Sullivan Siblings

IX

"Can you just shut up?" Emmett shouts at Hollis, finally snapping from Hollis's incessant chatter.

"Language!" Odin hollers from the kitchen. He's making himself a snack for his 'me time'. Levi is certain he is hooking up with someone. I shudder, remembering Miss Swan checking him out and Odin liking what he saw when he checked her out. She is a nice enough principal but I don't want Odin making her his third ex-fiancé. I'll be the last Sullivan in school and she could make my life hell for revenge!

"Nope." Hollis cheekily grins, taking Emmett's blow up with surprising ease. I share an impressed look with Simon and Lukas. "I can't have you uttering crap."

"Ooooohhh," Silas whistles. No one else has time to react when Emmett tackles Hollis, barrelling into his midsection and pushing them off the sectional.

"Hands to yourself!" Odin hollers at us before whistling a tune and shutting the front door behind him. Violence doesn't phase him. He's just covering his back if Ivan has to investigate an injured brother or broken household item. My first instinct was to say a flower pot or picture frame, like in movies, but we don't have any in the living room let alone the house.

I survey the living room while Manny and Lukas break up Hollis and Emmett. It's surprisingly empty, somehow uninviting, now that I am studying it. A crucifix over the back door, a St. Benedict medal is wrapped around the door handle, a laminated picture of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is taped to the big living room window, a purple scapular hanging on a nail sticking out of the back door above the window frame.

There are no other pictures, not even of us siblings, splashed across the four walls, no picture frames lining decorative shelves. In fact, the only shelf is the TV stand and all that is on it is the TV, X-box, a handful of board games and three binders of random coloured papers with song lyrics and chords back from when we used to jam out together. Three throw pillows and four blankets don't cover much of a twelve seater sectional. The piano in the corner is covered by a plastic tarp to prevent dust from coating it. Three guitar stands hold an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar and the violin.

"Guys?" I ask hesitantly as I gnaw on my bottom lip, alternating with the inside of my cheek. None of the hallways, Ivan's office, the kitchen or dining room, our bedrooms, none of them have printed off pictures of any of us, family or individual pictures.

Per usual, my brothers all ignore me. Silas scrolls on his phone. Hollis and Emmett are locked in a glaring match. Simon is, what...? I peer closer at him, shocked when I see him sharpening a... knife? Since when did my brothers start carrying pocket knives? Lukas catches my startled look at Simon's actions. My mouth keeps bobbing but no words sputter out.

"Yo, brothers." Luke raises his voice for his words to be heard. Outrageously, the boys all look at him. "Huxley's tryna say something."

"You wanna fight?" Hollis asks Emmett, goading him on and blatantly ignoring me.

"Yeah, let's go," Emmett answers cooly. Rage presents itself on his face. Simon holds Hollis back.

"Crawl up my ass and fight for air," Hollis cackles when Emmett lunges for him. Manny and Silas break them up once again, threatening and swearing at the other. How they break them up is simple: Simon holds back Hollis and Silas stands between them. For a surprisingly volatile anger, Emmett doesn't lash out on people unless they instigate him. We all know we can't take Emmett on so whoever he isn't mad at gets in the way. Sometimes, it backfires and he attacks them, too. This time, it's another stalemate.

"Bitch," Emmett mutters, but he flops on the couch again. Manny pulls out his pocket knife, flicks open the blade and feels the newly sharpened edge. It breaks through the skin on his thumb and he literally sucks the blood away.