Picking Favorites

Dave's point of view

Dirk's my older brother. He's nineteen and is in college. When he went away to college he promised to come back over summer. But he's been out of college for a month and he never even called when he was at college. I tried to get a hold of him for his birthday, but he never called back. It's no fun without him. We'd be sword fighting or something by now. I lean back in my chair after turning my computer off. I hadn't been doing anything anyway. "Dave?" My mom calls, from the other side of my door.

"What?"

"I'm going out for a while, do you want anything?"

"Nah I'm good."

"There's money on the counter just incase."

"Alright." I hear my mom walk away and then the click of the front door shutting. Slowly, I stand up and stretch before leaving my room. I'm about to start digging through the kitchen when I hear the front door open again. "Forget something?"

"No." I almost drop the apple juice in my hand when I hear Dirk's deep voice. I turn around and see Dirk in the door way. His back is to me as he shuts the door. Then he turns back toward me. "Sup lil bro?"

"Hey."

"Any orange soda in there?"

"Uh, no. You never told anyone you were coming home."

"I said I was coming home for summer." Dirk crosses his arms and leans against the door way in the kitchen.

"Yeah well you never called or anything. Not even for your birthday."

"Well you never called when dad left."

"How'd you know about that?"

"He called me. That was right after I left to college and you didn't think to say anything." I shrugged and looked down. I know Dirk sort of favored dad more, so I don't know why I hadn't called him. Maybe because I was afraid he would still like dad even after I told him what happen.

"Maybe I didn't want to bother you why you were at school?"

"Very convincing Dave." Dirk walks past me to the fridge and looks through it. "There's like nothing in here."

"Once again you didn't say you were coming home." I glance over the counter and don't see Dirk's bags any where. "Hey um, are you not staying here?"

"Why?"

"Well I don't see your bags anywhere."

"I've been staying with dad." Dirk shuts the fridge door and then grabs the apple juice I set on the counter. He puts the juice back into the fridge. "You'd think by now you would clean up after yourself."

"I wasn't done with it." I say in a small as possible voice. "You would rather have stayed with dad than visit us?" Dirk glances over his shoulder, and for a second I think he frowns.

"I didn't say that."

"But you've been talking to him, and you never called me back."

"Yeah well, I was busy." Dirk shrugs.

"But you made time for dad."

"So? You didn't make time to tell me what happened."

"Because I don't like him and I didn't think it was a big deal. We knew they were getting a divorce. We saw the papers. Hell it was you who found them."

"But nothing was official, you could have told me. And I can't believe you don't like dad."

"You don't like mom."