same old tug of war

It didn't set well with Tiffany when she heard about Brick skipping school.

"He could have done the same thing with you." Her mother Betty told her that a lot of kids missed school. Most were having to watch the eclipse in the safety of their classroom.

"I want him here, not with you." Tiffany demanded that Brick move in with them, immediately.

"What if he doesn't want too?" Her mother's question didn't bother Tiffany.

"He's going too, whether he likes it or not." She was putting her foot down right now, figuratively speaking. It was about time she took control of the situation.

"I..I think he..he needs a good s e x talk, too." Her mother nodded as if she was ready to hand off the whole Brick thing to her.

"What?" Tiffany looked at her startled, as if that was not on her agenda. This might take some googling, or..well, she'd have to talk to Gordy about this.

"He's a young man now," Betty said, as if she'd spotted hair on his chest or something.

Tiffany cleared her throat, but it didn't do much good. She was too young to have a child this old. But then again, he was in Sixth grade now which was now at the middle school. She didn't remember it being that way. She'd been in elementary school at that age. Of course, that was the year she went steady with most of the boys in her class (at one time or another..they were very short lived romances).

"Lily is younger, she's only 10." Betty told her that Lily might look grownup, but she was just a little girl. "Brick had his eyes on this eighth grader, forever. I don't know what happened."

"Well, did you, ask him?" Tiffany wanted to know.

"Do you, think he would have told me?" Betty came back with a question.

Tiffany closed her eyes in thought. She really didn't have time to think about this kind of thing, especially with Brick, but her mother had a way of making Brick sound like a little monster.