The Man of the House

Chapter 152

The scene behind the school was not a scene that could happen without people noticing. Kids buses were unloading, and teachers heard a commotion behind the school. Soon, I was sitting at a nearby bench, covered in blood and cuts, while the teachers were tending to those three kids. The three of them were middle schoolers, but the two big ones had held back twice, so they were supposed to be in my grade. That explained why they were bigger.

The one who ran his mouth was a troublemaker. This group had been a long-running problem for the school. Bethany wasn’t the only person they were abusing. They were even at the level of threatening some teachers. Of course, I wasn’t resolved by all wrongdoing. Much of that stuff only came out later. As Bethany came off her bus, I was being put in handcuffs and escorted into the back of a cop car. Her eyes widened with shock as she saw me there.

“B-b-brother!” She cried out, running across the school to me.

“They won’t be a problem for you anymore.” I grinned.

“A problem?” A voice came from the side, and we both turned to see Officer Bob.”

“S-sir!” I couldn’t help but straighten.

He gave me a wry look. “You could be in a lot of trouble, Noah. I never took you for the kid to get into fights, especially with gang members. I promised your mom I’d look after you, but beating three middle school kids into unconsciousness?”

“Can you call them middle schoolers?” I asked helplessly.

“Look, we’re going to take you in and question you. You might end up in a cell…”

“No!” Bethany cried out, grabbing my arm defensively. “I-it’s my fault! Please don’t arrest Brother!”

“Ah… his sister…” Bob coughed. “What do you mean, fault?”

Bethany looked at me, and then back at Bob. “They… were hurting me.”

She then went through the last few months and all the abuse they had laid her way. After she explained everything, even Bob was shaking slightly. He looked at me.

“You should have… eh… what the hell am I saying, I’d have done the same thing.” Bob shook his head.

“Bethany, did they… do anything else?” I asked, coughing awkwardly.

“Anything else?”

“Um… like… touch you… or make you… do things.”

She stared at me for a second in confusion, but then gasped, covering her body. “P-pervert!”

My expression fell. I had fought them off and done everything to save my sister, and because of what that damn bastard had said, I ended up asking an inappropriate question that put me back down to pervert in her mind. She noticed my crestfallen face and let out a giggle.

“Beth…”

She looked away, touching her fingers together nervously. “He… he had threatened… claimed… he was going to do more. I was afraid, that’s why I told my brother. If you hadn’t acted so quickly… it’d have been…”

Her voice broke with emotion, and she closed her eyes.

“Beth, I’m… mmm!”

She suddenly turned and kissed me. Her eyes were still closed, so the kiss which was supposed to be aimed at my cheek ended up half on my cheek and half on my lips. When she realized where she was kissing, her eyes opened and she let out a cry. She backed up a few steps, and then turn and ran into class. As she ran, other girls were looking, pointing, and giggling.

“Is that her boyfriend?”

“He’s so cute.”

“She’s lucky…”

I heard someone clear their throat, and I looked at Officer Bob still looking at me. “You’re… very close to your family.”

“Hah… yeah…” I tried to laugh it off.

He shook his head. “If you’re half as protective of my daughter as you were of your sister, then there will be no problem between us.”

“Ah… r-right.”

“We’re still going to need to bring you in. I’ll need your statement, and we’ll get the statements of everyone else, but I don’t think you need to be arrested.”

Office Bob got the keys and undid them, and this time I got to drive in the passenger seat of his car rather than the back. We went to the police station where I was asked an assortment of questions. I answered mostly honestly. They didn’t push me on details like how I knew who the boys were, so I didn’t feel like I needed to offer any of that information. I was there for a few hours.

He brought me something to drink and a sandwich to eat, and then he called my mom at work. I didn’t hear the conversation specifically, but I did see Bob’s face turn white and the sound of a woman yelling on the other line. Thankfully, he explained everything as clearly as possible. When he finally hung up, he looked a few years older.

“Your mom…. She’s some woman.” He sighed, sitting down.

“Ah… yeah…” I tried to be neither too excited nor too disappointed at his failure to woo her.

“Your mom’s not available to pick you up, but I have someone coming.”

“Who is that?” I asked.

“Your big sister, London?”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

I hadn’t spoken much with London since I had woken up. Once we started a sexual relationship, she had gone out of her way to be in my world, but back in the days when she was working all the time to support her shitty boyfriend, it would be common if we didn’t see each other or talk more than once every few months. I had been meaning to come up with a reason to see her soon, so it was nice that a reason had presented itself.

After finishing my conversation with Officer Bob, I had a paramedic check me out. He cleaned all of my wounds and stitched me up. I initially declined him as my sister was coming, but then I remembered that London in this world wasn’t a doctor. Of all of the people I had met, she might be the one who had changed the most as the result of the gender role swapping. She went from an accomplished doctor with a gold digger significant other to a struggling waitress supporting her deadbeat boyfriend.

At least, in my other world, London had made something of herself. Dumping her shitty boyfriend became laughably easy when she came to realize she was worth more than that. I didn’t know how to interact with this version of her. When her beat-up and barely-functional car pulled up, I couldn’t help but feel depressed. She was still wearing the tag from the restaurant she was waitressing at, and she had large bags under her eyes.

“Is he free to go?” She asked in a crisp tone, not looking pleased to see me at all.

“Yes,” Bob said. “The paramedics have given him the okay. No need to ride to the hospital.”

She nodded. “Good, I don’t like hospitals.”

I gave her a side look, but I said nothing as I got in the passenger side. I waved goodbye to Dan as her car sputtered and she drove off. When we were out of the side, she turned to me with a vicious stare.

 “What were you thinking?” She demanded. “You’re lucky I was available to pick you up! If Mom wasn’t out of town today, she’d be whipping your butt this moment.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t cost you hours with your job, did I?” My hand instinctively gestured toward her badge.

She grabbed it and pulled it off like she wanted to toss it out the window, but stopped herself. “No, there were no customers and they pay for shit without tips.”

“The morning is probably not a good time anyway.”

“The bastard boss of mine schedules all the pretty girls for the best shifts, and dumps me on the crappy times.”

“What?” I blinked. “You’re pretty though.”

She gave me a side look. “I’m… old.”

I laughed. “You’re quite a bit younger than mom, and mom is a knockout beauty. Did you think the apple falls far from the tree? You’ve been my hot older sister for as long as I can remember.”

She hit the brakes somewhat hard, nearly blowing a stop sign. However, she barely noticed, turning to me for a second. Her mouth opened, and then closed, and she looked away.

“You’re saying that because you’re my brother.” Her voice was no longer angry but sounded somewhat pouty.

It was a cute tone, one she used to use with me when she was trying to get me to act sexually with her but didn’t want to say she wanted sex. Of course, that was the other London, but it still made me smirk. However, I decided not to flirt with her. That wasn’t my intention.

“I wish you took more care of yourself,” I said instead. “You work too hard, you always have. You need someone who takes care of you.”

Her body shook silently for a moment, and then I realized she had tears in her eyes. “Sniff…”

“What?” I leaned back. “Are you okay?”

“It’s… nothing.” She wiped the tears from her face as she started driving again. “I just didn’t I needed to hear something like that.”

“Then, I’m glad I said it,” I responded.

Usually, London would have spent the entire trip lecturing me. When it came to me doing something bad, she was usually twice as naggy as a mom. However, she remained quiet for the rest of the ride. When we finally arrived outside her apartment complex, I couldn’t help but notice the frown on her face.

“What is it?”

“Um… one of my girlfriends is over.” She spoke quietly.

“A friend?” I spoke out loud, and then my eyes flashed.

Dan had to be with a girl. Was I so lucky? It made sense. Dan was always home, and London was always working. If London unexpectedly got off from work, then that presented the perfect time for Dan to have a girl over. Of course, why wouldn’t it be one of London’s friends? I knew this would hurt London, so I cautiously grabbed her hand, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved I’d be able to reveal Dan for the cheating bastard he is.

When she felt me take her hand, she looked over me in surprise. Her face was serious, and she gave a little nod as she led the way up to her room. We moved extremely quietly, and she made sure not to jingle her keys at all. It was like there was an unspoken agreement between the pair of us at that moment to get to the bottom of this. As quietly as she could, she unclicked and opened the door. She took a step in and froze. I was right behind her, frozen as well.

His boyfriend was on the couch shirtless, but he had his pants on.  Standing up and a few steps away was a girl I was very familiar with. It was none other than Jasmine. I never expected to see her ass again. She was holding two beers and was wearing a rather scantily clad outfit of short cutoff jeans and a tight shirt with cleavage.

“What is going on here?” London asked, however, her voice was rather weak and she didn’t show any anger.

I felt a bit frustrated in her place. While the situation was suspicious, it wasn’t damning. Everyone still had their pants on, and it looked like they were just starting. If we had come ten minutes later, would we have seen something inappropriate? At the very least, London should be able to suspect something.

“London? What are you doing home?” Dan asked, looking surprised.

Jasmine also looked surprised, but she quickly covered it with a grin. “I came here to see you, girl. You never call anymore. Of course, when I saw your future hubby all alone, how could I not immediately pounce? You’re lucky you didn’t come a bit later, or I’d stolen him from you.”

She let out a laugh, passing one of the beers to London. I looked at London, expecting her to be incredulous and angry at the other girl, but she let out a laugh too as she took the drink.

“Yeah, right. He’s my man.” London smirked, opening the drink and taking a swig.

My mouth fell open for a moment. Even Dan looked a bit strange, but then I saw the corner of his lip smirk. It seemed I had miscalculated. I was used to a London and a Jasmine who were both very direct about their feelings. I had forgotten how easy it was for them to be deceptive, especially to each other!