I hunkered down behind one of my mom’s flower pots. I watched for my best friend Ares but hoped I wouldn’t have to tag him. He was really good at laser tag too, like Charlie, but he got really aggressive about it and sore when he lost. He wasn’t the one anyone wanted to find them.
I stayed quiet.
I couldn’t hear anything, but everyone was so good at this game. Even Wells and Thatcher despite them being smaller. They bugged the crap out of Ares and me until we let them play this time. I wouldn’t mind it, but Ares got crazy sometimes. Last thing we needed was someone getting hurt and all our moms and dads yelling at us. Last time we’d played hard together, Wells had skinned his knee and Thatcher had tackled Ares because he’d been the one to do it. I just wanted to play a game, not get our parents screaming.
A shuffle sounded directly behind me.
I stiffened behind the pot, my finger hugging the trigger of my laser gun. I eased out for a look, but a hand slammed against my mouth and, next thing I knew, someone was joining me behind the pot.
Charlie.
He placed his finger to his lips, telling me to keep quiet. He had dark hair, real dark like my mom, and in their kid pictures, they looked exactly the same. He waved at me to come with him.
I went.
I followed close behind, trusting him for some reason despite us not being on teams. I always trusted Charlie.
I was right to.
He pushed me out of the way, as Ares launched at us. I didn’t know how Ares could see with all those brown curls surrounding his face, but he always managed.
“Take that, suckers!” Ares called, shooting at both Charlie and me with a quick finger.
Charlie was quicker.
Holding me back, Charlie used his height to shoot a direct shot right at Ares’s laser tag vest. The lights on Ares’s vest went off like crazy, and Ares started groaning as he ripped it off and tossed it to the floor.
“No fair,” Ares gritted, his face changing in color. He pouted. “Charlie, you’re like way bigger than the rest of us.”
With a chuckle, Charlie stood tall. He was taller than us since he was twelve and we were ten. Charlie pointed at him. “Didn’t stop you from taking out Wells and Thatcher so quick.”
I’d seen it too. Ares had gone for them first despite them being weaker, and Thatcher had been so angry he’d said a curse word and left the game.
Wells hadn’t been far behind.
We were all best friends, but Wells and Thatcher were close like Ares and I were. I think that was mostly because of our ages. Ares and I were ten, and Thatcher and Wells were nine.
Charlie was all our buddies, though. Especially mine. He was my mom’s brother despite him only being a couple years older than me.
The other guys always joked about that, about Charlie being my uncle when uncles were supposed to be really big. Charlie always got on them real quick about that, though, and he was like a big bother to all of us.
I mean, he was Batman.
Tackling Ares, Charlie told him to go find Thatcher and Wells and apologize. Ares grumbled about it, but he eventually left. Charlie stayed behind with me, and after he showed me a couple moves with the laser gun, we decided to go to the kitchen and get a drink.
“I bet Mom made lemonade,” I said to him.
She always did when Charlie came over, knowing it was his favorite. He didn’t come by a lot since he and his parents, my grandparents, traveled all the time.
Grandpa Lindquist, my mom’s dad, married Charlie’s mother, my grandma Helen, before I was born, but Grandma Helen wasn’t my biological grandma. My blood-related grandma died before I was born.
Grandpa Lindquist was really fun. He took Charlie and Grandma Helen all over the world, and Grandpa always brought stuff back for me. Because they did travel a lot, it was always extra special when Charlie came by. Usually, it’d be for a few days or something while Grandma and Grandpa went on weekend trips. Charlie had been here since Friday, and we’d had a blast all weekend with Thatcher, Wells, and Ares.
Charlie chased me down the hall and together we ran into the kitchen, laughing. It took us a second to realize we weren’t alone.
And that my dad was here.
Dad shouldn’t be here. He worked in business and was always busy.