Spiderman's Sister

I need to talk to you Peter

When Peter comes home in the afternoon, I'm sitting on the sofa and scrolling bored through my phone while some nonsensical talk show is playing on the TV.

Peter: Did I miss something? Why are you at home already?

Victoria: Hey..... um..... I......

I have absolutely no idea how to tell Peter that I got fired. At the same time, I know that I have to tell him. It's best if I just tell him directly. The more I talk around it, the more worried he's going to be.

Victoria: Can you sit with me for a moment? I have to talk to you.

Peter: Um...... ok......

Peter already seems nervous. Ok Vicky, take a deep breath and then tell him the truth.

Victoria: I...... I......

Damn, why is this so hard for me? It's not like we're about to go bankrupt right now. Thanks to the inheritance, we are lucky enough to have a financial parachute that protects us.

Peter: Oh my god, are you trying to tell me you're pregnant?

What the hell? How did Peter think of that?

Victoria: What? No!

Peter: What? It could have been. I mean... you've been coming home late lately and you're kind of different in other ways too.

Victoria: I'm not pregnant Peter.

Take another deep breath and off you go.

Victoria: I got fired today.

Peter: Why?

Victoria: Because Colin is an asshole.

Peter: That's nothing new.

Victoria: You can't see it that way, you don't know him personally.

Peter: What you have told me over the last few years is enough to have an opinion about him.

He's probably right. I really need to become more aware that Peter is aware of more than I think.

Peter: Will you tell me what happened?

Actually, I don't want that. I don't want him to have too much info to end up worrying about. But on the other hand, he deserves to know the truth.

Victoria: My boss wanted me to write an article about the Avengers. One Avenger in particular.

Peter: About who?

Victoria: The Winter Soldier.

Peter looks at me like I just told him that Darth Vader isn't Luke's father.

Victoria: I told him I won't do it. I think all the Avengers hype is exaggerated anyway and since you're one of them I just don't think it's right to put one of you down. Also, I think the Winter Soldier has been through enough already. There doesn't have to be a lurid newspaper article written about him.

Also, I don't mean to embarrass James in particular. He deserves so much more than the malice that such an article would throw at him. I deliberately don't tell Peter that I've gotten to know James a little better and that this has contributed to my not wanting to write the article.

Peter: You lost your job just to protect Bucky?

Yes. But I can't tell Peter that.

Victoria: I wouldn't call that protecting. I just don't think anyone should dig into his past just to make big sales.

Peter: Sounds a lot like protecting to me.

Victoria: It isn't.

I have no idea why I'm like this. Somehow I don't want Peter to know that James and I know each other personally. I don't want him to end up worrying about that too.

Peter: And what's next then? What are you going to do now?

Victoria: Well, I'll apply for free assignments for now. Without a permanent job, everything is just a little more unpredictable than before.

Peter: And less well paid. So I guess I'm not going to Europe.

Peter murmurs quietly to himself. You can clearly hear that the thought makes him sad and that he is already worried. That's exactly what I wanted to avoid.

Victoria: Nonsense Peter. You will fly to Europe with your class.

Peter: But now that you don't have a permanent job anymore and we don't know how much money you're going to make a month, there are more important things than that.

When exactly did Peter become so grown up? Maybe this is the moment when I finally tell him about the money our parents left us? I look at him and it almost breaks my heart to see how sad and distressed he looks. Ok, now is definitely the moment to tell him.

Victoria: You don't have to worry about that Peter. You know....... we're not that poor.

He looks at me confused. I tell him about the inheritance and he looks at me more and more amazed with every word.

Peter: And why didn't you ever tell me anything about it?

Victoria: Well..... at first you were just too young to understand. And as you got older I was afraid that you would rest on the money. That you'll end up being a spoiled kid.

Somehow Peter looks at me as if he doesn't really believe me. This, in turn, makes me feel like I have to prove to him that we really aren't poor. I start to ramble - that I've invested most of the money in recent years to steadily increase it. That I put part of it in a separate account to save for Peter and that he should get the money when he's eighteen. I'm still not sure if he believes me at the end, but he looks less confused than before. At some point during my storytelling, I notice that Peter is constantly looking at his watch. It takes me a moment to remember that today was the only school day of the week and that Peter has plans for the rest of the week. He wants to spend the rest of the week with the Avengers to work on his spider suit with Tony. And since he doesn't have school, I don't have a problem with that.

Victoria: Come on Peter, feel free to go.

Peter: Are you sure? I don't want to leave you alone now.

Victoria: It's okay Peter. I will use the free time to go through job offers and watch a lot of movies. It's been a while since I last saw Titanic.

Peter: Ok, before I have to watch you start crying at Titanic again, I'd actually rather go. But call me if you need anything. Or you just drop by the Avengers Tower you know where that is now.

My sweet little brother. I love him for caring so much about me. But still I want him to be carefree when he's with his friends. I pull him into my arms and hug him.

Victoria: I'm fine Peter. Now go before I change my mind and make you watch Titanic with me.

As if the devil were chasing him, Peter literally sprints into his room and comes out a little later with a backpack.

Peter: And is it really ok that I won't come back until Sunday evening?

Victoria: Yes Peter. Have fun, see you Sunday.

When Peter is gone I let myself fall onto the sofa. What am I really doing with all my free time now?