Ode to an Annoying Older Brother

1

“How are ya, man?”

“...”

“Quiet today, huh? When did you get so quiet? That’s fine, I could talk for hours. I’ve been so busy lately, the restaurant has really been taking off. Thanks again for some money to start it up.” He moved closer to the man. “I’ve had customers goin’ out the doors fer the past week!” He smiles, blocking out all the noise around him. “But, that’s enough about me. How are ya feelin’? It’s gettin’ pretty cold this time of year so make sure ya wear a jacket, I know ya ‘run warm’ but I don’t need ya catchin’ a cold and actin’ like a baby about it. Do ya remember the last time ya caught a cold and ya begged me to bring ya soup? I made a huge batch and you me n’ Rin ate the whole thing.”

He pulled a worn red hoodie out of the bag slung on his shoulder. “I even brought ya yer favorite hoodie, ya left it at my place, dumbass… Hmmm. I’ve never been as good as talkin’ as you are. You can really keep someone talkin’ fer hours. Ya remember that time when ya called me after ya first moved to Tokyo? I thought I would never get to sleep ‘cause of yer yappin’. Talkin’ about how you were gonna miss me an’ all the shit we used to do. Like how we used to blast music out the windows of our shitty truck at ungodly hours while driving to nowhere.” He smiles even brighter, “Oh, that reminds me, ya remember when we ran outta gas that one time? And I made ya get out and push it while I was steerin’? Ya pushed it all the way to the gas station and then when I realized I forgot my wallet ya fished a couple of coins outta yer pocket…” He got lost in the story, it was almost as if he was back there.

“So yer tellin’ me I had to push it all the way here for nothin’?” The blonde’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Well, we wouldn’t have had to push it, if ya had filled her up like ya were supposed to!”

“It was SO yer turn, Samu!”

“It SO was not!”

He wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand before patting around the pockets of his exercise shorts. He fished out a couple of coins. “Well, I guess we’ll have to call ma.” He walked toward the door of the truck and closed it.

“No!” Osamu hurried to the door of the car. “Dammit, Tsumu!” He tried to yank the door back open, but no matter how hard he tried, it didn’t budge.

“Don’t tell me the keys were in there.”

“No they weren't, I just left my hat in there, that’s why I pulled on the door so hard. YES they were in there!”

“Well why didn’t ya take ‘em out with ya, dumbass!? Now we gotta call ma AND a locksmith!”

“The only dumbass here is you!” Osamu turned his back to him and fished his phone out of his pocket. He punched in the number and just as the phone started to ring, it suddenly stopped. “Dammit, just kill me now…” He mumbled to himself. The scratched up silver flip phone had succumbed to death. He turned around to see Atsumu walking out of the store, bag in hand.

“Nice folks in there.” He took out a rice ball wrapped in plastic and put it in Osamu’s hand. “Was she mad?” He pulled one out for himself and shoved the empty bag into the pocket of his red hoodie.

“I didn’t even get ta talk before the phone went and died on me.” He shoved the device back into his own pocket before sitting down on the curb in front of the store and unwrapping his food.

Atsumu sat down next to him and bit into his onigiri. “Oh well, guess I’ll have to keep ya company until ma inevitably finds ya and kills ya fer gettin’ us stuck out here.”

“How many times do I have to say it, this was YER fault!”

“Nuh uh.” He replies, mouth full.

He flashes back to reality, laughing to himself. “Y’know-” He says between laughs, “Why didn’t we just use the payphone with the change ya had? That was so stupid.” He reaches into his bag once again and pulls out an onigiri, wrapped in plastic but this time the brand is Onigiri Miya. He placed it and the hoodie down in front of the man, before sitting on the ground beside him once again, the light dusting of snow on the ground soaking into the fabric of his pants. “Fer old times sake.” He unwrapped his own onigiri and bit into it. It was quite cold from sitting in his bag for so long, but he didn’t mind it. Food was food. “Do ya remember that time, when we got in a fight and I gave ya a black eye? I swear I didn’t mean it. It was a complete accident.”