Merriton

The scar on James’ lip quivered. Bree walked into the house cautiously, not knowing what to expect. Both of the Thunder Brothers were waiting in the living room for her. “Hi guys?” She asked gingerly. Sasquatch lazily came down the stairs, one step at a time. He waited at the step fourth from the bottom for her to pick him up. She lifted the heavy furball to her chest and held him between her and the brothers. His purring filled the room.

John and James looked at her with their quiet ways. Bree’s mind immediately went to the worst. They wanted her to move. That John was some Jesus Freak and was never comfortable with the fact that she was gay. He had met his limit and wanted her out. She braced herself for the rejection when she noticed the remote control in James’ right hand. She looked at the TV and saw the picture, frozen in time. “What’s going on?”

Sasquatch had expected her to plop on the couch for the customary cuddle, but she just stood there in front of the Thunder Brothers. He squirmed in her arms. James’ voice faltered. “We was watching the basketball game.” He pointed at the TV guiltily. John nodded and pointed as well as James continued, “I recorded it on the VCR.”

From the looks of them, it felt like she had caught them watching porn, but the score on the screen most definitely announced that the Trail Blazers were losing to the Jazz. Bree carefully replied, “Wasn’t that game in November?”

The brothers looked at each other and motioned for her to sit down. She carried the wiggling Sasquatch over to the couch and focused on the TV. Her hand absent-mindedly pet the cat as James and John sat on either side of her. James lifted his hand and pointed the remote at the television. The announcer’s voice started mid-sentence and rambled something about Deron Williams. The screen went blank, and then the familiar visage of the iPhone and the friendly voice said, “Suppose you…” James paused the video.

“That’s your phone, right?” Sasquatch purred and shed fur over the three of them on the couch. Bree answered, “I have a phone like that one.” She pulled her iPhone out of her pocket and handed it to John. He held it uncomfortably and tried to hand it back to her. James lifted the remote again.

The voice continued and Bree broke out into a sweat. This was HER commercial. It was the one where Apple showed off SN Connector for the iPhone. When it finished, James paused the VCR again.

“Did they steal your idea?” The men at her sides bristled. Bree suppressed a laugh and pushed Sasquatch off her lap. She put her arms around them both. “No! That’s a commercial Apple did FOR me.”

James breathed out a large sigh of relief. “That’s what John thought, but I thought if you were gonna be on TV, you’d've told us about it.” John nodded and they both look at her expectantly. James continued, “Why didn’t you tell us about it?” There was a tinge of hurt in his voice and John’s shoulders tightened under her arm.

She shrugged and withdrew from her group hug. “Well, I didn’t believe it would really happen. I had a friend who had an app that Apple was supposed to highlight in a commercial and they pulled out, so I thought they’d do that to me, too.” John nodded, but the scar on James’ face still quivered. “Then, when it DID happen, it kind of felt like bragging to tell everyone about it.”

Bree felt the entire couch relax for a brief instant and then immediately tense up again. James asked, “So are you rich, now?” Bree smiled and laughed. “That depends on who you ask. Compared to how much money I made at Zerbitz a couple of years ago? Yes, I am rich. Compared to Random, no, I’m not.” Despite her laughter, the brothers remained anxious.

John spoke first, “Told you.” James nodded and they looked deflated. “So that’s why you’re not doin’ a project this year?” Bree tried to ease their discomfort. “Well, I’m a little busy with the updates…” she tried to think of something funny to make them laugh. “…and counting all my money, of course.” The joke fell as flat as a two-dimensional object.

“Told you,” John repeated the phrase with a scary finality. It was more than she had heard him say in two weeks. James looked like a boy who had lost his only ball down a well. Bree’s brow crinkled and she turned on the couch to face him. “What’s the matter?”

John was the one to respond, but talked to James, not her, “It’s alright. Maybe Samson can help.” James shook his head and replied, “He’s a millionaire, too. His project is makin’ more than mine did. He won’t want to either.” The two brothers communicated through her almost as if they were twins and had a language of their own. Bree interrupted them, “Help with what?” The Thunder Brother commiserated with her between them on the couch, but they no longer noticed her.

“We can find more farm hands. We used to always do that every year.”

“But they would come and go. It wasn’t the same.”

“Yeah, we always had to be ridin’ ‘em to make sure they were workin’.”

“And they never knew what they were doin’.”

The two brothers complained together so quickly that Bree could barely tell them apart anymore. It was only the geography of the couch that kept them straight in her mind. When she could take their grieving no more, she raised her voice and stood up. She faced the two of them on the couch with her hands on her wide and strong hips.

“So, I take it that you think I’m leavin’ just ’cause I’m rich?” She looked at them for an answer and they nodded fearfully. “Where am I goin’ exactly?!” The two of them answered in unison, “Back to California.” She crossed her arms over her chest. The muscles from carrying heavy plates bulged in frustration. The brothers looked at each other and then back at her. “Up North?” they asked simultaneously. She dropped her arms and they swung at her sides.

“Do you WANT me to leave?” She asked them both, but she watched John’s face for the unexpressed rancor that she always imagined was there. They both replied, “No!” She pointed at John. “Not even you? I KNOW you don’t like my ‘lifestyle.’” She lifted her fingers like quote marks around the word. John shook his head with innocent eyes. “Ain’t never had a hand work the farm like you. Don’t care ’bout nothin’ else.”

Bree searched his eyes for lying, but the truth was clear to her. They both wanted her to stay. Sasquatch wound himself between her legs and she picked him up. “I wanna stay. I wanna work on the farm. I wanna work at Mt. Zen Cafe in the winter. I don’t know how long this SN Connector is gonna make money. If there’s anything I learned from Silicon Valley it’s that you can go from a millionaire to broke over night. I’m puttin’ everything in the bank and doin’ the stuff I love.” Sasquatch’s fur and purr protected her from feeling vulnerable as she watched the couch sink with relief and appreciation.