Page 12 of Nixon’s Promise

“Enough!” I shot Mandy a say another word and die look and wisely she stopped speaking. “Mandy, this is Nixon Swagger our neighbor. Nixon, my sister Mandy.”

“Hey,” Mandy grumbled.

“Nice to meet you.”

This was just wonderful. Nixon there to witness Zack and Mandy having one of their spats, albeit a mild one, made me want to crawl under a rock for the next millennium—or at least until Nixon figured out we were all crazy and hightailed it back to his side of the woods narrowly escaping Crazy Town.

Mandy stormed off, her hair flying behind her and bags rustling as she navigated the stairs then the screen door. It slammed behind her and Zack once again rolled his eyes.

“Don’t mind her. She’s always bitchy.”

“Not sure it’s cool calling your sister bitchy, bud.”

Well, there you had it. Apparently, I was falling down on this parenting stuff worse than I’d thought. I agreed with Zack and hadn’t thought about correcting him. Mandy did often act bitchy. Gone was my sweet sister and in her place was an almost-seventeen she-devil.

“You try living with her, then tell me it’s not cool.”

Nix’s lips twitched. “Right.”

“So, is it all right with you? Can I help Nix?”

Some of the happiness returned and there was no way I could say no when my baby brother looked so hopeful. Totally sucked at this parenting stuff.

“One condition. Your grades don’t slide. There’s a month-and-a-half left of school and I want you to finish strong.”

“They won’t. Promise. And I’ll keep up with my chores.”

“Then, yeah, it’s all right with me.”

“Cool. Thanks, sissy. I’m gonna go bring Sally and Goat in.”

“I’ll catch Sally. You go get cleaned up and turn the grill on,” I told him.

“Sure.”

Zack rushed off, leaving me and Nix alone in the gravel yard between my house and the barn.

“If you want, I’ll grab you a beer and you can wait on the porch.”

“That happen a lot?” he asked.

“What?”

“The two of them going at each other.”

Jeez, that was embarrassing.

My best friend, Becky, really my only friend, had two sons, five and seven. They did not fight like Zack and Mandy. I’d figured it was only because Becky was the nicest, most genuine person I’d ever met. She was soft spoken, and had a huge heart. Her husband, Rob, always had a smile. I’d never known anyone to be so quick to laugh and have a hand to lend.

My guess was with the way the two of them were, they’d hit the kid lottery and their sunny dispositions had been passed down to their offspring. Now, however, after Nix’s question, I was thinking their boys were just normal and siblings weren’t supposed to go at each other the way mine did.

“When they were younger, I don’t think they did. But now? Yeah. That’s pretty much the way they interact.”

The acute pain I felt whenever I thought about how happy Zack and Mandy had been when they were kids and they still had Carla and Dad spread from my heart over the rest of me. The guilt I felt for moving so far away thinking I’d have more time with them. I’d been in no rush between visits to hurry home and see them again. I’d been off doing my own thing, connecting when I could.

The truth was I couldn’t even remember the last time I told my dad I loved him. He’d been a good man and father. All three of us adored him and Zack and Mandy loved their mother deeply.

Nixon’s expression turned thoughtful and I was wondering if he was reconsidering accepting Zack’s invitation to dinner. Which oddly enough was disappointing even if I couldn’t blame him for wanting to bail.