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Show Peppermint Monday weird reason, I'd invited her to my birthday party. Of course, back then I invited all of the girls my age, especially one like Renae who gave expensive presents. That was the last time she'd come around. We weren't friends, so there was no reason for her to come. All of the sudden, there was a reason. "Jason?" I said with a straight face. "Funny you never noticed him before. He's my brother." Normally, that would have made Renae mad enough to flip her silky head and storm off, but like I said, things were not normal. Instead she flashed me a rare smile and tried again. "Marcy said he was your cousin from Ohio, or somewhere like that." Renae was not giving up. "Oh, you must mean Barton." I played along. "Marcy's right, he is from Ohio, Cleveland to be specific." "He's so cute!" Renae gushed. "I'll bet it's fun for you to have him visit." I smiled, showing a mouthful of braces. Somehow "fun" is not the word I would have used. It was different and painful, but seldom fun. We did have fun with Barton the day he came. Jason brought Cheddar in the house and deliberately set him on Barton's jacket. I had a pink bathrobe that Cheddar loved, and he almost lived on it. I didn't mind at all. Cheddar is a clean bird, and not just any old bird, he's a proud eagle. He looked good on my pink bathrobe too, it was his color. Barton's tweed sports jacket didn't do a thing for Cheddar. He just kind of blended into the brown of the jacket. But Jason knew what he was doing. Barton screamed when he saw the bird. I'm not sure if he was just surprised, or if he was upset over his expensive jacket. Either way if was something to see |