Snake was mean about it. It is not that he meant to be mean but older brothers sometimes cannot seem to help it. It was just that he thought the Corporal was so funny making resolutions for New Year’s.
“That’s silly,” he told the Corporal. “Kids, don’t make resolutions. Adults make resolutions, so they can break them. Kids who make resolutions simply forget them.”
“I’m not silly. I’m going to tell Mommy that you called my resolutions silly,” was the Corporal’s not-so-grown-up retort.
Snake knew that the Corporal was measuring the best place to kick him and still give the smaller child the lead he would need to run to Mommy for protection. He decided it might be better to forestall hostilities until he was in a better position to pound some sense into the young twerp.
“Look, Corporal, just cool your jets for a minute,” he said in a placating way. “The resolution you told Mommy was that you were going to keep all of the Ten Commandments in 2010. That would be impressive if you even knew all the commandments. And what would be even more impressive would be if you knew what each of the commandments means.
“Let me give you an example,” he said as he sidled sideways to get into a better defensive position, “Number ten of the Ten Commandments is full of ‘covets.’ Do you even know what ‘covet’ means?”
He could see the frustration building on the Corporal’s face. Maybe this is not a good strategy, he thought.
Before the Corporal could think of some words to retort, Snake said, “It doesn’t matter. ‘Covet’ is just another word for a cover for a duvet.”
The Corporal seemed to be somewhat taken back by that explanation. “Are you sure?” he asked. “Mommy says that when we aren’t sure about the meaning of a word, we should look it up in the dictionary or on the Internet.”
“Oh, I already have,” Snake fibbed. “I know, you know the eighth commandment, the one about stealing. I guess you already broke that one because my Hummer’s missing from my ‘GI Joe’ stuff.”
“I did not steal it,” the Corporal insisted. “I just—sorta—borrowed it to see if it fit in my terrarium. I thought the Gecko would look good driving it.
“Stupid Gecko, all he wants to do is sleep under it,” he added.
When Mommy came up with a hamper full of laundry a short time later, she found the two guys studying something in the Corporal’s terrarium. “I guess they are learning to play together as they get older,” she noted.
– 30 –
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