felt from him. My field trip was going to have to wait fifteen minutes. I had to get to the bottom of this first, and put Grams’ mind at ease.
“I’ll go talk to him and see if I can find anything out.”
She smiled at me and gently touched the side of my face with her palm. “Thank you, honey. You’re such a good girl. More so when you’re not in a tree scaring the neighbors.” With that she walked out the door I had just come in. “I’m off to bingo. Night!”
I vigorously rubbed my hands over my face. As if I didn’t have enough on my plate, now I had to figure out if my idiot brother was on drugs. With a sigh, I trudged up the stairs.
I tried to come up with a plan of action. I had to be cool and casual. Lay some ground work, let him get comfortable and then maybe he would open up. Softly, I rapped on his door.
“Yeah.” He called out.
I pushed the door open and peeked inside. Little disclaimer here; I saw my brother almost every day of my life. However I very rarely paid attention to what he looked like. He’s just Gabe. Right then, for the first time in I don’t know how long, I really saw my brother.
“Holy crap, Gabe! You’re friggin’ huge!” My “play it cool” maneuver was off to a bang-up start.
“Thanks.” He didn’t tear his eyes off the television as he asked, “That all?”
Lounged on his black and tan striped comforter, he wore a raggedy white t-shirt and a pair of navy blue nylon-mesh shorts I had seen him in a thousand times. Only now they barely fit him. The shirt was stretched to its maximum capacity, his new bulging muscles strained against the thin material. If he sneezed the shirt would be ripped to shreds. The muscles and veins in his legs protruded like the professional body builders in magazines. I could see the cause for concern now, this kind of change didn’t happen naturally in a matter of days.
“No, I…how did this happen?”
True to form, his sarcasm kicked in. “What can I say? I drank my milk and it did my body good. Now, go away.” He turned the volume up on the TV to let me know we were done. I was nowhere near ready to give up.
I stomped over to the TV, clicked it off, and spun to face my brother with my hands firmly on my hips. “Are you on steroids?”
“What? No!” His face reddened as he scowled at my accusation. “How could you think that?”
“This,” I gestured at his new mammoth frame “…is not natural! So, if it’s not drugs, then you tell me what’s going on. Tell me how you managed to look like a runner-up in a Tough Man contest in such a short amount of time.”
He sprang off the bed and stalked over, his hot breath assaulted my face as he snorted down at me. I’m used to feeling small next to people, however his increased muscle mass made me feel downright puny. He could snap me like a twig if he wanted to. With that in mind, I realized angering the heaving-beast might not be the best idea. Self-preservation made me take a tentative step back. He matched my step and leaned down, his face only inches from mine. Every muscle in his body tensed. His hands balled into fists. His nostrils flared. I stared him down. Roid rage or not I wasn’t going to let him bully me.
Through his locked jaw he snarled, “I. Don’t. Know. Maybe it’s something in the Tennessee water. Or maybe I’m becoming the friggin’ Hulk. I have no idea! But I am not on drugs. And the fact that you would even accuse me of that…”
“Look at the way you’re acting.” I said in a purposely calm voice. “Tell me this doesn’t seem like stereotypical ‘roid rage’.”
“This isn’t ‘roid rage.’ This is annoying sister rage.”
“What about your anger, like, twenty-four/seven? That my fault, too?”
He squinted at me in confusion, but didn’t deny it. “What makes you think I’m angry?”
I decided now wasn’t the best time to mention my little talent. “Because I know you.”
He gave a bitter laugh. “You know me, huh? Yet, you don’t know that after everything that I’ve been through, I wouldn’t touch drugs? And you can’t think of any other reason in the world why I might be upset?”
“What do you mean?”
He leaned back, and