Growing Pains - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Missy Red and Kaleidopy
Last updated: 01/02/2007 02:01:11 AM

Chapter 7

Two days later, the boys, being confined to the house, were in a bad mood. Henri and Therese were both ready to kill the two and plead insanity at their murder trial.

"I'm bored!" Remy threw a magazine across the living room floor. "Why can' we order a pizza?"

"No pizza! No movies, no nothing!" Therese glared at her little brother and their cousin. "And you two march yourselves back up those stairs and stay there until dinner is ready." Remy opened his mouth to protest, but thought better and did as he was told.

"Glad your eyes are open to Remy's little tricks." Henri had been standing in the shadows watching the exchange between his brother and sister.

"Oh nice of you to stand by and do nothing, Henri." Therese picked up the magazine Remy had tossed in the floor and angrily shook it in her older brother's face.

"Are y' still upset wit' Remy for playin' in your room?"

"Forget that, brother dear. You haven't heard the latest." She dropped the magazine on the table and sighed. "While you were doing your business with the guild, guess what little brother decided to do?"

"Afraid to ask."

"Well, Lapin dared Remy to unlock the wine cabinet and take a bottle." She paced the length of the living room, turned and raised her hands. "Well, to make a long story short, Remy got a bottle and not just any wine bottle, but Uncle Jean's pride and joy."

"Non, tell me mon frère didn't take Père's 1949 bottle of Musigny Burgundy?" Henri asked, dreading the answer. Therese nodded and Henri panicked. The Burgundy was a gift from the Guild Master in Paris. It was priceless. "Y' were supposed to be watchin' him. How could y' let him take dat bottle?"

"Don't y' dare try to blame this on me, big brother. If I remember correctly, you're the one who's in charge." Therese raised an accusing brow. "What's the matter Henri, two ten year olds getting the best of the future leader of the thieves guild?"

"Dere drivin' me nuts!" Henri pointed at his head and yelled. "I swear I'm losing my hair. Look!"

"Don't you think you're over reacting?"

"Does dis look like I am over reactin'?" He started pulling his hair, showing her where he was going bald. "Y' de babysitter. I jus' retired."

"No, I have a better idea." Therese grabbed the phone and dialed a number. "Tante, I could really use your help and advice. How quickly can you get here?" Grinning, Therese hung up the phone and slapped her hands together. "We should have called her to begin with instead of letting the boys run wild."

Upstairs, Remy sat in the middle of his bedroom floor, with the duffel bag by his side, eating candy and reading his comic books. Lapin stood outside the balcony window. "Whatcha doin' out dere?"

"Bernard just drove up." Lapin answered, sticking his head back inside. "Hey! He's got our bikes!"

Remy grabbed the candy, stuffed it into the duffel bag and tossed it on top his bed not bothering to zip it up. "Don' let Bernard see y'. Y' know he threatened to drown us after his car was towed out of de pool." He joined Lapin on the balcony, hoping to pull his cousin away before they were discovered. Too late, Henri's friend spotted them.

Bernard touched his new car and shouted a threat at the two boys. "Y' brats touch dis car an' I'll make sure y' never reach puberty."

"Y' don' scare me non," Remy shouted, calling the man a few colorful choice words. Nobody threatened him without a fight.

"Get back in your room, Remy." Henri walked into view, surprising his brother. "Don' make me come up dere."

Remy rushed inside, opened his closet door and grabbed three balloons and went in the bathroom with them. He filled them each with cold water and walked back out to the balcony. "Hey, Bernard, your car needs a bath." He tossed the heaviest balloon over the balcony, hitting the car and drenching the two men standing by the vehicle.

While the two men cursed in French, another balloon hit them before they could move. Bernard balled his hands into fists, "Frère or not, Henri, he's dead."

Henri held his arm out, stopping Bernard. "Non," he looked up at his brother, his eyes narrowed. "Remy's mine."

Remy's mouth dropped opened, discovering too late why Bernard and Henri were the best thieves in the country. They jumped up to the balcony and climbed over the railing before Remy could blink.

"Lapin, Run!" Remy screamed, trying to get out of the room before Henri could lay a hand on him. He managed to reach the end of the stairs before the front door opened. His eyes widened. "Tante!"

"What's goin' on around here?" Tante picked the boy up and turned her attention to Therese, who only shrugged. Hearing loud footsteps and cursing coming from upstairs, she glanced up and saw Henri and Bernard angrily walking down the stairs. Both men were soaked to the skin, leaving wet footprints on the carpeted stairs. "Henri?"

"He hit us wit' water balloons." Henri glared at his brother, who instantly tried to hide behind Tante.

"Remy, is dis true?" Tante grabbed his arm and pulled him in front of her. She stared directly into his eyes, not fooled by the boy's innocent look. "Chile, I'm angry enough wit' y' as it is now, so don' make dis worse on yourself."

"But dey kept barkin' orders at us,"

"Dat's not what I asked you, Chile. Is Henri tellin' me de truth?"

Remy was dumbfounded. What was he doing wrong? His adorable routine never failed. "Oui, but,"

"Upstairs, right dis minute." Tante pointed him in the direction of the stairs. "After I have a talk wit' T'erese and Henri, I'm comin' upstairs to your room an' we'll go from dere."

Remy hugged the walls along the stairway, keeping out of his brother's reach. He sat in the doorway listening to the adults downstairs talking and cringed, hearing Tante's voice yell the words. "He did what? Jean-Luc's goin' to have a fit."

He retreated to the hallway, knocking on his cousin's door.

"Come in," Lapin's voice called from behind the door.

"Y' jus' as guilty of takin' dat wine as I am." Remy jumped on the bed and grabbed his cousin by his shirt collar, when Lapin cracked a smile. "See how funny it is when y' got no teeth to smile wit',"

"You were suppose to get a cheap bottle not de expensive one. I t'ought y' knew de difference." Lapin shoved Remy on his back. "I didn' touch dat bottle, y' did."

A duffel bag was thrown on the bed, breaking up the quarrel.

The bag was Remy's stash of junk food. Remy looked up and saw Tante glaring down at him. "It's not mine, it's Lapin's."

"Y' liar!" Lapin jumped up, realizing they were in trouble. "Remy, y' know dat's your candy and junk."

"I know who's lyin' and it's both of y'." Tante folded her arms, glared straight at Lapin and slapped the bag. "How did y' know what was in de bag, Frances?"

"Frances? Who's Frances?" Remy asked and then looked at his cousin before he started laughing. "You're named after a girl?" He laughed harder, rolling over on his side. "Mebbe y' named after dat talkin' horse we saw on television de other night."

"Y' think dis's funny, chile?" Tante asked, yanking Remy off the bed. "Y' stole your father's prize wine. Y' were in assassin territory after bein' told to stay around de house, not to mention y' threw water balloons after Jean-Luc told y' never to hit anybody again wit' dem." She stopped long enough to catch her breath and continued, "If dat wasn't bad enough, y' just lied to me about dis bag. How many times have I told y' not to eat dis stuff?"

"I, I didn' eat dat much." Remy glanced at Lapin, hoping for some support but his cousin dropped his head. Remy tried to flash a smile and found out it was the worse thing he could have done.

"We're goin' to your room, now." Tante led Remy out of the guest room, by his arm and forced him into his bedroom. No amount of pleading detoured her.

"Junk food!" Tante angrily muttered to herself. "Dat chile had a bag of dat garbage an' he sat dere an' lied 'bout it." She threw open one of the cabinet doors, searching for something to make for dinner. Hearing someone entering the kitchen, she looked over her shoulder and saw Therese. "Y' know why he is actin' like dis, don't y'?"

"My guess, he's testing us." Therese suggested.

"He thinks if he acts like a spoiled brat, y' or Henri will call Jean-Luc home." Tante opened the refrigerator, took out some vegetables and carried them to the sink to wash. "I just explained to Remy, how disappointed I am in him for doin' dis to everyone." She shook the water off the carrots and started cutting them up. "I think dat little speech hurt him more than de spankin' I gave him."

Lapin opened the door, stuck his head out and discovered the hallway empty. Feeling brave enough to sneak out of his room, he silently crept down the hall to his cousin's bedroom. He hadn't heard a sound out of Remy in two hours. Without knocking, he opened the door and walked in. Remy was curled on his side, his back facing Lapin. "Remy, I'm sorry. I didn' mean to get y' in trouble wit' Tante."

"Leave me alone," His cousin's voice was barely audible.

Lapin went over to the balcony window and pulled open the curtains. He caught movement in a tree nearby. He gasped, "Remy, dere's a man in a tree over dere lookin' at me wit' a pair of binoculars."

"I'm not fallin' for dat trick again, Lapin. Get out of my room!"

"Remy, I'm not lyin' dis time. He's out dere. He might be an assassin." Remy pulled a pillow down over his face and Lapin lost his temper. "Be dat way. I'll tell de others." Lapin stormed out of the room, down the hall and stood at the top of the stairs, screaming everyone's name. He quickly told them what he saw.

Everyone started laughing.

"But I'm tellin' de truth." Lapin pleaded.

"Y' go back upstairs an' tell Remy if he doesn't stop his lyin'," Tante walking into Lapin's line of sight, wiping her hands on a towel and issuing a threat. "I'm comin' back up dere an' give him another spankin'."

"But Remy didn't put me up to dis. I really saw dis man. He's outside Remy's bedroom window." Lapin jumped up in down, trying to get someone to believe him. "I'm not lyin'."

"Y' an' Remy weren't lyin' yesterday, when de operator called 'bout dose prank calls dat where traced back to de house?" Henri laughed, holding up a finger. "Y weren't lyin' when Remy claimed my car was stolen by the Mafia?" He held up two fingers. "Or when Remy swore he saw Darth Vader attackin' de mail man."

"Don't forget the reason why they couldn't take out the garbage, last night," Therese added, reminding the others of the boys latest sin. "Cujo was in the backyard."

"Alright, we lied 'bout dose things." Logan admitted, trying to sound sincere. "But Henri, dere really is a man outside."

"Uh huh," Henri laughed, half-heartedly. "Jus' let me know when his twin frère shows up."

"Why doesn't anyone b'lieve me?" Lapin asked, begging the three as they walked away. Realizing nobody was going to believe him, he ran back to his room, determined to stop the mystery man from entering the house. He locked the bedroom windows. He returned to Remy's bedroom and as he was locking the windows, he looked outside to find the intruder had disappeared. It did nothing to ease his mind.