THINNER
by
Antigone
Chapter 19
The Chapters
“Could
you not stare at me?”
Frank
felt heat creeping up into his face and looked down at his bowl of soup,
mumbling an apology. The brothers were eating dinner alone that night:
Gertrude had gone home, Fenton had gone to meet a client, and their
mother had gone to a political meeting, leaving Frank in charge of
getting Joe dinner and watching him eat, which he was, eyes locked fast
on his brother, slowly churning and churning the soup in his bowl,
cutting the vegetables in his salad, slicing the bread into miniscule
pieces and rolling them into balls of dough and dunking them into the
broth.
“Sorry,”
the elder Hardy sighed.
The
two went back to eating, an uncustomary silence and tension hanging
between them.
“Any
plans for the night?” Joe asked, trying to keep things casual.
Frank
nodded. “Callie’s coming over. We’re gonna watch a movie.”
“Why
here?”
“Mom
and Dad aren’t home—“
“Is
it because of me?”
The
elder Hardy sighed and took a drink of water. “No.”
“Mom
and Dad don’t want me to be alone.”
Frank
bit back his I don’t want you
to be alone and said “Her parents her home. We can be here,
uninterrupted.”
Joe
forced a knowing smile; Frank rolled his eyes.
“No
comment.”
“I’ll
stay out of your way.”
“Sounds
good.”
Joe
went back to eating, draining the bowl and shoving the bread in.
It’s
too easy, Frank thought
uneasily. He gives in too easily.
He hasn’t gained weight, still fights about food, but all the same,
something’s wrong. He’s up to something.
“Have
you noticed the toilet’s have been clogging lately?”
Joe
raised his eyebrows. “Not really. Why?”
“Just
wondering.”
“Is
this the kind of thing to talk about over dinner?”
Frank
grinned. “It’s the only time I have you to myself.”
“Great,
so now you’re trying to seduce me with toilet talk.”
The
two laughed a bit, then Frank returned to watching his brother eat while
trying not to be obvious about it.
“I’ll
see you later,” Joe said a few minutes later, clearing his things and
quickly disappearing upstairs.
“Wait—“
Frank started, but just then the doorbell rang; he hesitated, then moved
to the back door.
“Hey
babe,” Callie greeted him, leaning up to give him a kiss. “How’re
you? What’s wrong?”
Frank
shook his head. “No, I’m fine, just thinking.”
“Joe?”
“Let’s
not talk about it.”
“All
righty,” she said, coming in and shutting the back door. Frank took a
deep breath and shut the door behind her, surprised that he was feeling
relieved. Maybe, for an evening, Callie could take away the anxiety, the
sadness, the worry, just for a night. The moment he felt it he felt a
wave of anger at himself: why should he have a night of relief, if there
was no such comfort for his brother?
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Disclaimer
The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.