Marion Rhodes

Marion handed Beverly a cup of hot chocolate as she pushed herself up on the table on the back porch. Across the yard, Marion’s brothers were gathered around the deep fryer in the backyard, blocking what they were doing from the view of the two women on the porch, and whispering amongst themselves.

“This is going to end badly, isn’t it?” Beverly asked as she turned to face her, eyebrow raising slightly. Marion flashed her a grin before shaking her head.

“Nope. This is going to end in a trip to the emergency room. I guarantee it.”

The other woman laughed, before shaking her head. “Well—they are four grown men. Riley went to an Ivy League school for both undergrad and law school, Jimmy and Mike are very smart—Andy’s questionable, but your parents seem to be smart people. You’d think they’d be smart enough to be able to deep fry a turkey.”

“Oh, honey,” Marion said with a soft sigh, wrapping her arm around her sister-in-law’s shoulders. Riley and Beverly had been married for a little over a year, and apparently she still hadn’t grasped the complexities of the Rhodes boys. “You keep forgetting that my brothers are eternally five.”

Beverly just laughed, before taking a sip of her hot chocolate, and leaning back to watch the four boys in the backyard. “That I do. Riley keeps projecting himself as older than he is. That can’t be a good sign.”

“No, Bev,” Marion grinned. “No, it can’t.”

It was a few minutes later Andy broke away from the rest of the group, heading back towards the porch. “I’m gonna go grab beers.”

“’ey! Don’t forget to check the scores,” Jimmy said as he glanced down at his watch. “Titans and Lions should be playing already.”

Andy nodded before making his way towards the door, flashing the two women on the porch a smile as he jogged his way into the kitchen. Marion just shook her head, before shouting back out to the rest of the group.

“Are you sure you want to involve alcohol in this?”

Riley’s head snapped up and he tilted his head to the side slightly. “I think we can handle a little beer, Mar.”

“Uh-huh,” Marion shook her head, before leaning back on the table again. “If any of you get sent to the emergency room, you get no sympathy from me.”

“See, Mar, now you’re jinxing it,” Mike teased. “If we wind up in the emergency room, it’s going to be your fault.”

“Besides,” Jimmy replied, flashing his sister a grin. “It’s not like you could do this anyway.”

Marion arched an eyebrow at him, before pushing herself to her feet and making her way across the yard. “Oh, I’ll show you who can’t do what.”

“Uhh—Marion?” Beverly frowned, starting to move towards the deep fryer as well. “Are you sure that’s the best idea—”

***

A few hours later, they were all still trying to figure out how Beverly, who was the furthest one away from the deep fryer at all times, was the one who wound up in the ER for oil burns.

Apparently some things you just can’t predict.

536 words