Page 184 of The Champion
I just wanted to get to the track and here’s my idiot brotherwho is forty-three years old, is coning innocent hotel clerks out of tendollars’ worth of bagels.
“Not possible,” Cole, Spencer’s youngest, guffawed with asmile. “He’s incapable of it.”
Still arguing, we all piled into a cargo van Alley rentedfor us.
“People are going to assume you’re some kind of...weirdo stealing bagels like that.” Aidentold him eating a package of peanut M&M’s he stole from the counter in thelobby. He wasn’t any better.
“Oh, and what will they think of you?” Spencer snorted; angryhe didn’t get his bagels.
“Well, based on the tightness of these damn jeans, theyare going to know for a fact that I am hung like a fucking horse. Where didthese come from?”
“Your wife probably,” Spencer replied ripping the candyfrom his hands. “That’s what you get for letting her buy your clothes.”
Axel didn’t say anything while all this was going on.Casten tried to provoke him but he never responded. He stared out the window atthe snow along the Interstate 44 while his iPod blared in his ears, his headbobbing to the beat.
Knowing this was his distraction; I didn’t bother him andpulled his annoyingly entertaining twelve-year old brother away from him.
“Why don’t we give Axel a break?”
Casten smiled. “I don’t think so, it’s fun to get himmad.”
“Fun for you...orfun for him?” My eyebrow raised in question.
“Me of course,” He bounced up snatching Axel’s phone fromhim as he was sending Lily instant messages.
Axel snapped yanking his headphones from his ears.
“Give that back!” he yelled causing everyone in the vanto look over at him.
“All right boys.” Keeping my voice calm, I put my armsbetween Axel and Casten. “Casten, give him his phone.”
“He should be concentrating on racing...not Lily in a bikini.” Casten snickeredholding the cell phone above his head giving Lane and Cole behind him a clearview of Lily’s modeling pose.
My first thought was, why is she sending him that kind ofthing? My second was you weren’t any better at sixteen. If a sixteen-year old Swayhad sent me a picture of herself in a bikini, you wouldn’t have seen me forhours while I took proper care of bleeding my pressure valve.
Now that his little brother as well as his cousins hadseen his half naked girlfriend’s body, I was sure Axel was irritated withCasten.
“You fucking jerk.” he stood up reaching for him onceagain. “Give that to me!”
If you thought I was protective of Sway, my son hadinherited that side with Lily.
In one quick motion, Axel had grabbed him by thesweatshirt, dropped his shoulder and punched Casten in the stomach with I’msure as much force as he had. Casten fell over clutching his stomach, coughingand then choking as he started crying.
I wasn’t sure what to do because really, if Spencer haddone that to me, I would have punched him too. “Uhh...” I stammered as I glanced between Axel, who had sat down now,having pulled his hooded sweatshirt over his head and Casten, who was hunchedover in pain.
There wasn’t much of a size difference between the boysand their four years and I figured that had to have hurt. I know when Spencerpunched me at that age; I felt it. Axel wasn’t big by any means, he was thesmaller of our kids at barely five foot eight, Casten was catching him in sizebut still, Axel put all he had into that punch.
This was one of those moments where I needed Sway; she’dknow exactly what to do. Looking to Spencer and Aiden for advice did nothing.They couldn’t believe he did that either and stared back at me with wide eyes.Axel had hit Casten before but never like this. He literally punched him withsomething similar to a professional boxing match.
Aside from Casten’s coughing, an eerie silence spreadover the van. Thankfully, he stopped the crying. My dad, who’d remained quietthis morning, nudged me when Axel took the sleeve of his black sweatshirt andswept it across his cheek wiping tears aside. I knew right then that he didn’tmean to hurt his brother but he was also already freaked out about racing inthe midget nationals. He didn’t need his little brother adding to his alreadyjumbled mindset.
Oh goddamn it.Where is Sway? Now I had two kidscrying.
“Talk to him.” He whispered slouching in his seat tiltinghis head toward Axel in front of me. “And for god’s sake, comfort the littleone.”
Both my parents were suckers for Casten as most peoplewere. I had to admit that Casten was adorable. He looked similar to Axel buthad Sway’s big eyes, thick black lashes, chubby cheeks and nose with my goodlooks. We had made some cute kids.
When he fluttered those said big eyes,everyonegave into him.
