“Hey Carrie, how do you like having a little brother?” Jennifer knew Carrie wasn’t excited about her new brother and started laughing at her remark. A chorus of girl giggles chimed in.
Carrie tried to slide under her desk. Things couldn’t get any worse, she thought. It had been just a week since her Mom got remarried and her friends had teased her constantly about Sam, her new stepbrother. Sam was two years younger than she was and had followed her around school like a lost puppy all week. She liked her step-dad okay and was happy for her mom but she didn’t want a brother. She was so deep in thought she didn’t notice Devin approaching.
“Hello Shrimp. Did you bring my ice-cream money today?” Devin leaned over her desk and whispered so no one would hear. He sounded scarier when he whispered than he did when he shouted.
“My Mom didn’t give me snack money today,” Carrie said, sliding further down into her seat. “She didn’t have any change.”
“Well, you better find some change or after school you’ll be sorry.” Devin made a fist and drew back his arm.
“Not even you would hit a girl Devin,” Carrie replied, not feeling confident at all.
“Well, maybe, maybe not. You’ll just have to wait and see. By the way Carrie, doesn’t your new brother walk home from school too?” Devin grinned patting his fist into his hand as if it were a baseball glove.
Carrie was about to explain, that as far as she was concerned she didn’t have a brother, when the door opened and the teacher Mrs. Bell walked in. Carrie looked back at Devin who was now sitting in his seat smiling.
Carrie was terrified of Devin. He loved to pick on kids who were smaller than him. The trouble was that everybody in her class was smaller. Kids talked about how Devin broke little Bobby Jacob’s arm for not giving him his lunch money. Bobby was bigger than Carrie was. She could only imagine what Devin would do to her. And what about Sam, her new brother? Sam was half the size of Devin. Carrie could just picture Devin beating him up and her getting the blame for it. The thought made her like Sam even less.
When the bell rang for lunch, Carrie hurried to the cafeteria. She was so busy trying to stay ahead of Devin that she almost ran into Sam.
“You sure are in a big hurry.” Sam smiled when he spoke. “You must be about to starve.”
“Just because you’re my brother at home doesn’t mean you have to be my brother at school too. Why don’t you just leave me alone?” Carrie could see that she hurt Sam. His smile disappeared and he walked on past her silently. She knew it had been the wrong thing to say but Sam didn’t understand that she didn’t have time to deal with a brother right now. Hearing Devin behind her, Carrie ran into the cafeteria. She sat as close as she could to the teacher’s table hoping to avoid another confrontation with Devin.
It seemed like only minutes had passed before the final school bell was ringing. Carrie had not been able to concentrate all afternoon. She watched the clock constantly. She wished that the hands on the clock would move slower or perhaps even stop. Maybe Devin was bluffing, she thought. When she left school she didn’t see Sam anywhere. Fortunately, she didn’t see Devin either. Carrie walked quickly down the school steps and started to run when she reached the sidewalk. Only a couple more blocks to go, she thought. When she saw him, it was too late.
Devin was standing between some bushes beside the sidewalk. Startled, Carrie almost fell, dropping her books on the sidewalk. Firmly held in his grasp was Sam. Carrie could tell Sam was terrified. His eyes were big like saucers and he looked like he was about to cry.
“Look at what I found.” Devin grinned at her. “Must be a stray. I thought I would just dispose of him since nobody wants to claim him.” Several kids started gathering around them.
“Why don’t you leave him alone?” Carrie’s stared coldly at Devin as she continued to speak. “Sam hasn’t done anything to you.”
“Yeah, that’s sounds like what Bobby said… right before I broke his arm. It looks like Sam is going to be next. Unless of course you can find that money you owe me.” Sam struggled to get away but Devin tightened his grip.
Carrie was afraid but determined to stand her ground. Why didn’t she just walk away, she thought. Why should she care what happens to Sam? Despite all the anger she felt toward Sam she suddenly felt needed. For the first time, she felt like a big sister. Carrie braced herself for the worst.
“I’m not giving you money Devin. Not today, not any day. You let Sam go. This is between you and me.” Carrie walked right up to Devin and took Sam’s hand in hers. “This is my brother and if you are so determined to hurt anyone, it will have to be me.” Carrie fixed her eyes on Devin’s, holding her ground as she spoke.
“Are you really going to hit a girl Devin?” asked Billy Slader, one of Devin’s friends. “Man, that’s not cool. That’s not cool at all”.
Devin glanced nervously over at Billy before returning his attention to Carrie. Carrie firmly pulled Sam toward her and repeated, “Let him go Devin.” She didn’t know why but she wasn’t scared anymore.
Devin looked at the look of intent on Carrie’s face. She was dead serious and he knew it.
“Whatever, I was only joking anyway. Can’t you take a joke?” Devin let go of Sam who quickly moved to Carrie’s side. “Come on Billy, let’s go.” Devin turned and walked away. The crowd that had gathered began cheering, “Carrie! Carrie!”
“Am I really your brother Carrie? I mean, really?” Sam asked wide-eyed.
“Yes Sam, you’re really my brother. You know what? It’s kind of cool.” For the first time all day, Carrie smiled.
Together Sam and Carrie picked up her books and walked home. A day that started terrible ended up being one of Carrie’s best. Devin never picked on anyone after that day and Carrie gained a brother. From that moment on when anyone asked her about Sam she would grin and say with pride, “Yep, he’s my brother.”
Mike Gowen © 2003