Writing Prompts - 6. Prompt #106 ~ The Fight

Mike’s POV

I watched Ted hang up the phone and didn’t need him to tell me who had been on the other end. His sister’s voice was very distinctive and carried, even over the phone. I didn’t know what she wanted this time, but the way Ted started looking around, probably for his shoes. I knew he was going to do whatever it was she wanted.

“Seriously? You’re just going to drop everything and run to do her bidding, again?” I shook my head and turned away from Ted in disgust. Ted really needed to learn to tell his sister no. It wouldn’t piss me off so much but it wasn’t like Ted’s sister even asked, she demanded and expected immediate compliance.

“I’m not just dropping everything! She asked for help, what do you want me to do?”

“That’s just the point. She didn’t ask for shit! She demanded, big difference.” This was an argument we’d had multiple times, and Ted could never seem to understand why it pissed me off so much.

“That’s just how she is, you know that! Besides, it’s not like we’re doing anything at the moment.” Ted was usually a fairly mellow guy, but when it came to his family, he got defensive.

He’d never get why it upset me. He was so used to his sister and other family members using him. I knew that all I’d succeed in doing is piss him off by fighting with him about it, but I couldn’t help it. Every time his sister pulled this shit, I went off.

“It wouldn’t matter if we were busy, you’d still stop whatever we were doing to go to her. You can’t deny it because you’ve done it before!” I whirled to face him. “She has her own damn husband? Sitting at home, his ass on the couch, unwilling to help his wife?”

“You know how he is.”

“Yeah, completely useless.” Which he had proven time and time again. Quitting his jobs at the drop of a hat when he had a wife and kids to support. I don’t think he ever lifted a hand to help his wife, which is why she constantly called on Ted.

“Why is it that we help your family out all the time, but as soon as it comes to my sister, you get pissed?”

I was fully expecting that. Whenever we fought about him rushing to his sister’s side he brought my family into it. He was right to a point, we did help out my family when they asked. The big difference though, was that they actually asked and if we were busy, they let it go. His sister would just get pissed off and tell him to fuck off or thanks for nothing. What really pissed me off is when she’d pull that shit when he was at work. Like he could just walk out of work to rush to her aid for stupid shit.

“Yeah, we do help out my family, but they ask! They don’t demand! And when we can’t help them, they don’t get pissed off because we didn’t drop everything to run and help them for stupid shit.”

I could see that Ted had given up the fight. He was still going to go, I had no doubt about that, but he was no longer going to fight with me about it. Which just meant that when he finally made it back home, it would be a long night of silence. Either that, or I would apologize just to keep the peace, event though I knew that I was right. His sister was nothing more than a user, and her favorite person to use, was Ted.

I watched him slip his shoes on and grab his keys before walking out the door.

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Ted’s POV

I hung up the phone and turned to tell Mike that I would be back, fully expecting him to explode. He didn’t disappoint me.

“Seriously? You’re just going to drop everything and run to do her bidding, again?”

I saw Mike shake his head before turning away from me and couldn’t stop the sigh from escaping. We’d been through this countless times, and I knew that we’d go through it countless more times. This was one of those fights that was a never ending thing.

“I’m not just dropping everything! She asked for help, what do you want me to do?” I’d tried to explain to him over and over again that I would do anything to help out my family. The funny thing was, it wasn’t all of my family that he got pissed about, just my sister.

“That’s just the point. She didn’t ask for shit! She demanded, big difference.”

“That’s just how she is, you know that! Besides, it’s not like we’re doing anything at the moment.” All we were doing was sitting watching TV. It wasn’t even like we were watching a movie together, so it wasn’t as though she was interrupting anything.

I knew that Mike hated certain members of my family, and I could even understand why. Some members had been extremely rude and hurtful towards him. Some of them had even tried to get me to leave Mike, and yes, my sister was one of those, and Mike knew it. It was to the point where I rarely even asked Mike to go with me to see my family. I knew he was uncomfortable and didn’t want to force it on him.

“It wouldn’t matter if we were busy, you’d still stop whatever we were doing to go to her. You can’t deny it because you’ve done it before!” He whirled to face me. “She has her own damn husband? Sitting at home, his ass on the couch, unwilling to help his wife?”

“You know how he is.”

“Yeah, completely useless.

I just shook my head, I wasn’t going to get into that argument again. I had enough to deal with concerning this one. “Why is it that we help your family out all the time, but as soon as it comes to my sister, you get pissed?”

I saw his eyes widen and his nostrils flare. Oh yeah, that had pissed him off even more. It was one thing for him to talk about my family, but the second I dared say anything about his, he got pissed. I loved his family and didn’t mind helping them out, I mean, they were family. That’s what family does.

“Yeah, we do help out my family, but they ask! They don’t demand! And when we can’t help them, they don’t get pissed off because we didn’t drop everything to run and help them for stupid shit.”

I wasn’t going to argue with him anymore. I don’t think he was really listening to me anyways. It was my sister, and he couldn’t be objective when it came to her no matter what I said. I’d go help out my sister jump start her car and come back and try and soothe his ruffled feathers. Nothing else I could do.

I slipped my feet into my shoes and grabbed my keys before heading out the door.