Hand-Cuffed to My Enemy

Joseph Hallows

"I can't believe my mother is dating the father of the world's biggest git." I tell Rajeev at the end of the school the next day. "Well, maybe God did it so both of you can get together." he says. "Well isn't that amazing?" I mutter. We reach the buses and I say goodbye to Rajeev as he needs to get home or else. I have plenty of time to kill with this. I walk around the school to find Hank alone in the basketball court. Without thinking, I shout, "Hey, can I play!?" I wasn't a sports person. What nerd is anyways?! But if God actually did this, I wanna make sure he's watching and that I'm being 'nice'. "Yeah, sure. Come on in." he replies. When I got in, it was just the two of us. I don't know if he sees that I'm right in front of him but he keeps shooting at the basket. He has a worried look on his face. Really worried. "Do you even know how to play?" Hank asks as he stops shooting. "Maybe." I reply. He stares at me, like he's doubting I know how to. And I don't actually know. Then, he sighs. "Come on, let me show you how to shoot a basket." he says. He gives me a ball. "Okay, so... all you gotta do is just throw the ball into the basket like so." he tells me. "Okay. Like this?" I ask, throwing the ball. It misses the hoop completely. "No, you gotta jump while shooting, doofus." Hank replies. "Oh. Got it." I say. When I try again, it misses but it hits the rim of the hoop. To me, that was good enough. "What do you think? That was close enough, right?" I ask. He smiles at me for the first time. "Yeah. Close enough." he replies. Suddenly, he ruffles my hair. And I'm not one to like that. "Hey, knock that off!" I shout. He just laughs a little. "Fine, I will. I'm not the one to bully anyways." he says. "And yet, you're 'the man'. Why don't you?" I ask. "You wanna know, huh? I'm giving you 10 crush points for that question you asked me." he says. "Great. Can I use the points to buy you a brain?" I retort. He laughs again. "I'm hoping you're being sarcastic. Anyways, the answer should be obvious. It's a bad thing to do, no matter how big or little one is. That answered your question?" he says. "Yeah, it did." I reply. "Great. Come on, let's keep playing." Hank says. We play basketball until what seems like around 7 am. That's when we both go home. When I get home, Mom's waiting for me. "Hey, Mom." I say. "Hi, Joseph. I'd like to talk to you about something." she tells me. We sit down at the table. "Listen, I know you and Hank hate each other so if it's a burden for his father and I to be dating, I could break up with Daniel." she says. "No, Mom. You really don't need to do that. I want you to be happy and all. Just as long that Mr. Philips isn't like Dad." I tell her. She smiles. "Alright. The next thing I want to tell you is that Daniel and I have decided to bring you guys on our one week vacation to a beach. The bad part is that you and Hank have to share a room." she tells me. "Don't tell me I have to share a bed with him like the Carson City field trip. If so, I'd rather  share a bed with my brother." I say. Harry is my younger brother who's only 7. She laughs. "No, you'll have separate beds, guaranteed. Is that okay?" she asks. "Yeah. Definitely okay." I reply. "That's good. We leave tomorrow for the vacation. I packed for you by the way so you could just sleep when you got home." she says. "Thanks, Mom." I tell her. I get up, take a shower and go to bed. I just have to survive a whole week. I could do that, right?