Mythical brother

Mother talks about our mythical brother all the time. How proud of him she is. Apparently she gets monthly reports and when she came back after his graduation she was grumpier than usual. We can’t live up to him. And now he’s home.

But the moment he steps out of the Jeep, I know there’s something about him. He’s upset at being here, that’s obvious. When I step up to him and introduce myself as his brother he beams a radiant smile, like I was the only person in the room. I introduced my brother, and the rest is history.