice.

"Well, how do I say this, we don't have enough money to get him a proper bed, so, I was hoping, that maybe, you wouldn't mind sharing your bed with him for the time being." Cedric said nervously, knowing perfectly well that this news would result in a tantrum from his oldest son.

"What?!" Simon shouted in outrage. "Why me? I don't want to share anything with anyone! I don't even know him, how can you just bring him here like that? what if he still wets the bed? Did you think about that, huh? No, you did not! I don't want to sleep with him and wake up in a pool of smelly pee everyday, dad!" he exclaimed in anger and Cedric rubbed his temples tiredly at what his son what saying.

"He is the same age as you, Simon." the man informed the now red-faced boy as anger was flooding his small body. "And I asked you because you're the only one to have a double bed. Your siblings have single beds and are too young. I don't want to make him sleep with the girls."

"Whatever!" Simon yelled back before stomping his way back upstairs and to the boys's bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him. Cedric sighed at his behavior and shook his head.

"Evangeline." Cedric called out and a few seconds later a young maid walked in the living room.

"Yes, Mr Brown?" she said, putting the book she was practicing her reading with in the pocket of her apron.

"Could you be so kind as to make me a cup of tea and bring it to me in my office please?" he asked and she smiled politely at him.

"Of course, right away, Mr Brown." Evangeline said before going to the kitchen to prepare his tea. Cedric slowly made his way to his office and flopped down on his chair before springing back up with a screech.

"What in God's name is this?!" he shouted as he turned around rapidly and glanced down at his desk chair.

A bunch of neatly placed thumbtacks were covering the seat. The man scowled and rubbed his now very painful behind as he refrained the rising urge to scream at his children just as Evangeline walked inside the room with his cup of tea in hand.

"Mr Brown? Everything alright? I heard you shouting." she said with worry decorating her features as she put down the hot cup on the desk carefully to not spill it and burn herself.

"Thumbtacks." Cedric huffed. "Bloody thumbtacks."

"What's wrong with the thumbtacks, Mr Brown?" the maid asked in confusion.

"What's wrong with them is that they are on my chair and not on my desk where they are supposed to be." he exclaimed as he pointed an accusatory finger at his chair. The girl leaned over the desk and took a look only to gasp and lean back.

"Which one of the children do you think did this?" Evangeline asked, walking around the desk and carefully gathering the thumbtacks in her hands before putting them in a small pile on a corner of the desk.