Olive's Storm

“He always does this!” Olive beat her fist against the dock’s aging handrail before swinging back to pace in the opposite direction.

The sun beat down overhead, and she reached up to brush some flyaways from her eyes.

“Brady promised I could come with him and now he’s hanging out with his stupid girlfriend?!” Tears slid down her cheeks, but all Olive felt was fury.

“I hate him! He promised, and then changes his mind? I hate him!” Her feet thudded against the wood planks.

He’d made the announcement that morning at breakfast. They’d planned to go to the mall that evening, but Kelsey switched days off and now her brother was going on a date with her and completely blowing off their plans.

“Is that okay, Olivette? We can go tomorrow evening instead.”

And Olive had said okay and nodded because only babies cry. But inside she grew angrier and angrier, because she’d really been looking forward to the mall trip. Brady was probably her favorite person in the world, but he was a terrible planner, and something else would probably come up and he’d go back to school, and they’d never get to hang out!

Defeated, she sank onto a wooden bench. She lifted her eyes to the sea and inhaled as a fresh breeze rolled in over the waves. A faint rumble sounded in the distance.

Surprised, Olive’s eyes darted up to the sky. The sun still blazed overhead, but the surrounding blue was slowly being chased away by dark, billowy gray.

It actually made Olive feel a little better.

She had always loved a good storm. She was a little scared of the lightning, but the thunder was her favorite. She loved the energy she could feel in the air and the mix of warm air and cool breezes. It felt like everything swirling inside of her was suddenly outside swirling for everyone else too.

A drop of rain hit her hand and Olive glanced back at her bike in the parking lot. She was only given permission to ride to the dock and back home. Soon her mother would be worried about her. She’d just been so angry!

She never got to see Brady anymore. Not since he went to college. He used to be the best big brother. He would take her to the park and let her listen to his music in the car. He always had gum and when he was around, Mom smiled more than she had since Dad had gotten sick. Olive wished she could make her mom smile like that, but she only seemed to be good at getting into trouble.

She tried not to, but things just kinda happened. Or things would happen, and Olive would respond and it was just never right! Like one day Olive had gotten sent to the principal’s office for hitting Davie Grouse for making fun of her outfits. Her parents had been at the hospital, so Brady – home for his spring break- had come to pick her up.

Olive worried about getting in trouble when her parents found out, but she was angrier that she was the only one who’d gotten in trouble.

Outside of the principal’s office, Brady had been on Olive’s side. Brady had advised her to practice taking time to think before she acted, and come up with sneakier plans that didn’t include physical violence. “You didn’t hear this from me, Olipop”- but maybe she’d be in less trouble if she responded in a way that was more proportionate to the original offence.

So next time, when Davie Grouse slide-tackled Olive during freeze tag, she’d waited until the science fair the next day and slide-tackled his model of the solar system. Once again, Olive had been sent to the principal’s office, but this time her mom was there to pick her up. Needless to say, Olive was in substantially more trouble.

Olive had complained to Brady that night. She’d taken his advice and still got in trouble. Plus, she’d skinned her elbow on the floor and barely managed to dislodge Saturn.

When Brady stopped laughing, he had apologized for the bad advice and had ruffled her hair. “Sorry, Olive Oil. I love the creativity, but maybe next time someone messes with you, tell your teacher first.”

Brady always knew how to make Olive feel better. Despite his terrible advice, he never got in trouble. He made things lighter, and since he’d been gone, things at home felt so much heavier. Since getting sick, Olive’s dad was often too tired to help her with homework, and her mom spent most evenings working or taking care of the house. She used to play with Olive, but there was rarely time. Now Brady was home, but instead of walking around the mall and getting frozen yogurt from the food court, Olive would be at home, without him.

Sighing, she rested her chin in her hands and watched the sky as the clouds curled closer and the rain began to pick up.

“Maybe I’ll just stay out here!” Olive thought, “I can lose track of time and catch a cold, and it will all be Brady’s fault.”

Even as she had those thoughts, she felt a little guilty. If Olive got sick, her dad might get sick, and she couldn’t risk that. He was getting better, but his medicine made it easier for him to get sick. And she didn’t want Brady to feel toooo bad, she just wanted to do something fun! Something outside of the house where they could laugh and -

Olive jumped when something heavy plopped around her shoulders.

“There you are, lil leccino,” a familiar voice greeted in amusement.

“Brady!”

Olive vaulted to her feet, Brady’s raincoat twirled with her as she spun in surprise to see the laughing face of her brother. Despite a brief moment of delight, Olive remembered why she was out here in the first place and quickly recovered her scowl.

“It TOOK you long enough.” She stomped her foot and put her hands on her hips like mom did when she meant business.

“Whoa!,” Brady held up his hands in surrender, “Calm down, Kalamata! What’s wrong? I thought you were riding your bike?”

“My name is OLIVE!”

“Oh? What did I say?” Brady teased. Olive had always secretly loved her brother’s nicknames, but now was not the time. He couldn’t just laugh at her and make everything better.

“You promised we would go to the mall!” Tears came rushing back to Olive’s eyes and Brady’s face dropped in understanding.

“I’m sorry, Olive pit – umm Olive. But we are going to the mall. I thought you were okay with going tomorrow.” Brady sank down on the bench, ignoring the pelting rain despite the fact that Olive now had the only rain jacket. Reluctantly, Olive sank down beside him.

“It’s not the same. I wanted to try on baseball caps and get all the frozen yogurt. Now you’re going to have fun with Kelsey.”

“Well, not too much fun. She just found out her sister’s sick, so she has to babysit tonight,” Brady countered, leaning back with a sigh, “actually, I was gonna ask if you wanted to come along and help entertain Kevin.”

Olive wrinkled her nose as she considered, “Kevin’s a baby.”

He wasn’t, he was two years younger than Olive and had some cool hot wheels, but she was still too mature for them to be real friends yet.

“Well, naturally,” Brady conceded, speaking up over the rising patter of rain, “but that’s why we need your help. I guess he wants to watch the new live action Moana, but he hasn’t even seen the original yet.”

“Wait, really!?” Olive exclaimed in disbelief. Everyone’s seen Moana! It’s her favorite movie. A classic.

“I wouldn’t joke about Moana,” Brady assured her before continuing, “Kelsey suggested we watch the original first, and then compare it to the live action, but Kevin says that Kelsey is old and doesn’t get a vote. We were hoping you could help sell the idea to Kevin, and maybe educate him on the pros and cons of remakes versus originals.”

“Huh, you guys really do need me.”

“AND we will go to the mall tomorrow, just you and me.”

“Hmm,” Olive tapped her chin. “I guess that could work.”

“Well, if that’s to your liking, maybe when we can grab your bike and hop in the car?” Brady rubbed his arms and looked at Olive hopefully.

Another roll of thunder sounded overhead, and Olive shivered from the cold. Brady didn’t even have a coat on.

“Okay!” Olive agreed, “But one more thing.”

“What’s that?” Brady had stood from the bench and was slowly backing towards the car.

“Do you think Kelsey would want to come?”

“I thought this was supposed to be just us?” Brady arched an eyebrow.

“I think she could help me accessorize my new build-a-bear. She has… good taste,” Olive grudgingly admitted.

“Hold on, Picholine, I have great taste! We can find your bear a cute little handbag, maybe even a jacket!” Brady argued.

“Kelsey’s taste is still better.”

“Okay, that hurts,” Brady reached out for Olive’s hand, “but I’ll check if she’s available.”

And together they walked back to the car and out of the storm.