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“Again? What the hell are they putting in your cereal, kid?”
Cassie laughs, a little too maniacally for Sam’s taste, as she swipes the coins from the middle of the table into the palm of her hand. This was the third round of Scrabble the two of them had played today, the tenth this weekend, and it was the third round Sam had lost. Badly. This time, Sam had been feeling proud of himself, getting a whopping 262 points after placing down the word ‘identify.’ But then Cassie practically punched him in the face and laid down the tiles to spell ‘overidentifying,’ all while having the smuggest look on her face.
“You suck at this game, Sam. Like, really suck.” Sam crosses his arms over his chest in a huff, looking around the room for his brother, or Elena, or even Sully; anyone who could defend him in his moment of need. Instead, all he saw were the three of them on the couch in the living room, drinking beers, and watching a movie like a bunch of old people. Older people, in Sully’s case.
“I do not suck, I’m just… warming up, that’s all.”
“Warming up for the last two days?”
“Can it. Nathan? You need to teach Cassie some manners!” Sam stands up, quickening his pace when he hears Cassie’s chair push back against the floor. Rushing over to Nathan he, though if you asked him he would deny it to his grave, maybe pushed Cassie away from the couch, letting out a loud yell before belly-flopping onto the couch and its inhabitants.
Cassie adds to the pile, jumping on top of Sam, the two of them laughing loudly while the three underneath of them let out various curse words and groans of pain. After a long and painful struggle where Sam ‘accidentally’ kicked him in the top of the head, Nathan had finally crawled out from under the death pile.
“Jesus, Sam! A little warning next time,” He huffs, rubbing his forehead with his hand. “And you tell me I need to lose weight.” Sam sits up quickly, a look of mock hurt on his face. Just as Sully sits back up, he swings back dramatically, his hand placed on his heart, letting out a loud gasp.
“Oh! Farewell, cruel world! Thou brother dost killed me!”
“That is not how they talked in the Middle Ages”
“You were born yesterday, you don’t know that.”
Cassie scoots closer to Elena, resting her head onto her shoulder, staring at Sam as he goes off on a long tangent about Cassie being a robot because that’s the only way she could beat him in that game. He only stops once Sully lets out a loud, singular ‘Ha!’
“Victor? Is there something funny about the invasion of sentient robots?”
“No, but there is something funny about how easy you are to hustle. How much money have you lost these last couple of days to the kid?” Sully asks, taking a swig of his beer, hiding his smile as Elena and Nathan give Sam a confused look. Sam stammers, laughing, running a hand through his hair before trying to change the subject.
“Money… wait, are you telling me you two have been betting money every single Scrabble round, Sam?! I let you and Sully watch Cassie for a weekend and you turn the place into a casino!” Nathan says, turning his body to face Cassie. “How much money did you win, though?” Cassie leans off the couch, meeting Nathan halfway, and whispering into his ear. “That much? In two days? Damn… good job! You are a sucker, Sam.”
Sam rolls his eyes, turning back to Sully who now had his feet up on the coffee table.
“What do you mean ‘easy to hustle?’ I’m not getting hustled! Am I?”
Cassie nods slightly.
“Damn it. How?”
Cassie pulls her phone out of her back pocket, opening it up and showing Sam the webpage she was on. He squints as he reads it, his eyes widening.
“You were using a scrabble words page to cheat? How could you! I want my money back or I’m reporting you to the cops!”
“And what are the cops going to say when you tell them you lost almost thirty bucks to a thirteen-year-old girl who can’t legally gamble?” Elena asks, bumping Sam with her foot. “Not to mention the numerous warrants out for your arrest in multiple countries.”
“One country. That Libertalia money sure did come in handy. Cops loooooove bribes. And that’s beside the point! I want my money back, please.” Sam holds his hand out, palm up, and waits patiently as Cassie gives Elena a ‘do-I-really?’ look. Elena nods and Cassie stands up, trudging across the room to her stockpile of coins, swiping the pile into the bottom of her shirt, which she held out to turn into a makeshift bowl.
Sam notices just how large the pile of coins was as Cassie made her way to him, and he held up his hand in defeat. “Uh, you can just keep the money, Cass, it’s all good.” With a devilish grin, Cassie stands over Sam and, before he can protest further, dumps the contents of her shirt bag onto him. Coins clink together loudly as they land onto Sam, the couch, the floor, a few even landing onto the coffee table.
“Mom told me to give them back.”
Sam jumps up quickly, chasing after Cassie who screamed, taking off around the house. Nathan moves to sit back down next to Elena, wrapping an arm around her and resting his head on top of hers. The two of them watch as Sam chases Cassie around the house and Elena chuckles as Sully begins flipping through the tv channel, still drinking his beer.
“How did we end up raising two kids?” She asks, tilting her head up towards Nathan. He shrugged his shoulders, pursing his lips in thought.
“I don’t know, but if we have to get rid of one I suggest the giant. He creeps me out.”
“I heard that!”