Two brain cells

“Rosa!” said Sybil sternly, “what a horrible thing to say!”

George burst out laughing and Sybil turned to face him. “George, it doesn’t help matters when you side with Rosa.” George shrugged his shoulders and continued laughing. “Where did you hear that?” Sybil asked Rosa who wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about. Especially with her father laughing, she thought her mother was making a mountain out of a molehill. Rosa was standing on the deck holding onto the railing looking out at the ocean and a few children screaming with delight as they ran in and out of the waves.

“Rosa,” repeated Sybil, “you didn’t answer my question.”

“Timmy told me,” she finally replied.

“George please stop laughing. I don’t think you’re helping matters. Where’s Timmy?” she asked Rosa.

“In his room building a space shuttle with his Legos.”

“Can you please go and tell him I would like to talk with him.”

Rosa groaned but knew it wasn’t of any use. Her mother wouldn’t stop until she had gone in and got Timmy.

George wiped his eyes and picked up his newspaper again and began to scan the headlines. He was still thinking about what Rosa had said and thought it was the funniest thing he had heard in a long time.

“Mummy wants you,” Rosa said to Timmy when she opened the door to his bedroom.

“Can’t it wait?” he asked, “because I’m at a very important place in history.” Rosa shrugged her shoulders and closed his door.

“He’s too busy right now,” she told her mother when she came back onto the deck, “something about history,” she added walking slowly back to the railing. Sybil wasn’t pleased.

She turned to her husband, “George,” she said and just that one word was enough for him to spring into action. He laid down the newspaper, jumped off his deck chair and went back into the house. Rosa continued looking out at the ocean.

George managed to entice Timmy out onto the deck by telling him that what he had said to Rosa was hilarious. Timmy threw up his wings and followed his father outside onto the deck where he stood in front of his mother.

Sybil raised her sunglasses and plopped them on the top of her head and looked at her only son rather sternly. “Did you tell Rosa that your uncle Jeremy had only two brain cells and they were both battling for third place?”

George immediately began laughing again. Sybil turned her attention to George and glared at him. Timmy looked down and Rosa kept looking out at the ocean. “That’s a horrible thing to say about your uncle.” Timmy stood quietly shrugging his shoulders. “Why would you say something like that?” Sybil wasn’t really sure if she was really angry by the description given of her cousin by Timmy. But she felt that on a matter of principle, she needed to say something.

“Well,” began Timmy his mind on what he needed to do to make sure his space shuttle could be launched into space, “well mummy in all fairness, Uncle Jeremy isn’t very bright is he?” George hid his face behind his newspaper, but his heaving breast gave away his real feelings. “What makes you say something like that?”

“Well mummy, it’s not like he works for a living. He just sits on the beach most of the day, drinking beer and whistling at the girls as they go by and then when he sees Elizabeth he jumps up and falls over before he can catch her. And anyway, aunty Elizabeth doesn’t like him.”

Sybil wasn’t sure how to proceed and when Timmy asked if he could go back to his room and continue his project, she waved him away.

Timmy was right about his uncle. He had always been the black sheep of the family. His father sold his business to the local mafia when he retired, instead of leaving it to his one and only child, Jeremy. He knew all Jermy was interested in was fast cars, expensive restaurants and girls. He had built his business from nothing and knew that Jeremy would bankrupt it in no time. Whereas the local mafia boss was a client of his. He offered Jeremy’s father a lot of money and with that, he and his wife, flew down to Clearwater where they live to this day. Jeremy was hurt by his father’s decision but took it in stride. He decided to tag along with his cousin Sybil and her family when they moved from Atlantic City down to North Top Sail and has remained there ever since.

Rosa kept swinging on the railing and now that Timmy had returned to his room, Sybil wasn’t quite sure what to do next. Brenda cried. Rosa turned and Sybil raised her wing. Rosa stopped, George smiled and Sybil got up and went into the house. When she closed the door George looked at Rosa. “I think that was one of the funniest things I have ever heard, he has two brain cells battling each other for third place.” He began to laugh again. That was until Sybil came outside holding Brenda in her wings.

“Ma, ma!” screamed Brenda when she saw Rosa and Sybil nearly dropped her.

“No,” she said to Brenda, “I’m your mother that” and she pointed to Rosa, “that’s your sister.”

“Ma, ma,” cried Brenda again and this time Sybil put her down and she scurried along and sat near Rosa.

“See what you did Geroge.” said Sybil.

George put his paper down. “What is it I did?”

“See, I told you we needed a bigger place and because you didn’t listen to me, we had to put Brenda in Rosa’s room and since then she thinks Rosa is her mother.”

“Give her time Sybil dear, give her time.”

“Anyway George, what are we going to do about Timmy?”

George thought it had all blown over, but he was wrong. “We could call the police,” replied George, “and hand him over to them.”

Sybil realised no one but herself was taking it seriously and so she decided the best thing was to drop it.

Later that night after the entire family had indulged in another one of Julie’s incredible creations for dinner, and had begun to fall sleep wherever they were, Rosa went over to her mother and grabbed her wing. “I’m tired mummy,” she said and then turned to everyone else and wished them goodnight.

Rosa led Sybil into her bedroom and jumped into bed. Sybil sat down on her bed to make sure she said her prayers. “Dear God,” she began softly, “thank you for my family and especially my uncle Jeremy, he is a good man. I love my uncle Jeremy. Also thank you for making tomorrow a better day than today and thank you for my mummy and thank you for my daddy and thank you for helping me be a good girl and a better girl tomorrow. I love you night, night, and oh yes, amen.”

Sybil smiled, leant down and gave Rosa a kiss on her cheek. “I love you mummy,” whispered Rosa, “and I’m sorry about what I said about Uncle Jeremy.”

“Thank you Rosa,” replied Sybil standing up and then leaning over again she whispered, “I think what Timmy said was very funny and he is right.” Rosa giggled.