“But your sisters cannot start fights.”
“I didn’t start it,” Rose said stubbornly. “He did!” She pointed at Bruno.
“I was just telling the truth,” Bruno shot back. “Your sister is going to lose the election because…” He glanced apprehensively at Hunter. “She called you a bad word! I was defending you!”
“What did you say?” Hunter asked his younger brother. “Never mind, don’t repeat it.”
“It’s true!” Bruno argued. “You are going to win.”
“You don’t need to be rude.”
“And I don’t need you two to defend me,” I told my sisters.
“We’re family; we stick together,” Minnie said hotly.
“She broke my nose!” Bruno cried.
“It’s not broken,” Hunter hissed, taking the ice pack off his face.
“Bruno was going after her, so I had to stop him,” Rose insisted.
“No he wasn’t,” Nate yelled, jumping up. “Lies and slander. My brother doesn’t hit girls! He was trying to defend himself. She was going to take his eye out! I was just pulling Rose off of him.”
The principal sighed. “You four are suspended for two weeks.”
“But…”
“No buts. You all clearly need to calm down. Go outside. I need to talk to your siblings.”
“I do not tolerate my brothers hitting girls,” Hunter told the principal, tone serious. “They will be dealt with.”
“Yes, I know,” she said. “You and your brothers have been very responsive when behavioral issues arise.” She sighed. “Look, I understand both of you have a lot on your plates. And the children’s parents are not in the pictures. Plus, you have already taken on more responsibility than what is probably healthy for an older sibling.”
“They’re my brothers,” Hunter said, jaw set. “I’d do anything for them.”
“And I’d sacrifice anything for my sisters,” I said firmly. “It’s not a burden.”
“I just want you to know that I understand it’s a complex situation, because you can’t have a real sibling relationship with them as you’re too busy being their parent. Maybe over this break you can carve some time out of your busy schedules to spend one-on-one time with them. It might help everyone decompress.”
* * *
Hunter seemedlike he wanted to talk to me as we hauled our siblings out to the parking lot.
“I can’t right now,” I told him, shoving my sisters in the car.
“See,” Bruno said, getting one more shot in, “she doesn’t even have a working car.”
Minnie launched a shoe, and it hit Bruno in the eye. He yelped.
“You asked for that,” Hunter grumbled at him, dragging him to the car. “We’re going to discuss this when we are home.”
“You can’t let them get under your skin,” I lectured my sisters while they cranked down the manual windows to try to air out the smell of soggy vinyl.
“They said your campaign was a mess and that Hunter was just sleeping with you because he’s a boss and he fucks,” Rose cried.
“Watch your language,” I warned her. “I’m sure Hunter doesn’t believe that. They just said that because they’re immature, stupid teenage boys.”
But on the way back to Hazel’s bistro restaurant, I chewed on my lip. What if that was what Hunter was saying behind closed doors? What if he was bragging about how he was going to win the election and me? His brothers must have picked it up somewhere.
