As It Was (COMPLETED) (wattys2023)

House of Gold

Four Days Before Shooting

My brothers' argument in their across the hall bathroom was enough to wake the entire neighborhood. This was new, even for them. Though they'd always been early birds, they had never started their bickering this early. They usually waited until the sun had risen completely. What wasn't surprising was the argument, they'd always found themselves in a constant confliction on their perception of right and wrong. Frankie was all analytic and logic, while Clark was impulsive and eccentric. Though identical twins, they couldn't be any more different and this was always very apparent when they disagreed on something. Which, unfortunately for us, was often.

"I don't care." Clark huffed angrily as I stepped out into the hallway, his shoulder length blonde hair a tangled mess as he shoved passed Frankie leaning in the doorframe of the bathroom, brushing his teeth. "Do it, then."

I was too exhausted to try and figure out what it was they were fighting about this time and brushed passed Clark into the living room for breakfast. Mom was already standing over the stove, four black plates set on the white countertop, full to the brim of a perfect meal. Eggs, sausage, pancakes, and a hearty piece of ham. Catching me lingering in the dining room, she grabbed one of the plates and handed it to me with a warm smile. I blew her a kiss and plucked a fork and butter knife from the drawer before sitting at the table. Not even five minutes passed before my brothers brought their fight into the kitchen.

"I don't understand why it's so damn hard for you to keep your mouth shut!" Frankie snapped through his teeth, blue eyes pulsating with anger as he shoved the chair beside me against the table so hard my plate and silverware shook. "Maybe if you learned what it meant to keep shit to yourself, you wouldn't always be getting yourself caught up in shit you shouldn't."

Clark, looking as if he wanted to grab Frankie by the back of the neck and slam his face into the refrigerator as he'd done during a fight last year, only pressed himself against the counter opposite the stove in the kitchen and took his plate from Mom. Frankie, still beside me, leaned over the chair and squeezed his eyes shut as his right hand touched at his buzzed head, almost as if he'd forgotten he'd decided to shave all his hair off last weekend. Feeling my eyes on him, Frankie turned his head in my direction and touched a hand to my shoulder with a tight smile. I returned it, but it faltered the second Clark dropped his plate across from me and started shoveling the food into his mouth with his hands.

"Utensils, Clark!" Mom cried, horrified by my brother's table manners. He rolled his eyes but reached across the table and pried my fork out from between my index finger and thumb halfway to my mouth. He returned my glare and open mouth with a crooked grin and a wink as he stabbed the fork into the middle of the ham steak and started eating around the edges of it.

"Here." Frankie laid a fork on the red linen cloth under my plate as he pulled the chair out beside me and set his own plate down. The chair creaked under his weight, but his disapproving stare was on Clark across the table. "You do realize you can't just bum everything off Hope, right?"

Clark, mouth full of eggs, smiled. "She doesn't mind. Do you, Hope?"

I decided the best option would be to fill my mouth with food so I didn't have to respond at all and end up the middle man. I'd made that mistake one too many times and the result was never good. The tension filled air dissipated the second Dad stepped out into the hallway, his loud footsteps creaking the old floorboards with every step. Both of my brothers straightened unconsciously. I had learned a long time ago that the best thing about being the only girl and the youngest had its advantages when it came to our father.