“He’s such a loser!” Charlie’s mother screamed as she hung up the phone.
“Huh? Who?” Charlie’s dad inquired. He got up from the couch knowing that dinner will soon be served. He could smell his wife’s beefsteak and mashed potatoes and the not so freshly baked corn bread from last night’s dinner. It’s okay that it’s not fresh. He loves his wife’s cornbread.

“Who’s the loser?” He inquired some more, prying deeply for more information.

“Your brother Mel! He said he’ll be right over to pick up Charlie for a quick ride in his meter cart.” Charlie’s mother served her husband with a mount of her mashed potatoes and a generous serving of the beefsteak. He grabbed a handful of the cornbread and started eating.

“Charlie! Dinner!” She screamed as if Charlie was outside the house, maybe five blocks down. The whole neighborhood must’ve heard her.
“Mel’s harmless. Don’t let him bother you!” Her husband reassured.
“It’s just that Charlie idolize him so much because he walks around here like he’s some kind of a big shot! Now Charlie got this idea that he should hang around his Uncle Mel. I just don’t want him to follow his uncle’s footsteps. After all, giving out parking tickets ain’t exactly rocket science!” She sat next to her husband at their old oak dinner table in the kitchen.

“It’s an honest living, dear. At least he has a job.” Charlie’s dad dabbled on thick honey and butter all over the cornbread and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth.

“He gives your son too much to think about as far as law enforcement. Your son should hang out with you and learn the cattle business instead of going out riding in some parking meter cart!” She continued babbling as Charlie stepped into the kitchen, pulled out a chair and started eating like his father. Thick spreads of butter and honey on his cornbread served him just right. He ate his beefsteak like it was his last meal. Charlie’s mother just watched her son gorge down his dinner.

“Your Uncle Mel is coming here soon. He said he’s going to take you for a ride in his fabulous cart!” She said it with such sarcasm then she laughed.
Charlie didn’t say anything. He knew his favorite relative was coming over. He knew because he called his uncle from the upstairs phone. He couldn’t help but tell someone, the only one who would believe him. He talked to his uncle about seeing Eddie and Brian steal the gold bracelet. He talked to him about how no one believed him and how the security guard didn’t believe him either. He talked to him about how the surveillance camera in the store was blocked when he saw the boys take the bracelet. He told his uncle about everything. But he didn’t say another word about it to his parents. He knew that they would only claim that he’s lying. He’s not upset at them. He actually understood their points of view.

How could one compete with those rich, perfectly trained in deceitful little lies boys? They had been conning people in Woonsocket for years! Charlie on the other hand had been so good in being clumsy, knocking down things and sometimes people. He had been looked upon as weird, strange and odd kid. How could anyone believe him over those two well-poised boys? He inhaled his food some more. He enjoyed eating his mother’s cooking. Just like his father, he really loved her cooking. Even though there wasn’t much of a friendly conversation at their dinner table, not much of a family bonding going on – what made their dinners special was the fact that his mother cooked well and dinners were always special in his house, so special that even Uncle Mel knew when to call and when to stop by. He loved his sister-in-law’s cooking as well.