Read Online Something Like Thunder by Jay Bell - Free Book Online Page B

anything. Just Rebecca, who only needed confirmation of her suspicions. She shook her head in frustration, knowing he wouldn’t listen to her advice. One other person noticed, but after school. Science books were spread out over the dining room table and Nathaniel was trying his best to explain chromosomal inheritance when Caesar interrupted him.
    “What happened to your wrist?”
    Nathaniel looked up from the books in time to see Mrs. Hubbard in the doorway. She had heard Caesar and was moving toward the table to investigate. For some reason Nathaniel didn’t want her to see it, so he quickly slid his arm under the table.
    “Tennis injury,” he mumbled, which was a ridiculous claim, but he hadn’t prepared a good excuse.
    Caesar was confused. “You play tennis?”
    “Let’s focus on studying,” Nathaniel said. “You have a test tomorrow.”
    Caesar appeared slighted, his eyes returning to one of the open books. Mrs. Hubbard’s curiosity must have been appeased because she turned and left the room. Close call. Tomorrow he would start wearing long-sleeve shirts until the bruises faded. He thought that was the end of the subject, but when he and Caesar were wrapping up, Mr. Hubbard strolled into the room.
    “Nathaniel!” he said with an easy smile. “How nice to see you. Join me in my office, won’t you?”
    Nathaniel nodded, gathered up his things, and followed Mr. Hubbard down the hall.
    “Take a seat,” he said once they were in his office. Mr. Hubbard remained by the door long enough to close it. Then instead of walking around his desk, he leaned against the edge, looking down at Nathaniel. Or more accurately, at his wrist. “More horsing around?”
    Mrs. Hubbard must have reported what she’d seen, which also implied that her husband had asked her to be on the lookout for such things. Mr. Hubbard knew. He had to, so Nathaniel nodded in confirmation.
    Mr. Hubbard exhaled. “I have two brothers. I was the youngest, the lowest in the pecking order. My oldest brother treated me like a slave. My mother was always working, struggling to raise us on her own, which meant she wasn’t around much. So my older brother would make me fetch drinks for him or make sandwiches. Sometimes he would do worse. We had a cat, and one time he dumped out the litter box on the carpet right in front of me, and said that if I didn’t clean it up, Mom would put Ginger to sleep. He wasn’t the nicest guy. Occasionally I would get fed up with him, and a few times we got into physical altercations. Scratches, bumps, and bruises were part of that.” Mr. Hubbard nodded at Nathaniel’s wrist. “But not like this. You know what that looks like to me?”
    “What?” Nathaniel asked, his throat raw.
    “Abuse.”
    All of Nathaniel’s excuses rose to the surface—that brothers play rough with each other, or that his own clumsiness was to blame, or even that he bruised easily. But he was tired of hiding the truth. He needed to tell someone, just one adult, to see if they had a magic solution, a useful course of action he hadn’t thought of himself. “I don’t know why he hates me. Most of the time I’m just minding my own business when it happens.”
    Mr. Hubbard frowned. “Do your parents know?”
    Nathaniel shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
    “It’s hard to miss a bruised cheek.”
    “I’m a pretty good liar.”
    Mr. Hubbard studied him a moment. “My mom had an awful lot on her plate. That’s why I never told her what was going on. My situation wasn’t as severe as yours appears to be. Most siblings torment each other to some extent, but what you’re going through is far outside the norm. It needs to stop.”
    “It wasn’t always this bad,” Nathaniel said. “When we were younger, I would tell on him. Back then it was just friction burns or noogies. I would tell and he would be punished. I have good parents. I really do. But then Dwight started retaliating. One of my favorite toys might go missing, or once