The next morning, George glanced at the clock on his nightstand. Eleven o’clock. He was normally an early riser, but woke up feeling sluggish. His room looked darker, and he realized after a few seconds it was raining. He grunted with disappointment. He threw on the shorts he wore the day before, which were crumpled up on the floor next to his bed and headed downstairs.
He found Eddie in the kitchen, finishing up his chore list. “Good morning. We didn’t disturb your pleasant slumber, did we?” he asked sarcastically. “What’d ya do, take a sleeping pill or something?”
“No, I was just really tired. Where’s Mom?”
“She had to run to the store. I guess she figured you were sleeping and I was too busy to get into any trouble.” Eddie had a guilty grin on his face. “I think she underestimated us. Race you to the top of the stairs!”
Without another word, George knew exactly what that meant. It was the perfect day for stair racing. Stair racing was a game Eddie had made up years ago. Of course, they could only play it when their mother wasn’t home.
They both went to their closets to retrieve the lids to their old toy boxes. The toy boxes had been converted into storage chests long ago. Their mother had tried several times to get rid of the boxes, but both boys clung to them over the years.
George and Eddie met at the top of the stairs, both with their lids in their hands and grinning ear-to-ear. They sat on their lids as if they were snow-sledding, and bumped clumsily down the stairs, barely hanging on.
“Ha! I win!” George gloated.
“’Cause you cheated!” Eddie teased.
They grew tired of the game after about ten trips. Eddie decided it was a tie, since neither one of them kept up with the number of actual wins.
“Let’s see what we can find in the attic.”
George loved spending rainy days with his brother. Days like this reminded him of their younger days together. It was a day like this when Eddie gave him the nickname ‘Moose’. Eddie wanted to make up spy names for the two of them using letters from their first and middle names. George Thomas turned into ‘Moose’, and Edward Daniel turned into ‘Nail’. They both thought Nail was stupid but couldn’t come up with anything else. Moose just kind of stuck. Deep down, George liked it that Eddie still called him that.
Another rainy-day game was to scout through the attic. Their grandfather had been a Vietnam War veteran, and had tons of war memorabilia to look at. Although they had been through the boxes many times, they ran to them today like it was Christmas morning. They would both hold up items they came across, for the other to see. George loved to slip on his grandfather’s old uniform shirt, over his clothes, and look at himself in the antique, floor-length mirror that stood by the attic stairs.
Eddie just snickered at him, and kept digging through the boxes. George knew he was looking for one of two things—the pistol, or the Bronze Star medal. Although they both knew they were never to touch either one without their father present, somehow Eddie always went straight for both items. George looked up to see a puzzled look on his face.
“I can’t find it.” Eddie seemed flustered.
“Maybe Mom moved it last time she cleaned?” It seemed like a logical answer.
“Why would Mom clean up here? When was the last time you saw Mom in the attic . . . you haven’t been up here without me, have you?”
“No, of course not! Keep looking. I’m sure it’s in there.” Still wearing the uniform, George sat beside his brother and started searching through the box.
“That’s never been here before.” Eddie had stopped digging in the box, and had moved to the wall a few feet beside them. Against the wall was a small-sized chest, with a large padlock on it, almost the same size as the chest itself.
Eddie ran his hand across the chest, and then gave a strong tug on the lock. “I bet Dad figured out we’ve been coming up here, and locked up the gun.”
The boys looked at each other with disappointed eyes, and decided that it was time to clean up and head back downstairs, before their mother returned home.
Once their mother had given Eddie her approval on his chore list, the boys were free to spend the afternoon together. They spent the rest of the day hanging out in Eddie’s room, playing cards in the sheet fort they had built. Mainly, they talked, just like old times.
George loved Eddie like this. He hated who Eddie was around his friends. He wondered if Eddie would catch any heat from the guys for getting the iPod back. George almost asked, but didn’t want to ruin the mood by reminding Eddie about what had happened.
The rain continued until well after dinnertime. The boys finished up the dishes and retreated to their separate rooms. George hated that the day was over because he knew that tomorrow things would go back to normal and he would lose his brother again to the thug patrol. He was surprisingly tired after sleeping in so late that morning. He went to bed early with a book and fell asleep before he got through the first chapter.