Stepbrother Dearest

by Penelope Ward

  I impulsively got up and walked upstairs. My heart was pounding as I knocked on Elec’s door. He didn’t answer, so I slowly turned the knob and found him sitting at the edge of his bed smoking a clove cigarette. He had headphones on and hadn’t seen me enter. I stood just past the doorway and observed him. He was bouncing his legs nervously, looking frustrated and defeated. Eventually, he put the cigarette out only to immediately reach into his drawer and grab another one.

  “Elec,” I shouted.

  He jumped and removed his headphones. “The fuck? You scared the shit out of me.”

  “Sorry.”

  He lit the cigarette and gestured toward the door. “Leave.”

  “No.”

  He rolled his eyes and shook his head slowly, returning the headphones to his ears and taking a long drag.

  I sat down next to him. “Those are gonna kill you.”

  Smoke billowed from his mouth as he said, “Perfect.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “Please leave me alone.”

  “Okay, fine.”

  I left the room and went back downstairs. Seeing him looking so down when he didn’t know I was watching him made me more determined than ever to break through to him somehow. I needed to know if this was just a façade or if he were truly a genuine asshole. The meaner he was to me, the more I wanted to make him like me. It was a challenge.

  I returned to the kitchen and asked Randy for Elec’s cell phone number before programming it into my phone. I then typed out a text.

  You don’t want to talk, so I’ll text.

  Elec: How did you get my number?

  Greta: Your father.

  Elec: Fuck him.

  I decided to change the subject off of Randy.

  Greta: Did you enjoy the meal?

  Elec: Scramble the letters of meal. You get LAME. Your meal=lame.

  Greta: Why are you so mean?

  Elec: Why are you so lame?

  What a jackass. This was going nowhere. I threw the phone on the counter and marched up the stairs. Now, he’d put me in the mood to do something that would piss him off.

  He was still sitting on the bed smoking when I opened the door after neglecting to knock. I headed straight for the drawer, grabbed his box of cigarettes and ran out.

  I was laughing all the way back to my room. That is, until my door burst open. I quickly stuffed the cigarettes into my shirt. Elec looked ready to murder me, although admittedly, the glare in his glowing eyes was pretty sexy.

  “Give them to me,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “I’m not giving them back to you.”

  “Yes the fuck you are, or I’m reaching into your shirt and getting them. You choose.”

  “Seriously, why do you smoke? It’s so bad for you.”

  “You can’t just steal my shit. But then again, like mother, like daughter.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Go ask your mother,” he muttered under his breath. He held out his muscular, tattooed arm. “Give me my cigarettes.”

  “Not until you explain why you just said that. She didn’t steal Randy. Your parents were divorced before my mom even met your dad.”

  “That’s what Randy wants you to believe. She was probably fucking around on your father too, right? Poor gullible bastard.”

  “Don’t call my father a bastard.”

  “Well, where was he when Sarah was fucking my father behind my mother’s back?”

  My blood was starting boil. He was going to be sorry for asking. “Six feet under. My father died when I was ten.”

  He was silent then rubbed his temples in frustration. His tone eased for the first time since I’d met him. “Fuck. I didn’t know that, okay?”

  “There’s a lot you’re probably assuming. If you’d just talk to me…”

  Elec almost looked like he was going to apologize. Almost. Then, he shook his head and turned right back into evil Mr. Hyde. “I’ll be fucking damned if I have to talk to you. Give me my cigarettes, or I’m ripping them out of your shirt.”

  My body buzzed when he said it. What was wrong with me? A part of me wanted to see what that would be like, his rough hands pulling at the material on my shirt, ripping it off. I shook my head to rid the thought and backed away as he slowly approached. He was just inches from me now. The heat radiated from his body as he moved up against me, squishing the cigarette box into my chest. My nipples instantly turned to steel. I had never felt so out of control of my own body and was silently begging it to stop reacting so intensely toward him. Let’s face it. My body was an imbecile with poor judgment. How could it want something so badly that hated it right back?

  His breath smelled like clove. “That was the last package of that brand. They’re imported from Indonesia. I don’t even know where to buy them here yet. If you think I’m difficult to deal with now, you’re not gonna want to see what I’m like with no cigarettes tonight.”

  “They’re so bad for you.”

  “Ask me if I give a shit,” he said uncomfortably close to my mouth.

  “Elec…”

  He backed up a few inches. “Look…smoking is the only thing that has brought me any peace since walking into this hell hole. Now, I’m asking nicely. Please.”

  His eyes softened, and with each second that passed, my resolve weakened. “Okay.” His gaze followed my hand as I reached into my bra for the cigarettes. I handed them to him and instantly felt the cold air replace the heat of his body as he walked away.

  If I thought giving him back the cigarettes would initiate a truce, I was wrong.

  He turned around one last time to face me, and his eyes were no longer soft. They were piercing. “You’re gonna pay for that.”

  CHAPTER 3

  The start of school went exactly the way I expected. Elec ignored me anytime we were in the same class or in the cafeteria. Girls flocked around him everywhere he went, and he instantly became popular while barely having to say a word. Probably the least surprising development was Victoria’s covetous reaction to him.

  “What do you think my chances are?”

  “Of what?”

  “Of bagging Elec.”

  “Don’t get me involved in that venture, please.”

  “Why not? I realize you don’t get along with him, but you’re my only in.”

  “He hates my guts. How am I going to be able to help you with this?”

  “You could invite me over, set it up so we’re all in the same room and then leave us alone.”

  “I don’t know. You don’t understand how he is.”

  “I mean, I know you don’t get along with him, but does it really bother you if I try to make a move? It might actually help your relationship with him if I ended up dating him.”

  “I don’t think Elec is the dating type.”

  “No…he’s the fucking type, and that’s okay with me, too. I’ll take that.”

  My heart was beating faster, and I hated myself for it. Every time Victoria would bring this up, it made me insanely jealous. It was like a secret struggle I was constantly battling. I could never admit this to anyone. Which part bothered me most was unclear. Was it the thought of my friend screwing Elec, getting to touch him and living out my darkest fantasy? That bothered me, sure, but I think what upset me the most was the thought of Elec connecting on a deeper level with someone else while he continued to apparently despise me.

  I hated that I cared.

  I lifted my backpack out of my locker. “You’re crazy. Can we please change the subject?”

  “Okay. I heard Bentley wants to ask you out.”

  I slammed the locker hard upon that news. “From whom?”

  “He talked to my brother about it. He wants to ask you to the movies.”

  Bentley was one of the popular preppie guys. I couldn’t figure out why he would be interested in me since he usually dated girls from his own crowd. I didn’t really belong to their group or any group for that matter. There were th
e people like Bentley from the rich side of town in one clique. Then, there were the artsy and theatrical ones. Then, you had the international exchange students. Then, there were those who were just popular because they were good-looking, intriguing or acted out (Elec). Victoria and I were sort of in a class of our own. We got along with everyone, got good grades and stayed out of trouble. Unlike my best friend, though, I was a virgin.

  I’d only had one boyfriend, Gerald, who ended up breaking up with me because I wouldn’t let him get past touching my boobs. Word got out that I was a virgin and certain people around school would joke about it behind my back. While I still saw Gerald in the halls from time to time, I tried to avoid him.

  Victoria snapped her gum. “So, anyway, if he asks you out, we should totally invite Elec. He could go with me, and you could go with Bentley. We could go see that new scary movie.”

  “No, thanks. Living with Elec is all the scary I need.”

  ***

  My words would come back to haunt me the next morning. I was getting dressed for school, and when I opened my underwear drawer, it was empty.

  I threw on some yoga pants commando-style and marched into Elec’s room as he was putting on a shirt.

  “What the hell did you do with my underwear?”

  “It doesn’t feel good when someone takes your shit, does it?”

  “I took one box of cigarettes for less than five minutes and gave it right back, by the way. You took every single piece of underwear I own! There’s a little bit of a difference there.”

  I couldn’t believe I assumed he wasn’t going to get back at me for that one. Lately, he had been ignoring me especially well, and I just assumed all was forgotten.

  I started searching his drawers. My hand quickly retracted after touching a strip of condoms.

  “You can look in here all day until the sun goes down. They’re not in here. Don’t waste your time.”

  “You’d better not have thrown them out!”

  “Those were some hot pieces. I couldn’t do that.”

  “That’s because they cost a fortune.”

  Good underwear was probably the only thing I splurged on. Each and every pair came from a pricey online lingerie boutique.

  As I knelt down to look under his bed, he laughed. “You have a wedgie, by the way.”

  I leapt up and clenched my teeth. “That’s what happens when you don’t have any fucking underwear!”

  I wanted to pick it so badly, but that would have made this worse. I stood up to face him.

  Elec gave me a once-over. “You’ll get them back when I’m ready to give them to you. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” He brushed past me and ran down the stairs.

  I didn’t even bother to stop him because he wasn’t going to budge. I went to Target on the way to school and bought cheapie panties until I could figure out how to get mine back.

  I came home from school that day in a really anxious mood. Between the missing underwear and my actually getting asked out by Bentley, I was seriously in need of ice cream—not just any ice cream, but the homemade kind I’d make occasionally on the machine I got for Christmas last year.

  I dumped every piece of leftover Halloween candy into it and ended up with a delectable Snicker, Heath bar, Almond Joy concoction with a vanilla base.

  Once it was ready, I sat down at the counter with my gigantic bowl and closed my eyes, savoring each bite.

  The front door slammed and shortly after, Elec strolled into the kitchen. The scent of clove cigarettes and cologne wafted in the air. I hated his smell.

  I fucking loved his smell, wanted to drown in it.

  As usual, he ignored me, just headed to the refrigerator, took out the milk and drank it straight from the carton. He eyed my ice cream and walked over to me, taking the spoon out of my hand. He placed it in his mouth, devouring a huge dollop. The metal from his lip ring clinked against the spoon that he licked until it was dry. My insides were quivering from just watching it. Then, he handed the spoon back to me. His tongue lightly brushed across his teeth like a snake. Even his goddamn teeth were sexy.

  I opened the drawer, grabbed another spoon and gave him his own. We both started eating out of my bowl while saying nothing to each other. Such a simple thing, but my heart was beating a mile a minute. This was the longest amount of time he’d ever willingly graced me with his presence.

  Finally, in the middle of a bite, he looked at me. “What happened to your father?”

  I swallowed my ice cream and tried to fight the emotions creeping up. His question caught me totally off guard. I rested my spoon in the bowl. “He died of lung cancer at 35. He’d been smoking since he was 12.”

  He closed his eyes briefly and nodded to himself in understanding. He obviously now realized why I’d hated his smoking so much.

  After several seconds of silence, he was looking down at the bowl when he said, “I’m sorry.”

  “Thanks.”

  We continued sharing the ice cream until there was nothing left. Elec took the bowl from me, washed it in the sink, wiped it and put it away. He then left to go back upstairs without saying anything else.

  I stayed downstairs in the kitchen alone for a while replaying that strange encounter. His interest in my father really surprised me. I also thought again about when he first licked my spoon and how I’d felt when I licked it after.

  My phone chimed. It was a text from Elec.

  Thanks for the ass cream. It was really good.

  When I returned to my room that afternoon, a single pair of my underwear was neatly folded on my dresser. If this were his version of extending an olive branch, I’d take it.

  ***

  The “sweet” Elec was short-lived. A few days after our ice cream social, he showed up at the café where I worked right in the middle of the after school rush. Kilt Café was down the street from our high school and served things like sandwiches, salads and coffee.

  If Elec’s showing up wasn’t bad enough, he’d brought with him probably the most beautiful girl in our entire school. Leila was platinum blonde and tall with huge breasts. She was the total opposite of me looks-wise. I had more of a dancer or gymnast’s body. My long strawberry-blonde hair was poker straight and simple as opposed to her big, bouncy Texas-style do. You’d think she’d be a bitch because of her looks, but she was actually really nice.

  Leila waved. “Hey, Greta.”

  “Hey,” I said as I placed their menus down. Elec gave me fleeting eye contact but was trying not to acknowledge me. I don’t think he knew that I worked there, because I never told him.

  A pang of jealousy hit me when I noticed Elec locking Leila’s legs in with his under the table.

  I wasn’t sure if Leila realized he was my stepbrother. I never spoke about him to people at school and figured he never mentioned me, either.

  “I’ll give you two a few minutes,” I said before walking back toward the kitchen. I watched as Leila reached across the table and planted a kiss on his lips. I felt sick. She pulled on his lip ring with her teeth. It looked like she might have purred. Ugh. I’d never wanted to disappear into thin air so badly.

  I reluctantly walked back over to them. “Have you decided what you want?”

  Elec glanced over to the chalkboard that listed the daily specials and smirked. “What’s your soup of the day?”

  That bastard.

  “Chicken.”

  “That’s not correct. You’re misrepresenting it.”

  “It’s the same thing.”

  He repeated, “What’s…the soup…of the day?”

  I stared at him long and hard then clenched my jaw. “Cock a Leekie Soup.”

  The owner was from Scotland, and apparently, that was a specialty there.

  He flashed a mischievous grin. “Thanks. I’ll have the cock soup. Leila?”

  “I’ll have the garden salad,” she said, looking back and forth between Elec and me confused.

  I took my sweet time before bringing them their food. It
didn’t matter to me if the soup was cold.

  After a few minutes, Elec lifted his index finger for me to come to the table.

  “Yes?” I huffed.

  “This cock is leaky. It’s also bland and cold. Can you please replace it and ask the cook to actually put some flavor in it?”

  He looked like he was stifling a laugh. Leila was speechless.

  I took the soup back to the kitchen and dumped it violently into the sink along with the ceramic cup. Instead of talking to the chef, I had a light bulb moment and decided to take this into my own hands. I grabbed the ladle and put more soup into a new cup. I opened a bottle of hot picante sauce and poured it more than generously into the soup.

  It was piping hot in more ways than one now. I walked back out and placed it carefully in front of Elec.

  “Anything else?”

  “No.”

  I walked back over toward the kitchen and waited in the corner to watch him. The anticipation was killing me. His tongue would practically fall off when he got one taste of my specialty.

  Elec took the first spoonful. He had no reaction.

  How could that be?

  He took another spoonful then his eyes sought me out. His mouth curved into a sly smile before he took the entire cup and started drinking the soup like a beverage. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, whispered to Leila and excused himself.

  Leila’s back was turned to me when Elec walked over and dragged me by the arm into the dark corridor leading to the bathrooms.

  He backed me up against the wall. “You think you’re so smart?” My heart was slamming into my chest. Speechless, I shook my head as he said, “Well, the joke’s on you.”

  Before I could respond, Elec grabbed my face with both hands and smashed his lips into mine. The metal from his lip ring scraped my mouth as he nudged it open with his tongue hungrily and started kissing me deep. I moaned into his mouth, both shocked and excited by the ambush of his hot tongue assaulting me. My body was shaking. He smelled amazing. I felt like I was going to collapse from the sensory overload.