The Peter Story

Of all the wrongs I foisted upon Jimbo, this one brings me the greatest guilt. It has become family lore, so I must share. It was a non-descript gray winter afternoon. Probably a Sunday. My older brother Marc had years ago taken great pleasure in suffocating me with a pillow, then letting me breathe. The idea grew in my mind of a brother who did not survive this treatment. Peter was born. So I told Jimbo about his eldest brother Marc and how he suffocated his other Brother Peter. Being the devious bastard that I was, I covered all outs for Jimbo. Don't bring this up because Mom will have a nervous breakdown and several other cover stories were proffered, covering the family tracks. He bought the story and kept quiet for years. I forgot about the whole thing until Marc and Lynn contacted me. Jimbo had his moment in the Moving Truck Marc was driving during Lynn's Senior year at UVM: "I know about Peter", Jimbo said. To dead silence Lynn and Marc listened to the Peter Story, as told by Jimbo. Lynn must have been wondering what kind of family she had just married into. Jimbo never really seemed to mind when the Peter story was trotted out, but it always bothered me.