The Bertie Mansion

III

The dining room had a high ceiling and a long, elegant table that stretched nearly from one side to the other. Keeping with the theme of Grand Mansion of the Past, the decoration was over-the-top. A crystal chandelier hung in the middle of the room and the wooden trim was carved.

Jade had placed the meal out as if for guests to pick and choose from, dishes of different foods spread on the table. It looked like a mini dinner party display, just for the three of them, fancy dishes and all.

"You know you are not to treat your brother like that," she told her eldest son when he made an appearance at the dinner table. "Violence is in the past. If you must tease him, at least be witty about it."

Jeremy raised an eyebrow and scooped small potatoes, skins glistening with a mouth-watering oil seasoning, onto his plate. He sat as far away from his family as he could without being obvious. He wasn't on their list of favorite people, after all. "At least be witty? Am I not witty, Willy? Hey, that totally rhymed! Don't I know it that I'm a poet! He's not a china doll, Mom. Let him stand up for himself. He did a number to my knee, which will now be horribly bruised from that violent attack of his own, by the way."

"Jeremy," Jade growled, passing him the gravy, a welcome addition to the meal. Tonight was to celebrate the completion of the renovations. She had cooked them a fancy meal with the brand-spanking-new stove, a wonderful break from takeout and microwave dinners.

"Sorry, sorry," Jeremy replied, actually not one bit apologetic because of the double-standard. "Willy, I spy with my little eye a plate stacked full of steak. Could ya pass it?"

"More like four big eyes, Jerry," Will muttered. He set down his fork and knife to hand the plate over, though he did so too slowly for Jeremy's taste. Sweet revenge could be smelled in the air, but not as strongly as the tender meat.

Jade smiled and seemed about to clap with happiness. "Awe, see honey? You can make comments like William. That was so smart of you! I've raised the perfect child!"

The two brothers stared at her. One of them was embarrassed for being called out as a child when he was actually an angsty late teen. The other was embarrassed because he was not considered the perfect child. In fact, it made Jeremy jealous and frankly, mad. Both of them suffered secondhand embarrassment for their mother. She was very excitable.

Jeremy noticed Will opened his mouth to correct her on his name but closed it again, shaking his head. She forgot his preference sometimes and would revert to "William" briefly, though not permanently. It was a waste of breath to assure complete memory.

"Do you not understand, Jeremy?" she asked him. The silence had her assuming he couldn't understand the insult.

"No, no, I do－" Jeremy managed before he was spoken over by the over-enthusiastic Jade.

"It's because of your glasses," she needlessly explained. "You know, because people like to tease other people with glasses and call them four eyes? So he's referencing your glasses but using that spying game you were referencing! Will, sweetie, keep that up, show that words are louder than actions. Oh, how clever that was! That was a brilliant example of wit, honey. Learn from it, Jeremy."

"Really? I thought I knew what he meant but I couldn't be sure, since I'm obviously that stupid," Jeremy said, lacing his tone with sarcasm. He devoured a new potato in two bites.

Jade frowned at him. "Sarcasm isn't wit. Don't get that confused. Anyway, you want to hear what I discovered in town?"

"Yes," he lied. He was bitter at being told off. It would pass, as it had many times before, although getting some revenge helped it along. Except revenge wasn't supposed to be his thing anymore. "Totally. Willy, pass the green beans."

Jade gave him the stink eye for using the wrong nickname but didn't comment. She continued on with her topic. "This mansion was called the Findale Manor when it was made. Isn't that cool? Our family was very prominent back then, well, your father's was. I was at that library off the main street and digging through their local history. Apparently your grandfather renamed it to the Bertie Mansion! Isn't that exciting!"

"Yeah," said Will. His tone was not enthusiastic in the slightest. He was more of a gamer, not a history buff.

"Hey, it is cool," their mother protested. "When I was your age I loved to learn more about my past. What is up with kids nowadays?"

"I don't know," was Jeremy's honest response. He paused for dramatic effect, thanking his lucky stars when no one jumped in. "Was that answer not witty enough for you?"

"Oh, lay off and lighten up," she replied. "I was thinking we could make use of the fireplace tonight and sit around it for a while."

"Mhm. Sounds like fun, Mom," he said. "I'm gonna take my dinner upstairs. I'll be down in a bit."

Jade crossed her arms. "Dinner is for family. Is our company not good enough for you? All grown up and you don't love your mother anymore?"

"Something like that," Jeremy said. He grabbed his plate and kissed her forehead on the way out. "Maybe get Willy to be useful. Have him run down to the store for marshmallows, and get him to run through the woods for some nice sticks. Hopefully he'll run into a pack of wolves, or maybe rabid bunnies."

"That's terrible! He's your brother!" she said to his retreating back. "But you're right. Alright Will, we are getting supplies for s'mores after we're done here. Oh, maybe we should do the dishes first! Sauce crust is never fun to get off once it dries."

Jeremy rolled his eyes and climbed the steps to the second floor. His knee felt a little wonky but it was nothing serious. He doubted it would bother him in a few hours. Still, he favored it and Jade noticed.

"Is your knee injured? I thought you were exaggerating. Should that be looked at?" she asked.

He shook his head and looked her in the eye so she'd get the message. There was no need for her to worry. "It's fine."

"Before you go, did you see anything in the attic while you were up there? I could have sworn these last few days that incessant creaking has gotten worse."

He shook his head again. "Nothing."