Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2022 13:24:49 +0000 From: Shai Jones Subject: So by the way "yo, where is that brother of yours?" This loud mouth Zake McMillon really need a silencer was my first thought. 17 years going on 50 and acting like he does have a care in the world. Zake's self assurance know no limits and 8 think he doesn't even know it. "Jeff went to Landa, catching up or screwing. But. Who cares," was my off hand reply. He dumps himself next to me grabbing the remote and checking of the downloads and streaming options. He is more at home with us than at his home. Switching between his favourite binge series and pranks on YouTube, he settled on some football analysis. "Our team is doing better this season," he said to no one in particular. "Just a pity we not close enough to give Mancity a fright." It's one if those things where you don't actually need to answer. We had our fights and agreements on Liverpool and their rebirth a goid few times. "We won the league a few seasons ago and now we need to consolidate same form. At least we made a good signing and the youngsters show a lot of promise" After the long speech I fell quiet. He listened attentively to the pundits and occasionally cleans his teeth when he doesn't agree. Zake and I are not really friends, we just hang around sometimes. He and Jeff can spend hours playing games on the Xbox, cracking themselves up and even sharing some new short cuts and hints. I'm not that into games or footie. I will make time for the Liverpool games and nothing beats that feeling of atta-boy when Manure, those twats or Manchester United loses. That high can lasts for days. You rip any manU fan a new one and lately it has happened more often. The years of taking their insults and "watch-us-next-season" jibes is now being returned. It's strange that people living thousands of miles away from a football club can invest so much emotional effort into a team. High school and sports and games and talking nonsense is our lives now. With the lock downs and hybrid home-schooling, spending time with friends is something we need to re-learn. Zake and I had this thing where we will start making out like crazy, finish and act like nothing has happened. Not a single word. He used date before lockdown at 15 and would tell tall tales of his sessions. Lockdown also cancelled that part of his life. I, never really cared. Being the same age we would hang around in groups, study together, played same action cricket in a group. The Hook-up with a girl from the group but nothing was ever serious. Now we are both 17 and Jeff turned 19 a few months ago. Unlucky for him it was during the lockdown which mean a small party with family and few friends. Only the 12 of us, with the ever present Zake. "What time, do think Jeff will be back?" "F, if I know," I said and got up. Zake grabbed my hand and pull me in for a kiss. "Horny bastard! Down boy, my uncle is in the back yard,..." I stopped him before things went any further. "Cool, " he jumped up and double stepped into the kitchen area. "Then food it is," He said to the world. This is another thing about Zake. Our house is his house. There is no way in hell that I would even consider pulling that stunt at his home. "Should I make something for you as well?" he offered. "No need, just put something aside for when Brent comes in," I said. Down the passage to my room I decided to look over the project for Business Studies and do some revision on my accounting homework. Around 17:00 I got back to the kitchen and everything is done. He actually cleaned up after himself. Brent came in from his separate entrance and told me that the food was nice and he will go off hitting some balls at the driving range. My mother's brother is as always taking life easy. Some handy work in the yard, a few slow boats and golf or driving range is his daily routine. This often pisses Dad off. He is on his way back on the boat in a few weeks and then everyone will miss his constant presence. Brent have no fix anchor but our family. He worked as a mechanic on a fishing trawler and that work is picking up again. Everything is electronic now, so the actual work on the boats are mostly monitoring and maintenance. "He is gone, " I hear and Zake grabbed my waist and smashing himself into my butt. "Come on Shai, we haven't done this in a while"