I.
    Tom would play a little rough, often.
    Tom jumped on Earl, sitting on his chest.
    "I can't-"
    "You can, you can!" Tom laughed wildly.
    Earl strained to snatch the novel from his hand.  Tom pulled it away.
    "Give it!"
    "Aren't you strong enough?"  Tom cracked open the volume, which happened to be The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  It could have been any other novel.
    "Please, don't," he clawed at his shirt, stretching the expensive neckline, mussing up the stitch uniformity, breaking its soldierly huddle of yarn where his fingers dug.  Tom observed this and leaned down to minimise the damage, becoming a blotch of colour from Earl's eyes.  Tom flung the book across the room.  It fluttered through the air and plopped squarely on the floor, creasing both the covers and the pages.  Earl pushed Tom, and he let him climb out from under him.  Both their faces were hot, but Tom's face was stiff, and Earl's was not.  In a few strides, Tom walked over and picked up the book.  He extended his arm, waving an invisible white flag.
    "Here."
    Earl had a good grasp on it.  So did Tom.  Once again, the book was confiscated.  Earl did not meet his eyes, fixated on what was his.  He could have struck him.  It would have hurt Earl more than it did Tom.
    "It's not fair." 
    "What are you, ten?"
    "I just want to make notes."
    "It's not a journal."
    "There's space.  For writing."
    "Mark Twain would hate you.  Anyone worth anything would hate you."
    "I'm smarter than you," Earl said quickly.  Something in Tom's character hardened; from plastic, he became stone.  
    "Yeah?"  Tom struck him across the cheek.  He whimpered. "Get it.  Take it from my hands." 
    "I can't."
    "Yeah?" he softened. "Why not?"
    "You're..." it was embarrassing.  
    "stronger than me" which was why Tom would often play rough.
    

II.
    It was unfair, and he knew it.  Earl knew that Tom had reasons for his acting out, and deep down, Tom knew that the reflectiveness happened to be another response to a different set of upbringing.
    
    
    
III.
    With time, Tom grew into a robust young man, Earl, a sturdier one than before.
    Why did you...  Why were you...  I don't understand...
    
    



Created 26 February 2025
Last edited 3 March 2025