Summer was the best time of the year for kids, and even with the added stress, for parents having the extra time to be with the kids was a mixed blessing. The kids having time to just be kids added to the parents’ responsibilities. Not one loving parent would complain about the increased difficulty in juggling work-life balance. At the same time, they did know the extra part in their life would add strain to their daily routine.

The added stress from her kids being home did not take long to come to Alice. The first Monday of summer vacation was a rainy day. Luke wanted to play his Game Boy and could not find it. When Luke asked his mom where his game was, Alice remembered that she let Lori used it. She could not tell Luke that. Her husband or son could never find out. Fred would be mad that Alice went behind his back once again. Luke would bring up that Lori was not allowed to play with his toys without his permission.

Even with coming up with the idea, Alice thought that Lori needing Luke’s go-ahead was silly. Those two were brother and sister after all. If Lori treated Luke like a brother then she would be right with that assertion. Lori would have a hissy fit if Luke even touched something of hers. Banning Luke from his sister's belongings was the easiest solution to Lori’s hurt feelings. The silly part was Luke wanting the same stipulations for his toys. He needed to act like a big brother. Big brothers let their little sisters get their way.

Alice needed time and to get Luke away from his room. To distract her son, Alice said “Luke you take out the garbage and I will find your Game Boy. You need to keep track of where you put your things.”

The distraction tactic came off as a scolding. What Alice said was not true. The frustrated mother was only trying to come up with a plausible explanation on why she was able to find the game and he was not. Her son’s room was clean and would pass a white glove inspection. Luke kept his room as well organized as an accountant’s vacation plan.

After doing the chore Luke came upstairs to see his mom holding his Game Boy outside of Lori’s room. Her standing there was odd. The game should not have been anywhere other than his room. When at home, Luke made a point to only play the game there. The other rooms in the house were to interact with the family.

As Alice handed Luke his game, the look on her face was the same as the screen on the game, broken. Lori broke it. After asking for Lori to bring the game to Luke’s room the mom heard a smashing sound. That sound should have also smashed the pedestal Alice had Lori on, however it did not. Alice told herself once again a lie and thought that Lori must have been in a rush to listen to her mom and dropped the game. Lori was also under pressure because if Luke found out about her playing his game she would have been in trouble. Lori’s sob story corroborated Alice’s defense.

Luke said “Lori broke my Game Boy.”

Alice had to defend her daughter. She wanted to diffuse the situation. Luke could not be upset about his broken game. There was no time in her day to deal with any of her kids bickering. “No she didn’t. She dropped it by accident.”

“She broke it and should not have been playing with it.”

“I let her. She got a Chisaimon for her birthday and wanted to play.”

“That is my game. You can’t let her play with it.”

Luke putting up resistance to Alice’s story was adding to the stress. “Listen here Luke. I am your mom and if I want Lori to play with your Game Boy she can.”

“Then I can play her new game when I get a new Game Boy.”

“No, that is her game and not yours.”

“That is not fair. You are a meany.”

Being called a meany by her son hurt Alice. She did not think her double standard was unfair. “You take that back young man.”

“No. You are a meany and Lori has to buy me a new Game Boy.”

“You want to see me being a meany. Here is what is going to happen. I will buy you a new Game Boy tonight and you will not tell your dad what happened. If you do tell your dad I will put you in a dress.”

Luke actually gasped in fear. “You wouldn’t. You promised you would never put me in a dress again.”

Alice reaffirmed the false punishment “I will.” Luke’s fearful reaction made the stress go away from Alice. Fred was not going to find out about her going behind his back once again. The idle threat was harmless. To Alice, all using Luke’s fear about petticoat punishment did was have Luke listen to her. In reality, her doing so helped foster Luke’s learned helplessness with Lori. His sister would get her way no matter what.

Luke held himself together long enough to say fine. He was not going to cry in front of his mom. She might put him in a dress because according to his mom boys don’t cry. Luke hearing his mom call him the mocking name of Luka reaffirmed the fear. If Luke had cried Alice would have seen the damage she had done. Him crying would momentarily have broken the facade she had about Lori and her actions. Luke went to his room and started to cry silent tears.

*************

To Alice the rest of the day was uneventful. If she would have paid attention to how her kids were acting instead of being satisfied with the peace and quiet she would have known differently. As soon as the rain shower ended Luke was out of the house to ride his bike. That was normal for Luke. Him not coming home for lunch was not. Alice went with the assumption which maintained the status quo in her home, Luke was just having too much fun. The lunch was skipped because Luke did not want to spend any time with his mom if he did not have to. He finally went home right before his father.

Lori was happy and did not have a care in the world. Having the Game Boy taken away from her should have made Lori pout like the brat she was. Alice just thought that Lori was feeling like any youngest sister should, like the princess. The reason behind Lori acting like a princess should have been known to Alice. The Brat Princess thanked Nostalgia Queen for not making her pay for accidently breaking Luke’s game. The show of gratitude meant that Lori overheard the threats Alice made. Lori hearing a way to make Luke’s life miserable made it so she would come up with a plan. She was always vigil in starting a new offensive in the War of the Twins.

Lori’s dad came home so it was showtime. The stage for the underlying drama was set. As always, Lori was going to be the star. Luke was going to be her antagonist. Of course, with the drama about Lori getting her way. So, in the final act Luke was going to get in trouble and maybe, just maybe Lori would be able to get her mom to put her brother in a dress again.

Before anyone could say hello or Alice ask him how was his day, Fred was greeted in his home to Lori proclaiming “Luke broke his Game Boy and is making Mom buy him a new one.”

The greeting acted like a yellow light and made Fred cautious. What his daughter said made no sense. Luke was careful with all of his belongings. He was never forceful when dealing with his parents. Alice would have never agreed to buying the new Game Boy. His wife would have also texted Fred if their son was that disrespectful.

Alice’s response of a simple yes made Fred’s go from being cautious to going into action. Only saying yes without adding Luke needing punished told him that Lori was lying. The only way he could come up with the truth was by taking control of the conversation. Instead of being told what other people wanted him to hear, Fred needed to hear the answers to his questions. He asked Luke to get his Game Boy.

Luke came back with the game and this was when Lori and Alice’s lie was disproven. Lori’s new game was still in the console. The audacity of her brother wanting to play with his game when she was using it got the Brat Princess so mad she forgot to take the game cartridge out. Fred knew something was amiss when he felt the Game was not empty. Luke always made sure to take his games out of it.

Fred turned the game console around. Alice and Lori did not know what was going on. Luke’s father should have been chastising Luke for breaking that expensive toy. As Fred was pulling out the evidence which would clear Luke, Lori realized Chisaimon was still in the Game Boy. She blurted out “I let Luke play my game.”

Luke said “No, she didn’t. I am not allowed to play Lori’s games.

I don’t like Chisaimon. I play Rodo-Mon. Rodo-Mon is better.”

Alice was still trying to have Fred believe Lori’s story. “Luke you will not get in trouble because Lori was nice enough to let you play her game. You should do the same with her.”

Fred heard enough. He did not have the entire story, but what he got was good enough. “Alice, you have to quit taking Lori’s side when she tells you something. She would never let Luke play her game first. Lori will pay for Luke’s new Game Boy.”

“Plus, did Luke demand you buy him a new game?”

Lori stomping her feet in anger as she left the room scream, “This is not fair.” Alice told the fact she offered to buy the game for Luke to hide the truth from coming out. At the moment, Fred was more concerned about Luke getting his game back than the old fight of Alice’s distorted outlook on Lori.

Fred calming down was a good sign to Alice. She would be able to get everything how she wanted without her husband being any wiser of what really occurred today. Lori would still not pay for the broken game console. Tomorrow after Luke gets it, Alice will tell him his sister will be able to use his Game Boy until she gets hers back. After giving her husband a proper greeting Alice went upstairs to tell Lori everything would be fine. That Lori did not have to pay for accidentally breaking Luke’s game.

The next day was when the unintended consequences of Alice’s strong arm tactics came to be. Alice was going to put Luke in a dress again by the end of the day. The actions would be called a mistake, but in reality they were the bad decision of using appeasement to coddle Lori. A mistake is a bad action which someone learns from. A bad decision is repeating a bad action. The first time someone stays out drinking too late on a work night is a mistake. The second time is a bad decision. Mistakes come from not knowing any better. Bad decisions come from people trying to get what they want instead of thinking of the outcome.

The morning started as a normal one with Alice serving breakfast to her kids before she started her job. She was going to put in 6 hours today and every day in the foreseeable future. The budget shortfall coming from Lori’s extravagant birthday party and Alice not making her daughter pay for what she had done needed to be made up as quickly as possible. The family funds needed to be at the right level for when they took the beach vacation in August.

The extra hours at work along with the extra work with her kids being at home was getting to Alice. Fred’s wife could not expect him to pick up even more of the chores. There was a great division of labor between Alice and her husband. Also, she was keeping the extra time at work a secret so Fred would not find out how much Lori was being spoiled. He would not understand that Lori deserved extra because she was the youngest daughter. How could he? Fred was never the youngest daughter.

Alice was so oblivious of her son that thought nothing of the fact Lori came down first for breakfast. Luke always beat his sister down for breakfast. Luke was taking his time because Lori was already taunting him about being in a dress. The self-satisfaction Lori had in informing Luka that their mom was going to punish him for the truth coming out convinced Luke it was true. That by the end of the day his mom was going to petticoat punish him once again.

Lori used the alone time with her mom as an audience with her queen. The Brat Princess was going to remind the Nostalgia Queen the warning she gave the serf who happened to be her brother. Lori was wise enough not to directly refresh her mom's memory. Instead she went with trying to be helpful. “Mom, do you want me to get the same dress you put Luka in last time or a new one?”

Alice only said “What?” She was past even trying to correct her daughter. Lori using Luka with Luke hearing was not harmful to Alice. The day was going to be busy so appeasement was used once again. Trying to make Lori use her brother’s real name would only upset her daughter. Lori being upset would add to the stress level of an already hectic day.

“You told Luka if Dad found out about me breaking the game you were going to put him in a dress.”

Using idle threats on your children was a bad decision. If a son or daughter found out a parent was bluffing then they would not put any heed in any given warning. Alice made it clear Luke did nothing wrong “Luke did not tell him.”

Lori lied “No I heard you. You said if Dad found out. Call him Luka.”

Alice went with if she used Luka maybe Lori would relent on the idle threat. “Luka did not tell him.”

The tactic of giving Lori some of what she wanted did not work. Lori knew if she pressed the subject her mom would cave in and put Luke in a dress. Alice believed that the youngest daughter should get what they want. “No, you said if Dad found out. Dad did. It is not fair that Luka gets away with everything and I get punished for nothing. I didn’t mean to break his Game Boy.”

Luke finally found the strength to face his mom. The little boy knew what was coming. If he took being put in a dress again like a boy maybe this would be the last time. Maybe his mom would not keep him in the dress that long if he showed her how strong he was. As he entered the dining room Luke, once again, Luke heard his mom call him Luka. Alice saw Luke at the dining room entrance. She was scared that her son heard her say Luka. She asked Luke what he heard. Sounding as meek as a lamb to the slaughter of petticoat punishment he was, Luke said “Nothing.” The answer was improbable. Her son was too close to not have heard what she said. Alice choose to believe her son because the truth would be too painful for her.

Lori saw the stress on her mom’s face. The time to take the offensive was now. The Brat Princess started to mock Luke. “You are going to be in a dress. You are going to be in a dress.”

Luke knew Lori was telling the truth, but was not going to take this punishment without giving his best to fight it. “No, I am not. Mom said I would never be in a dress again.”

Up to that point Alice had never thought she would go through with the punishment. Two things changed her mind. Luke stating what she would do. Her son had no right to say what she would or would not do. Then Lori started to cry demanding that Luke stop. The stress got to her. Alice had to put Luke in a dress to deescalate the situation.

Luke listening to his mom about not telling his dad and trying to have a stiff upper lip made the decision easy for Alice. She would get away with going against her word to him. Luke would not dare say anything to her husband. Luke not being upset when she made the threat thought that no damage would come to her son from the humiliation. Him wearing some clothing for a moment would stop Lori from crying and make her day easier.

Alice told her son to get upstairs now. Everyone in the room knew the punishment was going to occur. Luke walked slowly. He was going to make all his actions be as stoic as he could. Alice followed him and Lori started to walk behind her mother. There was no way she was going to miss her brother being put in his place. Alice quickly sniped at her daughter to eat her breakfast. Lori listened, somehow, she knew if she pushed seeing the humiliation it would not happen. Missing seeing Luke in a dress again was terrible, but him getting out of it would have been worse.

Even with thinking that she would lose her authority over Luke by backing down, Alice had a change of heart on her way upstairs. The stress was quickly receding and she did not need the relief anymore. Once they got to Luke’s room Alice told her son to just say he was in a dress. Luke was not going to take any quarter from his mom. Accepting the pardon might be a sign of weakness. Luke told his mom he would not lie about being in a dress.

Luke being uncooperative brought the stress back up for Alice. Why couldn’t her son just follow her simple orders? Only Lori would think he was in a dress. That should not be an issue. Luke’s sister would not be stupid and tell anyone. Alice was wrong, Lori would be smart enough to tell her fellow classmates. The machiavellian savant knew with summer break her saying it would not get back to Luke for weeks. By then her mom would not be mad, and her dad would not find out. If Alice defied what she agreed upon with her husband once, Lori knew she would do it again.

Alice went to Lori’s room to get the same blue and white striped dress as before. She also grabbed plain white panties and one of her daughter’s t-shirts. Back in Luke’s room handing her son the outfit felt wrong. Alice wanted to back out, but could not find a way to do so without losing face. The mother with doubts convinced herself this was good parenting. Backing out would be trying to be her son’s friend not his mother. Having her son’s respect was more important than his hurt feelings.

Putting Luke in a dress again was going to have the opposite effect. At that moment, Luke lose all respect he had for his mom. Luke couldn’t have anything but discontent for his mom. Alice went back on her word for no good reason. She asked Luke to lie again to cover up for herself. Luke’s mom did an action which she knew caused harm to her son.

Luke put on the dress and stood there. Alice did not like how her son looked. His face was as emotionless as a picture on an employee’s ID card. The concerned mother asked Luke if he was alright. A Vulcan would have been proud of the lack of any emotions in his reply of yes. Anyone who was not trying to vindicate making this bad decision would have known this was a lie. Alice needed for her choice to be right so she believed her son. The doubting mother needed to convince herself punishing Luke to make Lori happy was not wrong.

Luke just kept standing there. He made no motions and did not break eye contact with his mom. The look made Alice feel just as uncomfortable as her son was in the dress. After a minute Alice could not take the tension. She told her son to change back into his clothes and promised him this punishment would never happen again. Alice only having her son in a dress for a short period of time, giving her son her word this was the last time, along with her son not crying made Alice downplay what she did.

The damage was done by committing the act not the length. Alice once again looking out for Lori’s feelings above his mental wellbeing made Luke feel like how Lori saw him, a second class citizen in his own home. Doing the easy thing to get Lori to quit crying reinforced Luke’s learned helplessness. The petticoat punishment also pushed Luke emotionally, pushing him away from his mom. Luke understood that parents needed to discipline their kids for wrong doing. What his mom just did was not about helping Luke learn right from wrong, it was just hurtful.

Alice and Lori were finishing breakfast when Luke finally came down to eat. The humiliated boy needed the time to recompose himself. Luke could hold in the whimpering from crying but not quivering lips, running nose and tears. Showing the pain he was in, was not an option. He also did not want to be in their company. There was no eye contact made by Luke when he said good morning. He did not want anyone to see his bloodshot eyes. Alice had to check to see if Luke was fine.

Luke gave the short answer that he was and also gave no real details of what his plans were for the day. Alice was happy with the answers. The responses let her see what just transpired between her and her son in the best possible light. Lori on the other hand, knew the damage was done. Even with her brother looking down the entire time Lori was able to see his bloodshot eyes. Lori was able to hear Luke’s voice was a little nasally. She knew that was from crying.

After finishing breakfast Luke excused himself to go ride his bike. That bike meant freedom. Riding that bike meant Luke would not be stuck in a war he could not win or even wage. Alice made it so Luke had no recourse against his sister’s attacks. Her wanting peace in her life unwillingly meant letting Lori perform a massacre on her brother.

Before Luke was out the door, Lori asked him to get his Game Boy for her to play. The request was her way to rub in the fact she would always get her way. Alice asked Luke if that was fine. The question was genuine. She was still feeling bad about how she treated her son. The question came off as Alice reaffirming Luke was not at the same level as Lori. His mom wanted to force him to say yes in front of his sister. Yesterday she proclaimed that Luke would let Lori play with his new console. To Luke the only acceptable answer was yes. Before he could turn around to give Lori what she saw as tribute from the serf, Alice said “Luke you go ride your bike, Lori can get the console.”

Finally being able to leave the Empire of the Brat Princess, put a spring in Luke’s step. The spring in Luke’s step was also strengthen by thinking about this weekend at United Kingdom of Fun, The Lincoln Way Bike Park and Kennywood. Saturday was going to be a fun filled day. The bike park was always a good time. The little boy would be with his friends, free to go fast, and away from his mom and sister. Then Kennywood, his favorite amusement park was on the day’s agenda. The rides there made him feel free, the mascot, Kenny Kangaroo, made all the kids feel welcome and eating some of the fresh cut fries and funnel cake was a welcome treat.

As Luke opened up the screen door he told his mom he would be back for lunch. The energy coming back to the free boy made Alice think that the sluggish behavior earlier was from Luke waking up. This false assumption just made Alice’s belief she did nothing wrong earlier today and also that her husband overreacted about her putting Luke in a dress.

**********
Just like thinking about going to Kennywood gave Luke the strength to get over having to endure petticoat punishment again, it also helped him put on with Lori for the rest of the week. His sister would never admit it, but the Brat Princess being a brat was so jealous of her brother. She wanted to do anything in her power to stop him from going to that amusement park with his friends. Her brother going to have more fun without her was not only not fair, it upseted the natural order. The youngest should always have more fun than the older sibling. The youngest was supposed to get everything special.

Lori tried her hardest to get her mom mad at Luke. She tried every trick she knew to no avail. Alice would not bite on the bait Lori gave her. Lori’s mom did not want anything to do with punishing Luke over nothing. Even with lying to herself Alice, deep down inside, knew she went too far in putting Luke back in a dress. This guilt made her unconsciously see Lori for what she was, a brat.
Having his mom keep her distance from him for the rest of the week helped Luke get over being in a dress again. He did feel disdain for his mom, but her not being around him made it recede quickly. The young boy came to the conclusion it might be for the best for him not to have a close relationship with his mom. He was already distancing himself from her when she unjustly punished him by calling her Mother. Now he would use Mother when thinking of her. Formalness is a great way to cut a close personal connection.

Finally, Saturday came and the day was even better than Luke envisioned. At the bike park one of the older kids showed the Saturday Morning Bike Club how to pop a wheelie. Popping a wheelie was a way to feel as excited as going fast to Luke. Also, Tom was not there. Even with it being good to stand up to one of his tormentors Luke just did not want to handle seeing one of Lori’s friends. The last thing he wanted was to have hot air come from Tom about racing again and then the challenger to Luke’s title not wanting to put anything up for the chance to redeem himself.

Kennywood was a blast, literally and figuratively. The day was filled with fun from the rides, games and treats. Then at 5:30 there was the main show at the lagoon stage. There was a dare devil, a human cannon ball. The daring man came out of the stage in a white jump suit with a cannon sequence pattern on it. The man was going to dare fate and yet he was making grand gestures on his way to load himself into the cannon.

Then after the living artillery was loaded there was a countdown. 5, Each second the tension was building for the entire crowd. 4, Luke turn to his friends and they shared a look of amazement. 3, Renee was getting a little nervous for the daredevil and grabbed Matt’s hand. 2, Luke saw that Matt was getting a little nervous so he put his arm around his friend. 1, Fred proudly put his hand on his son’s shoulder. Blast off, everyone let out a cheer.

The daredevil went flying out of the huge cannon across the lagoon to a huge safety net. Luke, a young boy who was lost in the moment, swore the guy flying across the sky gave him a thumbs up. That gesture told Luke everything was going to be all right.

Then on his way home Luke started to come back down to reality as quick as that daredevil went out of the cannon. He knew he had to deal with Lori and she was not going to be happy. Luke got something and she did not. As if that was not enough, his mother was not falling for Lori’s tricks. Lori was a pain to deal with when she was not getting her way. Luke seeing Lori was smug was not a good sign. The only hint was an envelope in her hands. She did not tell her brother who it was from or what it was about. Lori was going to wait for later to rub in the information in the envelope which Ms. Armstrong hand delivered earlier today.
**********

Christine Armstrong did not like her daughter’s birthday invite list. The dissatisfaction did not come from her wanting too many or too few of her classmates coming to the party. It was Tracy’s party and she can have as many or as few of her friends there as she wanted. Christine was actually happy that almost the entire class was going to help celebrate Tracy’s becoming eight. She loved the noise and energy kids brought into her home. Her daughter being inclusive was also a sign she was a good parent. Chrissy disapproved of a name which was missing, Luke Zahn.

Luke was one of the kids in the neighborhood and Chrissy knew him. She knew he was one of the good kids. He helped Tracy with an art project. He was able to help her daughter because she was green red color blind. Until about a month ago, Tracy would always talk about Luke. She knew they were friends.

Chrissy asked her daughter if she forgot to put Luke on the list. She needed to find out why Tracy was not inviting Luke. Tracy bit her bottom lip when confronted with the question. This was a sign she was nervous and Chrissy knew it. Tracy had a good reason to become uptight. She could not tell her mom the truth. If she invited Luke then her friends, Lori, Blake, Mike, and Tom would not show up to her party. If that fact came out her mom would make her invite Luke. Chrissy was against her daughter excluding friends because other kids did not like them. A person should be an individual, not a follower.

Tracy told her mom she did not like Luke anymore. The answer was not far from the truth. Tracy did not like how she felt around her friend anymore. She felt shame about how she treated Luke. Luke being upset about making the mistake she made in making fun of him led to her to do so more. She was mad that she could not feel good about herself and took it out on him. This was going to keep on happening until Tracy forgave herself and then talked with Luke.

After giving the reason Tracy gave the tell she was still nervous. Chrissy pried as to why her daughter would give that answer. There was something more going on. Just as Tracy was about to give in and just say the truth her father joined the conversation by saying “Tracy it does not matter why. If you don’t want Luke at your party then he will not be invited.”

To Greg Armstrong, his wife was trying to do the right thing. This was not the time. Not inviting Luke to a party was not a big deal. It was not like they were close friends. Chrissy had to let Tracy be a kid. Kids being kids fall in and out of friendship at her age. Luke would quickly forget about not being invited to the party next time they played together. The sad truth was those two would never play together again. That for a long time Tracy was going to feel bad when thinking about how she treated Luke.

***********

Alice was happy that Chrissy dropped by to drop off the birthday invite. Those two had not had a chat in a while. The white envelope only had Lori’s name. Alice looked a little perplexed about not seeing her son’s name on it. Chrissy explained that Tracy did not invite Luke to the party, but it was fine if he came. Alice said that Luke would be alright not going.

This snub by Tracy allowed Alice to build on the narrative she wanted for her kids. Luke was not as popular as Lori. Luke was a wallflower and Lori was the life of the party. In fact, with Luke becoming more and more like her brother Dom he would be happy to not go to the party. Just like his uncle Luke enjoyed being on his own than around people. That was why he would ride his bike all day.

Chrissy left knowing something was not right. She knew Alice believed what she said, but it was not true. Tracy’s mom saw how much Luke enjoyed being around her daughter working on that art project. When Luke and his friends were riding their bikes around the neighborhood he was always the one laughing the loudest. She left wishing that she could have seen Alice’s son. Talking with Luke could have helped her figure out what was really going on between her daughter and him.

*************

The entire week before the party Lori took every chance she got, to make sure she teased Luke about not getting an invite. Lori’s words acted just like a tattoo and got underneath Luke’s skin. The brave boy put on a brave face. The last thing Luke wanted was his mom to see him cry. Even with her word of no more petticoat punishment, Luke might end up in a dress if he did not act how his mom wanted.

Lori knew she was getting to Luke. Unlike his mom, Luke could not fool her. Had Alice not have a fantasy on how her kids’ childhood would be, she would have known Luke was upset. She would have put a stop to it. Instead, the mean words were seen as harmless teasing. Alice used to do the same with Dom. Dom never cared because what Alice thought was important did not matter to him. Why would a 12 year old boy care, if an 8 year old girl was going to have a Strawberry Shortcake theme party?

Tracy’s party was like any other eight year old party, other than the declaration which Lori, the Brat Princess and her court made. They told the other kids that they will not stay at any party which Luke was at. Lori pointed out how much fun they were all having without the crybaby being there. Some of the kids took heed of the warning because they wanted those five to show up. Other kids were going to follow the decree so a crybaby would not ruin their party. It was their party so only they could cry if they want to.

Renee and Matt did not like anything about the party. They did not like Tracy not inviting Luke. They felt she should have told them their close friend was not going to be there. They also felt that Luke should had. Later on, they would find out the reason Luke did not tell them was so they would go. He did not want them to miss out on a party because of him. Renee and Matt understood.

They also told Luke if he ever was too hurt by not being invited to any party to let them know. Their friendship was more important than going to a party. Matt and Renee could not have the cake of Luke’s friendship and also eat the cake he was unjustly excluded from having. Luke never said if he was too hurt. He knew he could have the cake of Matt and Renee’s friends and also deny them eating the cake of having fun. They did nothing wrong by others not inviting him to a party. A friend did not make a friend pay for another’s action.

The two members of the Saturday Morning Bike Club found how the kids were picking on Luke as him being a big party pooper. Saying he was a crybaby was a lie and them laughing was mean. Ganging up on someone who was not there just did not feel right. Each time they heard laughter coming from putting Luke down made the bike club members a little more uncomfortable.

Then Matt and Renee came to their Rubicon. The threat Lori made was when Luke’s friends had to act. Lori and her friends went too far. At that moment, inaction would have Luke’s friends become complicit with how the rest of the party goers were treating him. Renee was a fearless girl. She said then none of those five would be invited to her birthday party. Matt wanted results right away, he left the party. The young protester asked Ms. Armstrong to call his parents to come get him. Renee joined Matt

The pushback caused some friction at the party. Tracy was beginning to get nervous and started to bite her lower lip. She felt that Lori went too far in trying to ostracize her brother. They might not like Luke, but forcing others to pick sides was wrong. The bold move could backfire and have those five be the ones who would be blacklisted from social events. This fear was founded.

Lori might have been only eight years old, but she was a master manipulator. Making the rest of the kids agree to follow her edict was going to be easy. She was not going to have any resistance to her story. During the rest of the party the Lady Macbeth in training worked her magic. She made sure the kids saw how much fun they were having and credited it to her and her friends being there. By the time the party was over, the kids were all onboard about the Luke ban. They did not want to have a lame party.

Fred showed up early to pick up his daughter. He wanted to see if he could find out why Luke was not invited to the party. He had a notion that Lori was behind it. He did not get a chance to have a real talk about why Luke was excluded. Tracy’s dad, Bob, latched on to Fred and talked about his passion, MMA. Fred’s ear got a beating about the beat down at the latest pay per view. Fred tried to tap out of the conversation by bringing up any other subject. Bob was not going to take the submission.

By the time Fred got to Christine too many of the other parents were there to bring up a sensitive subject. As Fred was talking to Tracy’s mom, the birthday girl ran up to him with some cake. She looked around and handed Fred the plate saying “Tell Luke this was from me.” How she ran off before Fred could say hi verified his suspicions.

On the way home, Fred tried to get Lori to slip up and admit she was behind Luke not being at the party. Lori’s defenses were up. She saw her dad as an ally to Luke so he was part of the enemy. First, Lori tried to distract her dad by just telling him about her day. She mentioned how much she loved the cake at the party. This would have gone in one of Fred’s beaten ears and out the other, but she dragged on about the cake. The cake was chocolate and chocolate was the best. Luke was silly in liking vanilla better than chocolate. Fred finally interrupted to get the conversation where he wanted it.

The resuming of the questioning was not going to work. Lori had the resolve to stay away from saying anything which would get her in trouble. Even if the girl was not strong she would have succeeded in her objective. Fred got distracted by her calling his son Luka and stating that nobody likes him. The ill treatment of his son by his own sister made Fred get too emotionally involved. He scolded her by saying “You don’t call your brother Luka. He does not like it. You also don’t lie about him. One day you are going to need Luke and don’t be surprised when he is not there for you.”

Lori scoffed at the scolding. How could someone as great as her need anything from someone as common as her commoner brother. If anything, Luke was going to need her one day. When that glorious day comes, Luke hat in hand to her, Lori was going to take great pleasure in saying no. Her brother was going to deserve whatever bad fortune he had for trying to deny Lori her proper amount of time in the limelight.

Luke got the cake Tracy sent home for him. The edge slice was big enough to be two servings. That was his mom’s favorite slice. He wanted to eat the cake with his mom. He still had not shared a slice of cake with his mom for his birthday. Alice found the gesture nice and said they would have the treat together later. She was not hungry at the moment.

Lori started to fume. Luke was not at the party so he should not have gotten cake. She knew that no good Ms. Armstrong was behind it. Tracy’s mom was not happy about Luke not being at the party. Then when Luke offered some of the ill-gotten cake to her mom, Lori was even less amused. If anyone got to have a special treat with her mom it would be her.

Lori was not going to allow a great injustice to happen and her chance to stop it came right away. She was alone with her mom. Luke went upstairs to his room and her dad left the house to work on the backyard. Lori started to talk to her mom about the party. She of course left out any part which would let her mom know how much of a brat she was. Lori also lied and said she did not have a piece of cake.

Alice felt bad for her daughter. The fact the great time was not perfect was shameful. To right this wrong, Alice suggested that those two have the cake now. This was a shameless act. The Nostalgia Queen saw nothing wrong. Her family would always let her have more sweets than they did. The youngest would always get the last of the ice cream, so why not her youngest get the last of the cake.

The queen and her princess sat down and ate the cake. Lori mentioned how good the cake was. Alice did not even notice how what Lori said, contradicted her story about not having the cake. The queen mother was too satisfied with herself. Her precious princess had a huge smile on her face and that was how the youngest daughter should always look.

Then Luke came downstairs to join the rest of the family. The first words out of Lori mouth were “I loved having that cake with you Mom.”

“That was my cake. We were supposed to eat it together Mom.”

Alice started to defend giving away what was not hers to Lori “Luke, Lori was invited to the party and she did not have any of the cake. We will have cake together on another day.”

Fred “Alice, Lori had cake at the party. She talked about how much she loved it on the way home. Even if she did not have any cake. That was Luke’s cake. You had no right to give it to Lori.”

Alice wanted to drop the subject. She was as wrong as thinking it would be relaxing to go shopping on Black Friday. “Honey, we can talk about this later; when the kids go to bed.”

Fred was not going to drop the subject. Luke made an effort to spend time with his mom, and she instead did what Luke wanted with Lori. “Now is the best time. I am just bringing up that Lori lied to you.”

Lori went too far in taking Luke’s cake. How her mom was defending her made her go too far again. “You are lying. I never talked about the cake.”

The queen got mad. “Lori, you do not talk like that to your father. He would not lie about this. You should have never told me you did not have cake at the party. Go up to your room and think about what you did. I will be up in a minute to talk with you about it.”

Luke was scared. When his mom got upset at Lori she ended up punishing him. To somehow find Lori’s bad behavior to be his fault. Alice was open to the truth now and saw her son was hurt. “Luke, I was wrong in giving your cake away. I will make this up to you.”

Luke said “OK.” He knew that his mom making up what she did to him was as likely as Lori being nice to him. The little time it took Alice to get the Ok made it so she would soon forget the promise to her son. The cake must not have been that important if Luke was fine with it right away.

Lori once again went too far. Instead of going to her room to think. She went to Luke’s room to get his Game Boy to play. Doing what she wanted instead of listening was no big deal to her. She won so much today she thought that she could do no wrong. Alice came into the room and was disappointed in her daughter. Lori needed to listen when she told her something.

Alice was not in the mood to hear the reason why she was disobeyed. Without saying a word, she took the game console out of her daughter’s hand. Alice then said. “Lori, you never say your dad is a liar. You also do not lie to me.”

The tears started to fall. “I just liked the cake so much. Chocolate is my favorite and it would have been wasted on Luka.”

“Your brother’s name is Luke.”

“I’m sorry, I slipped up. All the kids were calling him Luka today.”

Even with being mad and disappointed in her daughter, Alice hated to see her cry. “It is fine my little princess. Just tell the truth. I know Luke would have let you have the cake if you had asked him. He lets you play with his Game Boy.”

Lori kept on playing her mom better than she could play that game console. “I will Mom. I love you.”

“Good. I love you also I still want you to think about taking Luke’s cake and lying about your dad. I know you did not mean harm, you are so sweet.”

**************

The next month went smooth in the Zahn’s household. The house did not have the bickering. Luke was barely at home for Lori and him to start to disagree on anything. There was a ceasefire in the War of the Twins. Lori had to wait to do another offensive. Her mom taking Luke’s Game Boy away was a sign to slow down. She also had to learn to make sure her dad would stay out of the loop. She knew her mom would take her dad’s side. Grown-ups usually stuck together.

Having to stand on her own, Lori became a coward. She did not even try to play with Luke’s Game Boy. In a couple of weeks, she finally got hers back from her dad. She convinced herself that she waited until her game console was returned to her. Stooping down to getting that peasant’s permission was beneath her. The truth was she knew she could not handle the chance of her brother saying no. It would destroy her ego.

Then Alice got Luke’s invite to Renee’s birthday party. Her princess not being invited upset Alice. Renee not wanting Lori at her party damaged how Alice saw her kids. Lori was the popular one, not Luke. Alice told Luke that he was not allowed to go to the party without his sister. This reaction was an opening for the War of the Twins. Lori took it. She pressed her mom to keep her word.

Fred found out Alice forbidden Luke from going to the party when he got home. His first course of action was to ensure that Luke could go. Alice tried to stand her ground and fight to keep her decision. Fred bringing up that Lori was able to go to Tracy’s party made his wife throw in the towel. She had no legitimate reason why her husband was wrong.

Lori was happy that she did not have to go to Renee’s party. The Brat Princess much rather have taken a pop quiz in math than spend time with Renee. In truth, Lori wanted to try to make Luke’s friends exiles like him, but thought better of it. Having her class be against Luke was hard enough. Getting two more kids blackballed was not going to happen. Plus, if she kept them in the main social circle there would be a chance to get them to turn on Luke. Two friends were two friends too many for her brother.

Lori was also able to use getting the cold shoulder to get Luke in trouble. All Luke’s sister had to do was at the right time to tell the truth with a twist. Alice was talking about how she was going to make up to her daughter not going to the party. They were going to have a mother daughter day. Alice and Lori would go horseback riding at South Park Stables. The plans were different than when she talked about making up with Luke. With Lori, Alice was going to remember and keep her word.

The biggest ally Lori had in the War of the Twins was back. Lori knew the time to once again put Luke in his place was upon her. In a voice as sad as a goth song Lori told her mom Luke was the reason why she was not invited to the party. Luke made a declaration he would not show up at any party which Lori was at. This was also why Renee did not invite Luke.

Luke was in so much trouble. If Alice had her way he would be grounded until he was 18. Luke’s mom went to get that no good son of her. The playground was filled with kids playing basketball, swinging on the swings, going down the metal slides and hanging on the monkey bars. Alice yelled for her son to come to her as soon as she saw him. Luke was at the bottom of the slide waiting to go back to the top for a ride down when his mom called. Then after that his plan was going to be to do it again. Once again, Lori ruined Luke’s plans.

Renee said hi to Ms. Zahn and the reply she got was “I’m disappointed in you.”

Renee asked why and Luke’s mom said “You did not invite Lori to your party.”

Being a brave little girl, instead of automatically thinking that an adult was right Renee knew Alice was wrong. She corrected the lady who wrongly admonished her. “That was Lori’s fault. She said she would not show up to a party if Luke was there.”

The truth did not register to Alice. She was as closed as a bank on Sunday to hearing anything which would make her think wrong about why Lori was excluded from the party. Her daughter acting like such a brat would destroy the narrative Alice wanted.

On the way home Luke was scared. Somehow, he was in trouble. The worst part of being in trouble was Luke had no idea why. He did nothing wrong, but knew the guilty verdict was already in. Now the sentencing was all that was left.

When the mom and her convicted son got home, Lori was screaming “Put him in a dress.” She repeated what she wanted over and over again. The punishment had to be horrible. She wanted blood as bad as the mob during the Reign of Terror. It has been too long since her brother was put in his place.

The chant was ignored at first. Even with the petticoat punishment not being bad, Alice wanted to keep her word to Luke. Living in Lori’s shadow must be hard for Luke. Not everyone could be as popular as Lori and her son had to learn to live with that fact. She was just going to have Luke spend the rest of the day in his room. Delaying adding anything to the punishment would have been the best course of action. Having her husband at her side in agreement would put up a united front.

Wanting peace in her home ended Alice’s acting like Solomon. She took the unwise decision to once again take the easy course of action. Lori was appeased once again. Alice felt good about herself when she denied Lori’s request to seeing her brother’s humiliation. Instead of patting herself on her back, Alice should have seen that what she was doing was not punishment but revenge. She should have also heard the entire story before dolling out the punishment.

Luke was in the makeshift waiting cell of his bedroom when his mom came in with that blue and white striped dress in her hands. The boy stayed calm. His mom was not going to break him. Protesting would only prolong him being in the dress. There was no way Luke was going to help his mom get what she wanted. Alice said “Luke put this dress on. This is not the only punishment you are getting for what you did to Lori. You will not be going to Renee’s party. That will come, but I am going to make sure your dad agrees with me once he sees how badly you treat your sister.”

“What did I do to Lori?”

“Fine make me say it. You told Renee you would not go to her party if Lori was there. You are now grounded for a week mister, or should I say missy now.”

Any defense would have been as worthless as the German Mark in the fall of 1922. Still Luke could not just stay silent. Standing as straight as he could in that dress Luke “You are a meany.”

Those 4 words got to Alice. They made the lady for a moment see that she was overreacting. Those words also made her question Lori’s story. The last time Luke said them, Alice did jump to some conclusion and Lori was found not be truthful. Those words made Luke’s mom see this was not her finest moment.

To make herself feel better Alice told Luke to get out of the dress and stay in his room. Luke was more than happy to comply with the so called punishment. Not having to spend time around his mom or sister was a temporary reprieve, He was going to spend the rest of the day in his room playing his Game Boy.

Fred came home to his daughter smiling and laughing. Lori’s good mood was usually bad news to him. Alice asked Lori to give her and Lori’s dad some time alone. This made Lori mood even better. Until now she was not able to tease Luke about being in a dress again. She ran upstairs to make her brother squirm which she enjoyed.

The stiff upper lip Luke gave to Lori’s bombardment of harassment would have made Winston Churchill proud. Nothing his sister said could break Luke. Luke defenses were frustrating Lori. She amped up the attacks on his ego. There was nothing left other than her nuclear option, stating that Luke was in a dress again to her classmates.

Had Lori not have the support of her strongest ally, her mom, she would have never thought of going to that drastic measure. Lori would not have taken the chance of the trouble she would get in when her parents found out. Then it came to her, nothing bad would happen. Her mom would never let her husband find out about Luke being in a dress again. In wanting to keep petticoat punishment a secret Alice would not be able make Lori pay for not listening to her. Plus, Lori would be able to downplay her disobedience and somehow Luke would be punished.

As Lori was telling Luke about her new offensive, Fred and Alice talked about the sibling rivalry. Alice found out her daughter lied and she went over the top how she handled the situation. After hearing about the drama, Fred told his wife he needed to make a phone call to get some facts. Alice hated the fact that Fred had to verify Lori’s story. Her daughter would not lie.

Fred’s wife hated the fact that he was correct in wanting outside information. The call he made to Christine Armstrong cleared up what really happened. He found it odd that she was happy about his inquiry about Luke not being at her daughter’s party. Christine also wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery. When confronted about the party once again, Tracy told her mom the truth. That Lori and others said they would not come to the party if Luke was invited. Fred thanked Tracy for setting the record straight.

Alice’s husband was shaking his head as he placed his cell phone down. “Lori was the one who said she would not go to a party with Luke. How could you even think that Luke would say that?”

Having a strong desire distorted how people saw the world. Alice so wanting her daughter to be the most popular in her school made the outlandish story sound true. How could her daughter be the homecoming queen in high school if she was not invited to all the parties? Lori not being invited had to come from something other than everyone not adoring her. “Lori was upset, that is why.”

“Did you even try to find out why she was not invited?”

The answer of no was factually right. The answer was also misleading. Alice knew her husband would overreact if he learned about talking with Renee, so it was best to only answer the wording of the question instead of the spirit of the question.

Fred started to lay down how the false conviction was going to be overturned. “You should have found out. Luke can go to the party.”

“That is not fair to Lori.”

“Lori was able to go to Tracy’s party without Luke.”

“Luke was not upset about not going.”

“Alice, it is simple. If Lori can go to a party which she made Luke not invited to, then Luke can go to Renee’s party. Lori would not go anyways because Luke would be there.”

Alice was not going to have Luke go to a party without his sister ever again. The unpopular sibling being at a party would reflect badly on Lori, “From now on both of our kids have to party or the other cannot go.”

“Fine. Now I am going to straighten this out with Luke.”

“Honey let me do that.”

Luke was relaxing in his room when his mom came in. Lori left by the time Fred was able to clear up the situation. The damage to Luke was done so she did not want to waste her time gracing him with her presence. “Luke you are not grounded. If you want you can go to the party without Lori.”

If you want was mom’s speak for I cannot stop you, but I do not want you to go to that party. Luke just sat there. Part of the reason he was scared to say anything. Any response would be wrong. Another part was the son was giving his mom a chance to say sorry. She wrongly punished him.

Luke needed to say something, anything. Being in the presence of the boy she hurt once more made Alice antsy. The cold stare Luke was giving his mom made her even more uncomfortable. “Luke, I said you can go to the Renee’s party.”

The reply of “You are a meany.” was deserved. Nothing would come of Luke stating this fact to his mom. Alice letting her son say those words to her was a way of self-punishment. She hoped that how bad she felt about herself would be a reminder to never go back on her word to Luke. If she remembered how she felt right then there would be no way Luke would ever be in a dress again. Alice would not be able to remember because later she convinced herself Luke did not mean those mean words. That he was just trying to hurt her. The truth was just too hard for Alice to take and she needed her narrative to be true.