Haven't You Ever Been In Love Before?

Part VIII

As Flower lightly tapped a spoon against a cup, Branch got started on skinning potatoes and Bruce placed a few strips of bacon into a hot pot.

“Ouch," Branch muttered as he barely scraped his thumb with the knife.

“Branch, cut away from yourself, not towards," Bruce instructed. Branch nodded and did as he was told.

“Wow, that's better," Branch admitted. “Did Mom or Dad teach you that, too?"

Bruce froze for a moment before answering, “No. Brandy did when we first started dating."

Branch tilted his head in confusion. “Why'd you hesitate?" he wondered. Bruce just chopped onions rapidly. “Bruce?"

The elder brother sighed in defeat. “Branch, none of us wanted you to know, but... our parents didn't exactly take good care of us."

“They didn't?" Branch asked. Bruce shook his head. “What about Grandma?"

“We didn't know we had one until Mom died," he explained, removing the cooked bacon from the pot and picked Flower up to sit her down over the counter. “Flower, honey, do you think you can break these into tiny pieces?"

“Okay, Unkie Bwuce," Flower replied, and began pulling the bacon apart.

Bruce smiled at his niece before adding the butter and onions to the pot. “Despite being mother and daughter, I guess they didn't have a strong bond. Grandma said the two things they had in common were dumb decisions and poor taste in men."

“What does that mean?"

“Apparently, Grandma fell in love with a guy, but he left her as soon as he saw that egg in her hair," Bruce answered. “Apparently, our step-grandfather, who died before we could meet him, was more of a father to Mom than he was."

“What about Dad?" Branch asked as he diced the potatoes.

Bruce paused for a second before continuing. “According to Grandma, he was trouble from the very beginning. She told Mom, if she left with him, to not bother coming back. And she did."

“Then what?" Branch wondered. “Did he walk out on her, or...?"

“Not permanently," Bruce replied, adding garlic and flour, and began stirring. “Or, at least, not at first. He would disappear for days, sometimes weeks, claiming he had business to go on. Didn't do much to take care of us. When he came back, he gave us toys, but John Dory never wanted them. He just wanted Dad to stay for more than a couple of days and not fight with Mom while he did."

“Wow," Branch gasped.

“Apparently, Mom was only eighteen when John Dory was born, so she knew literally nothing about raising a child. Let alone four. She loved us..." Or, at least, I think she did. “...but John Dory took care of us, for the most part."

“He did?!"

Bruce nodded. “Yeah. She was too easily overwhelmed with the four of us. We would put on shows for her to make her feel better while Dad was away, but... I don't know, I guess she just missed him too much. Plus, she constantly criticized us. Floyd's lips were too pouty, Clay looked weird, I was... I was handsome, but had a bit of a belly."

“Damn," Branch muttered.

“Yeah, I-I-I didn't get abs til later," Bruce said quickly, wanting to change the subject. “When we were about to lose the house, the four of us agreed to put our talents together and form a music group that would provide for us all."

“Is that how BroZone came to be?"

“Yes, it was," he answered. “It was also then, I began to think that Dad wasn't really going on business trips."