Chapter Five: Late Dinner and Weird Conversation

I was halfway through a bowl of heated-up chicken and noodles when Joe slipped into the dining room and put his hands over my eyes. “Don’t do that when I’m eating, please,” I requested, pausing with my fork in the air. “Especially not now.” I had left the newest ice pack on the kitchen counter, intending to add more ice but forgetting about it in my hurry to eat.

“Not- oh!” He quickly pulled his hands away from my eyes and laid them on my shoulders. “I’m sorry, bro, I totally forgot about your eye.”

“All that hot water must’ve steamed it right out of your memory. Or maybe the sponge you use for a brain got so saturated- or cooked, maybe that was it!”

“All right, all right.” A fist hit me lightly- very lightly indeed- near my neck. “Stow the insults. It wouldn’t matter if I was in the shower for five minutes, there still wouldn’t be enough hot water for you. The shower doesn’t like to share.”

“Mom mentioned getting a new water heater soon,” I remarked after a brief pause to try and figure that one out. Keeping up with my little brother’s mental quirks is a full-time job in itself, but it sure keeps life from getting dull. 

“That would be marvelous.” Joe’s hands left my shoulders and after a moment I heard him poking around in the kitchen. The microwave shut, and started. A drawer opened and closed... I tuned out the rest of it, concentrating on my food.

“Here.”

“Huh?” I looked up. Joe was holding a steaming plate of food in one hand and a fresh bag of ice in the other. “Oh, thanks.”

“I noticed the glacial melt in there,” he explained, sitting down beside me. “Did I hear something about brownies in the pantry?”

“You did,” I agreed after I swallowed. “She said she figured we’d find them no matter what, so we might as well know about ‘em.” I finished my last bite and gulped down the remainder of my juice, then sat debating a second helping. While I mused, I watched Joe plow through his serving. He’s not messy, but it’s always a wonder to me how he can eat so much and not bulk up. I guess he’s putting it all into his height; he’s almost as tall as I am now. At length I decided I was full enough without seconds, though I did steal a chunk of chicken from Joe’s plate. Dark meat is the best, and I don’t care what anyone says about fat content.

“Paws off. My dinner.”

“They’re hands, not paws.” I wiggled my fingers at him in demonstration of that fact, then got up and went out to the kitchen to rinse and load my dishes. When I finished that, I went back to the dining room to suggest that Joe not start the dishwasher while I was showering.

“I’m done,” he told me before I could say anything, and gestured at his plate.

“So I see. Good boy, finishing all your supper,” I retorted, giving him a little poke for being such a lazy twerp. I knew perfectly well that he was inviting me to take his plate out to the kitchen for him. “Go reward yourself with a brownie. I’m going to see if the shower feels like sharing now, so don’t run the dishes yet, okay?”

“You mean you don’t want to take charge of this for me?” he asked, standing up and giving me his most innocent grin. “Especially when you’re so much better at loading the dishwasher than I am-”

“Oh, let the expert handle it, right. Well, if you ever want to be an expert like me, you’ve got to practice.”

“I’ll never match you in dish duty. I’ll just have to be content to admire your skills and give you every opportunity to practice them.”

“I’m sure,” I said dryly, giving him another poke. “Twerp. Try anyway.” He laughed and I had to grin at him. He can always make me smile. “By the way,” I added over my shoulder as I turned to leave the room, “save me at least one brownie, please.”

“Spoilsport.”

“That’s me,” I agreed, and headed for the stairs.

 

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.