My Volatile Stepbrother

A Spark

"Nothing," Cassie said and picked up the clothes. As she began walking out of the driveway toward the leaves, Chetum followed her.

"You're having some sort of stupid nostalgia thing going on with your father, aren't you?"

Cassie didn't bother answering him as she set down the clothing on the cement steps. Her lips were about to buckle into sobs if she said another word. She walked back to the garage, hiding her face as best as she could. She picked up the rake she'd seen and began to collect the leaves into piles.

Chetum was watching her in silence for a few minutes, but she refused to turn around to face him. Maybe that was her mistake.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" he shouted and grabbed Cassie's arms.

"Ow! Let go of me, Chetum!" she hollered, then followed up with, "What is your problem?"

"As if you don't know," he muttered and suddenly let go of her. Cassie was tired of his moodiness and went on raking the leaves. If he wanted to watch, that was fine, but he wasn't going to ruin her fall fun.

While she raked, he sat there and lit a cigarette. Cassie didn't respond even when he purposely blew smoke in her direction. She kept her cool and told herself that she would be out of this town soon and then she wouldn't have to see him again.

The cherry on the end of the cigarette kept glowing more furiously with each inhale. The backdrop of the fall colors with the lit embers seemed to fit. There was something slightly artistic about the fact that the leaves matched the cigarette. Not only was there art in the color but also in the idea that if he wanted to, he could send the entire bundle of leaves up in flames.

Cassie glanced at him as he smoked and felt a spark inside of her. She felt like she understood why it would be fun to be so bad. Maybe that was why Chetum did it. He enjoyed being bad.

"Chet!" Brad called. Chetum turned and tossed the cigarette in her direction. It rolled around in the grass for a moment before Cassie could stamp it out. While she felt afraid, she was also exhilarated. The pain of her father's death could take her down but being around someone who was dangerous was distracting.

Chetum was staring to see her reaction, but she hid her smile. The feeling she had gained from that interaction was hers and she was feeling possessive of it. She didn't want to let it go.

As Cassie continued raking, the sun sank lower in the sky. When she had the entire lawn taken care of, she filled the scarecrow with leaves and tied the ends of his pants and arms. An old patio chair was where he usually sat and she placed him in it, propping him up.

The straw face he had was made of an old potato sack that they'd had from years before. When Cassie tried to remember when she'd first saw it, the only thought was maybe when she was in her sophomore year of high school. That material had staying power, that was for sure.

When Cassie stared into the house, she could see her mom pouring a glass of wine for herself and then Chetum and Brad having a talk. The two didn't appear to be happy, which obviously was par for the course here.

As she watched Chetum she could see the feverish anger that was boiling just below the surface as he forced himself to listen to his father's tongue lashing. There were plenty of reasons why Brad may be angry, but did he have to call Chetum out every single time?

What was it that her mother had said? Was it that she thought Chetum was in pain? If so, Cassie could see plenty of reasons why, especially after Brad told her that he wanted to have girls. Perhaps he had shared that kind of view with Chetum one too many times.

Cassie walked inside and saw her mother on the phone. She pointed to it and mouthed, "Thai food." Cassie gave her thumbs up. They both absolutely loved the very spicy fried basil rice with peanut sauce, their chicken dumplings, and the sticky mango and rice dessert.

While Cassie was walking up the stairs, she heard her mother say, "Thirty minutes? Great. No, we'll be picking it up."

Cassie sighed. As much as she loved the food, she did not want to go pick it up. The owners and staff were excellent, but she didn’t feel like she was up to being social. As she sat down at her desk, she flipped on her computer, patiently waiting for her mother to come up the stairs with a pleading wince asking her to go get it.

Of course, she would sigh and agree to go. On second thought, having to drive there would be a great opportunity to get away from the drama and decompress. Maybe she'd stay a bit longer than usual with the excuse that the food wasn't ready.

Happy with her change of heart, she was smiling when she heard footsteps on the stairs.

"You don't need to ask. I'll go get it."

"You will? Great," Chetum said. When he peeked into her room, she stood up and walked to the door, closing it. Then she locked it and began walking down the stairs.

"Mom, I'll go get the food." Cassie gave her mother a slight eyebrow raise to get some back up. Chetum was following her, and she wanted to get away.

"Oh, well, Chetum said he'd do it--"

"Yeah, but only if Cassie comes along."

Cassie rolled her eyes.

"I dropped off the SUV at the U-Haul place and I need to return the van. We get a discount if I do it tonight," he said. It was strange that he was behaving like an adult.

"If you think I'm getting into a car with you driving ever again, you're out of your mind."

"I was just overexcited for the game last night. It won't be like that, I promise."

Cassie glanced at her mother, Chetum, and back to her mother. Audrey shrugged with a half-smile indicative of, "What's the harm?"

If her mother wasn't worried, then Cassie figured she didn't need to be either. She turned to Chetum and with the most confident nod she could muster, she said, "Okay, let's go."