Jack

“IT’S JACK-IN-THE-BOX!”

“Very original, Brady.” I muttered, crouching in the large ice chest. I honestly wished all the crap they put in ice chests nowadays never existed. Who really needs cup holders and all the goddamn built-in containers when you could just stack it how you wanted?

“I realized what we forgot when we stopped at the store.” I could hear Elin call over from somewhere. I tried my best to make myself smaller in the ice chest so they wouldn’t talk to me. “Dog chow for Sarge.” Immediately I was on my feet, then let out a spew of curses as my skull connected with the ice chest’s lid. I gave the two girls a sharp glare when they went into a chorus of laughter.

“Dog chow?” I repeated, ignoring their show of mockery. Elin had her dark hair up and was stroking Sarge’s large head. Ember was at her side, one hand on her hip, the other hanging loosely.

“Yeah,” Elin looked puzzled. “what else would he eat?”

“Jack cooks for him,” Brady threw in, jogging past the pair to establish a fire of some sort. His flaxen strands of hair bobbed as he advanced.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” Ember roared, hunching over to brew another string of giggles. She cupped her hands to catch her baseball cap as it slid off her head, displaying a wild fray of hat hair. I gave her a dark, daring look and hunched my shoulders. Elin’s eyes widened as she spotted my seething, then took a few half steps towards me. Her jaw slackened, ready to spew another smart ass speculation at me.

“Damn it, Brady,” I grunted, violently kicking the dirt with my right foot. I could feel my face heat up with rage. At the sound of his name, Brady appeared in the distance where my car was, chocolate at the corner of his mouth and a yellow wrapper peeking out of his fist. “I AM NOT DOING THIS ANYMORE!!! I’VE HAD ABOUT ENOUGH!!! I’VE GONE ALONG WITH THIS LITTLE GAME LONG ENOUGH!!!”

Ember and Elin inched away, silently wondering if I was a threat to them. Ember still displayed a shadow of a smile, ENJOYING my irritance. Looking past them, I noticed Brady slowly raising his hands in surrender, a wild look on his face, stopped in mid-chew. Sarge yawned.

“Okay,” Brady finally joked, stepping forward with his hands still up in surrender. “which one of you let Jack out of his box?”

“BRADY, I SWEAR TO YOU, ONE MORE STEP AND THIS BOX WILL BE THE LAST THING YOU SEE OF ME!”

“Is he really going to leave?” Elin yelped, sounding five years younger than she was. I clenched my jaw, storming past them to get to my car. Sarge began to follow on instinct, but Brady stepped in our way, smiling politely. I fumed.

“Now Jack, Traven and Madge couldn’t have raised you like this. Must be all of that—-” Elin cut in before Brady could finish his little pun.

“TRAVEN?!”