Fifteen
1533 Words
A few seconds later, the camera comes back on.
"Sorry about that, brother, I'm having some technical difficulties." Benjamin apologizes, making obviously fake puppy eyes.
"It was no problem, Benjamin. It was actually nice not seeing your face for a split second, there. Gave me pleasure." Nicholas answers, crossing his arms like a two-year-old.
My mom gives him a look. "Nicholas." She murmurs. "Act your age. Think about the example you're setting for the kids."
"Uh huh. Yeah, sure. So anyway, back to what we were talking about before. 'There's a storm coming'? Seriously, that's all you've got?" Nicholas fumes as he rolls his eyes at the screen.
Kappernick stares back at him with a furrowed brow. "Making fun of me, brother? You'll regret that. Soon enough, you'll learn to regret what you've just said."
"Never, Benjamin. Or should I say... Benny?" Nicholas has a mischievous smile plastered on his face.
"Stop it! You promised you would never tell anyone about that nickname!" Benjamin pouts, crossing his arms.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, us older kids are staring at each other, completely bewildered.
"Brother?" Toby asks, clearly confused. "B-but Nicholas doesn't have a brother. He's an only child, this doesn't make any sense!" He puts his hands on his head in vain.
"Maybe it was just figurative language. You know, when you say something and don't mean it literally." Peyton gives him a look.
"I'm only a level 6! We haven't gotten to figurative language yet!" Toby tries to defend himself.
"Oh, please. We've been working on figurative language since, like, level 1." Peyton rolls her eyes at him.
Toby sticks his tongue out at her and crosses his arms. "Whatever."
"You have no right to talk to me like that, Benjamin! I am your brother, and your older brother at that. Oh, and did I mention I'm your mayor?" Nicholas' voice, at this point, is resonating throughout the entire restaurant so that he catches the attention of the rest of our family and the few other people who are staying in this hotel.
"I think he does mean literal brother." Toby whispers, tapping Peyton on the shoulder and flashing an "I told you so" smile.
In return, she sticks out her tongue at him.
Such an age-appropriate response. Bravo.
Benjamin doubles over in obviously fake laughter. "Oh, man. You're killing me! You are my mayor! That is so funny! I was out of your power a long time ago, Nicholas. I built my own empire, and for your information, we are thriving without you."
He pauses. "The Nikotopians have done nothing but make life worse for us ever since." Benjamin gets up from his chair and starts to pace the floor.
"Somehow, though, we survived. Not only did we survive, but we thrived. My people thrived under my leadership and they still do, even though you've put us through so much crap." He stops pacing and stares straight into the camera when he utters the last sentence.
Nicholas furrows his brow. "Benjamin, that's not a valid argument. I didn't disown you, you disowned us. You left because you thought you were too good for us." He reaches back and scratches his bald head.
"And obviously you weren't. Nobody is better than the Nikotopians. And I mean nobody." My stepdad stares back into the camera with the same intensity as his brother.
In the background on the other side of the camera, we hear a ding.
"What's that?" Nicholas asks, raising one eyebrow.
"Ooh! My pizza rolls are done! Gotta go, bye!" With that, Kappernick disappears and all we can see is whatever room he was calling us from.
It looks like some sort of office. In the background I see a few people bustling around, in and out of office cubicles, making copies, and shouting various commands to other people across the room.
Suddenly, we see a shadow sweep across the wall in front of the camera. Not three seconds later, the screen goes black and the words "signal lost" pop up.
Nicholas stands up and turns the tv off with the remote, then sits back down as if nothing had happened. I take one of the tables that make up the big table and pull it off to the side so me, Peyton and Toby can talk separately.
"Sooo.... are Nicholas and Benjamin really brothers?" Toby asks, confused.
Peyton slaps her face with the palm of her hand. "Of course they're brothers, Toby. Were you not paying attention this entire time?"
"Guys." I whisper, jerking my head to the side. "Let's move our table over here."
"Okay," Toby whispers back. "I don't see why we're being so secretive about this, though."
I stand up from my chair and my siblings follow suit.
Just as we're starting to move our small table away from the group, Nicholas catches us.
"What do you guys think you're doing? Get back here!" He snaps his fingers and gives us a menacing look.
"Ugh, fine." I groan and start moving the table back towards the rest of our family.
"So. I guess we won't get the chance to talk about that thing we wanted to talk about, then." Toby sighs. "We can never catch a break around here, can we?"
"Nope." At this point, Peyton's forgotten all about the fact that we might not have a home when we leave the hotel, and all of her attention is focused on the menu in front of her. "What are you guys getting? I think I might get the french toast sticks."
I lean back in my chair and puff out my cheeks. This is going to be a long two days.
After waiting for one painstakingly long hour for everyone to decide what they're ordering and actually order our food, thus flustering the server with our indecisiveness, I come up with a way to break away from the group and have a meaningful conversation with my brother and sister.
"I have an idea." I whisper in Peyton's ear. "Just follow my lead." She acknowledges that she hears me by giving me a thumbs up.
Here goes nothing.
"Mom, I have to go use the restroom. I'll be right back." I announce.
"Yeah, me too. I have to go, too." Peyton takes my hint and stands up as well.
"Yo tambien." Toby states confidently, nodding. After everyone gives him a weird look, he replies, "What? It's Spanish. I like Spanish."
The three of us stand up make our way out of the restaurant area and towards the bathrooms.
"Real smooth, Toby." I tell him. "Real smooth."
He stops in his tracks, folds his arms and awkwardly tips his head back. "Smooth is my middle name."
I roll my eyes. "C'mon, smooth, let's go."
We strut across the lobby and to the bathrooms very swag-like. I would say we look cool, but based on some of the looks we're getting from the hotel staff and random hotel guests, some people obviously think otherwise.
Once we get to the sitting area near the bathrooms, the three of us each plop down on a piece of furniture. Me and Peyton are lounging on the small couch and Toby has made himself comfortable in the chair.
"So," I start, clapping my hands together. "We need to get down to the bottom of whatever Kappernick is planning. Right now, it sounds like he's planning to destroy our life as we know it, but I can't be sure."
The looks on my siblings' faces are complete and utter horror.
"To paraphrase, we have to find out what he's up to. We have to find Kappernick's office, wherever that is; dig through his files, search the database on his computer, whatever it takes to save our home." I stand up, put my hands on my hips and hold my head high.
"Yesss girl, preach it!" Peyton stands up and holds her hands up.
Toby still looks confused. "But....how?"
"Now, that's the hard part." I explain. Toby seems more intrigued at this point.
"First off, we have to find out where his office is. Then we have to find a way out of this place, and establish a time to sneak out. Then there's the how part, which is how we get there. We'll probably end up stealing the keys to a hotel van or car and I'll drive that. Then, we have to find a way to cover up the fact that we're gone, and a way to get into his office without being interrogated by security. Simple." I shrug.
"Easy as pie."
"Right. Easy as very complicated pie." Toby replies.
"We need some sort of code name for this mission." Peyton states. "Every good mission has a solid name."
"Operation Save the City?" Toby suggests.
"Nope. That's not it."
"Operation FTP? Get it, cuz it has all of our first initials in it?" He inquires.
"Nah, that's not it either. I get where you're going with that, but it's not good enough." Peyton rubs her chin.
"Operation Big Three?" I ask.
Peyton's face lights up. "That's it. Operation Big Three."
I smile. "Alright, then. Operation Big Three is officially a go."
- Writer
