Page 18 of Big Witch Energy

“It’s not the same,” Mina insisted. “And Josh needs to be held accountable for this clear violation of the Phoenix Breakfast Food Streaming Service Peace Accords!”

Ben pinched the bridge of his nose. Back home, the Breakfast Food Streaming Service Peace Accords had taken weeks of negotiation after an unfortunate incident involving Josh eating the last gluten-free salted caramel Cronut from Mina’s favorite local bakery. Mina retaliated by child-locking all of Josh’s streaming service preferences to classic children’s television programs like the Teletubbies.

“You can just go by Starfall Grounds on the way to Starfall Pages in a Starfall pedal cab,” Josh replied, a sly smile breaking out over the long-lined, even features that reminded Ben so much of his own late father, sometimes it hurt to watch Josh laugh. “And then we can stop at one of fifteen Starfall fudge shops. Why is everything on the island named Starfall Something?” Josh frowned. “Don’t you guys find it confusing?”

“It can be,” Ben acknowledged. “And I think people just want you to know how proud they are to live here.”

“Well, I’m not proud of living here,” Mina whispered, her hazel eyes seeming three times as large through the shimmer of tears collecting on them. “I’m just trying to get through it so I can go to college and get out of here. And Josh, I would be careful about using your toothbrush for the next twelve to fourteen days.”

“What does that mean?” Josh asked, frowning. “And why are you being so specific?”

With one last narrowing of her eyes, Mina sniffed, stomping up the stairs and making sure Ben felt every single step. Josh turned to him, his own eyes widening with growing panic. “Why is she being so specific?”

Ben stood and poured them both a cup of coffee. He asked quietly, “So what’s going on with your sister?”

He tried not to cringe as his son dumped three heaping tablespoons of sugar and a quarter cup of creamer into his mug. It wasn’t as if it would stunt Josh’s growth. The kid was three inches taller than Ben. “Look, we survived saying goodbye to your friends, the move, hauling all of our stuff to the house using pedal wagons, and the fact that the movers lost two boxes of Mina’s books without a Mina explosion,” Ben said.

“They weren’t her particularly old and dusty books, which worked in our favor,” Josh said.

“Is something else bothering your sister, or is it an accumulation of all of the very natural and expected anxiety she’s feeling over…everything I just mentioned?” Ben asked.

Josh looked sad, but amused. Josh was more observant than the average teenager, certainly more observant than people gave him credit for. And as much as Ben hated to use his child as an informant, parents had to use whatever resources they had at their disposal.

“It’s nothing personal,” Josh told him. “I think she’s just struggling with the move, which is, I remind you, preventing her from graduating with her friends next year. And this environment is the exact opposite of what we’re used to, weatherwise. And people act like they know us, just because they know you. You know how she hates it when people assume…anything.”

“Do you think a job would help?” Ben asked. “Something to keep her occupied?”

“As long as you make it seem like her idea, yeah,” Josh said. “If you suggest something, she’ll just quote a bunch of child labor laws at you.”

“Smart. She does like to memorize things out of spite,” Ben said, nodding. “What about you? There’s not exactly a music conservatory for you to join up with here. Or a school basketball team. We’ve got to find something for you, too.”

Josh shook his head. “I don’t know, Dad, I think I’m OK with giving the violin a rest for a while. That was always more of Mom’s thing. I think I’m looking forward to having a break. And maybe I can find some pickup games with some of the guys around here. There are some kids my age at school, just not enough to form an official team.”

Ben placed a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder. Josh had shown an interest in the violin, and a moderate talent for it, at age ten. His mother had pushed him to practice, hours upon hours, until the joy had been completely sucked out of music for him. And yet, he was still expected to practice. Nothing Ben said to her could convince Isabelle that she was ruining any chance they had of Josh pursuing the violin long-term. Not even when Josh threatened to run away if she made him quit the basketball team to protect his hands, all for an instrument he only showed some interest in. Isabelle had insisted that she was only trying to bolster Josh’s future college applications, but Ben suspected her vehemence was based on classical music being a “more refined” interest compared to basketball. The women on her charity boards wouldn’t be impressed with basketball.

And poor Mina, whose talents were less quantifiable, didn’t get used for clout at all—which was somehow worse. When Mina fought back with her neon clothes and gleeful sarcasm, Isabelle only tried to restrain Mina’s personality further, admonishing her to “be practical” and “take life seriously.” The silent implication was that there was nothing special about Mina, so she was going to have to work harder to make it in the world. Mina’s rebellions were maliciously rainbow-infused, and Ben admired her all the more for it.

“So, what’s really going on with your sister?” Ben asked.

Josh peered up at his father, sipping his coffee. “Remember how we were supposed to be visiting Mom in Colorado this summer?”

Ben nodded.

“Mom texted,” Josh told him. “She said that Tom isn’t comfortable with the idea of hosting us in his house so soon after the wedding, and with the bonus room remodel…”

“Wait, what do you mean so soon after the wedding?” Ben exclaimed. Glancing up toward the stairs, he lowered his voice. “Your mom’s wedding is supposed to be sometime this fall!”

“Apparently, they decided to move it up…to last week,” Josh said, pursing his lips and nodding.

Ben felt an awful pressure in his chest as he watched Josh try to fight back the hurt, the absolute insult of his mother making such a huge step without a thought to Josh or Mina’s feelings. “Your mom got married without you guys?”

Josh nodded, staring down into his coffee. “She said the venue had an opening and Tom just happened to have room in his schedule. Tom’s family was in town for Easter and with the spring flowers coming into bloom, they just couldn’t waste the opportunity.”

Ben raised his hands, bewildered. “And she said all this by text?”

Josh nodded. Ben raised his hand to the back of Josh’s neck and pulled him close. Josh was trying not to sniff, but he was a fourteen-year-old boy, and his mom was the one behaving like an inconsiderate kid. And she’d hurt Mina, which was a particular hot-button issue for Josh. They might occasionally bicker and stage elaborate negotiations-slash-retributions over petty pastry squabbles, but the pair of them were tightly bonded because they had, in essence, served in a bad parental marriage foxhole together.

Ben swallowed the lump building in his throat. “It’s OK to be upset, to be hurt. You don’t have to pretend you’re not because it’s your mom, or because you don’t want to worry me.”

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