BLOGWORDS – Wednesday 11 June 2025 –WRITING WEDNESDAY – DOUBLE DOUBLE WHO’S IN TROUBLE – BRATS-n-BEANS-n-BUNS and JASON

BLOGWORDS – Wednesday 11 June 2025 –WRITING WEDNESDAY – DOUBLE DOUBLE WHO’S IN TROUBLE – BRATS-n-BEANS-n-BUNS and JASON

WRITING WEDNESDAY – DOUBLE DOUBLE WHO’S IN TROUBLE - BRATS-n-BEANS-n-BUNS and JASON

* cover reveal Friday 5 September

 

BRATS-n-BEANS-n-BUNS and JASON

      I saw [Meredith] again when I was riding with Jord several weeks later. We had stopped at Brats-N-Beans-N-Buns for lunch, and she was in the gift shop. I only knew it was her because she was with her sister and one of them was her even if I didn’t know which one.

      There was a whole plaza smack in the middle of Hills Park. There were a few other shops and two sit-down restaurants. There was even a stage for concerts and plays and stuff.

      “This is the best hot dog.” Chili ran down Jord’s chin and he didn’t bother to wipe it off.

      “I haven’t been here in I don’t remember how long.” I took a ginormous bite of my foot-long brat with sauerkraut and onions and chili and cheese. My stomach might regret it later, especially on the ride home but my tastebuds were in heaven.

      Of course, the problem hanging out at Hills Park was that The Mac’s office was right across the street. Office, den, po-tay-to, po-tah-to. The jackrabbit didn’t need an office; he wasn’t running a business. At least not a legitimate one. But he called it an office so we all did.

      But it wasn’t Big Mac who ruined the day.

      It was the dad-not-dad. Jason Jernigan did not deserve the title of dad or father, or any other dad name.

      Dad-not-dad was fifty-four; new mom-not-mom was forty. Her name was Jessica and man, did she get fat. I wondered why Jason was still with her. Not that I cared. If I loved a woman, her weight wouldn’t matter to me.

      But to him, appearance was everything. You could tell that just by looking at the obnoxious billboards all over town. Him and his happy little family. Oh yeah, Jord and me have a half-brother and sister.

      Not that we ever did anything together. If Jason had his way, Jord and me would just drop off the face of the earth. Jeff, too. He sure acted like we didn’t exist.

      Except when it came to child support when we were growing up. Mom and him had some massive screaming matches. On the phone of course. It’s not like he didn’t have the money. But he accused Mom of not using it for us boys. Like she was buying herself new clothes and going out every night.

      NOT.

      Mom had worked two jobs and barely saw us half the time. When we were eleven, she finally got a decent job with regular hours and she was home every evening. She even did Webelos with us for a couple of years.

      I don’t guess I ever knew what her job was, some office thing somewhere. Obviously she told us and I seem to remember going to visit her work, but all I remember is office cubicles.

      Before that, though, she worked as a maid during the day, picked us up from school, fixed us supper, then waited tables at Hoke’s Diner.

      Our babysitter, Mrs. Bryant, was a nice enough lady. She lived in the house on the corner and walked over to help with supper. Mom worked until midnight at the diner so it was Mrs. Bryant’ job to make sure we did our homework and got ready for bed.

      Jord and me had always played pranks. Just for kicks, you know. Dumb stuff. Like nobody got hurt or nothing. And we usually got away with stuff because him and me look so much alike.

      We were ten when we watched [THE MASK] and started doing some terrible stuff. It started with messing with Mrs. Bryant, scaring her and stuff.

      Drew was living in York by this time and he’d ride his bike over to our house. Gus lived on the next street over, so it was the four of us.

      Our first prank was simple enough, Silly String all over the inside of her car. Of course her car smelled like vinegar for the rest of the summer since that was the only way to get it off the seats.

      We dumped fake spiders inside the windows at her house, cut all the roses off the rose bushes, knocked over all her potted plants—we thought we were big and tough.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“I’ve always had voices—er, stories in my head. I once said I should write them all down so someone could write them someday. I had no idea at the time that someone was me!”

 

My stories are deep and dark, my characters raw and real, with a healthy helping of hope and joy, humor and laughter, and abiding and sustaining faith.

My characters struggle in some way for their identity. Their stories are their journey to know who God created them to be.

There is also a strong element of friends, family, and faith in all my stories, and the difference it makes to have such a support system.

 

 

·       unsavory heritage series—seven generations, from Cissy to Connie, each with their own secrets, one of which is ugly and unsavory, and initiates the curse they all bear

·       Seasons series—four friends, each one struggling to know the truth of just what happened when one of them plunged into the depths of the black waters of the Edisto River

·       FourSquare – Four stories about four couples who also happen to be four sets of twins.

 

 

“Maybe you have to know the darkness to truly appreciate the light.”—Madeline L’Engle

 

“There is freedom waiting for you on the breezes of the sky. And you ask, What if I fall? Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?” —Erin Hanson

 

#Blogwords, Writing Wednesday, Robin E. Mason, Current Work in Progress, #WIP, Double Double Who’s in Trouble, FourSquare Series Book 2, Brats-n-Beans-n-Buns and Jason, #FourSquare, #twinfiction, #twinsmarryingtwins, #twinconflict, #fictionwriter, #battleforidentity, #cominginAugust, #amwriting, #amediting, #fictionwriting, #faithfiction