"Dad, have you seen my marching band uniform?" Maxwell Richards was puzzled. He was sure he had seen it only a couple of days earlier in the dirty laundry basket. "No, isn't it in your wardrobe?" Jack, Maxwell's father asked.
They looked together. To Maxwell's big surprise and Jack's amusement they found a bra of Maxwell's sister Brooke in his wardrobe and a boxer short of Dominic, Maxwell's older brother. There was no sign of Maxwell's uniform, though. "Are you sure you have put it into the laundry basket?" "Definitly." "Okay. I'll have a look. Maybe it's still in the washing machine, the dryer or the basket." On the way he met his youngest son Sam and asked him, if he might had seen Maxwell's uniform. The brothers were sharing a room after all. Sam denied it.
A check in the laundry room proved fruitless.
At the moment life was a little bit hectic. The new school year started soon and the family's preparation for it were running in high gear. Dominic was excited. He was going to start a new life as freshman at the University of Washington State, Seattle. Brooke was entering her last year in high school, Maxwell moving to tenth grade and Sam to the fourth. McKenzie and Ava were too young to go to school yet. They were only four and three.
Jack spoke with his oldest kids. They had been on laundry duty. Dominic remembered to have put the uniform into the washing machine, and Brooke was sure she had ironed it. Where could it have gone to? They decided to check all wardrobes. Maybe it had ended up in one of them by mistake. The search didn't come up with Maxwell's uniform. It was a mystery.
Jack, Madeleine, Jack's wife, and Maxwell discussed the issue. "Maxwell, we'd love to order you a new uniform, but unfortunately we can't right now. Our budget is a little bit strained at the moment as you know. We'll try to cover it within a few month, though." His mother broke the bad news gently. Two of the three cars, the family owned, had broken down nearly at the same time. The repair costs had burned a huge hole into the budget. The money left was enough to cover all bills, including the planned in school materials, food for the rest of the month and to set up Dominic in Seattle, but nothing else.
Maxwell had mixed feelings. He was glad his parents didn't hold him responsible for the loss of the uniform. He was disappointed nevertheless. He had another uniform, but this one was already starting to look a little bit faded and frayed at the edges.
Sam sneaked into Dominic's room. He knew, if his brother would catch him, he would bite off his head. The risk was low, though, because Dominic was meeting friends. Sam didn't fear being found out by Maxwell. He was at his piano lesson. Dad was painting in his studio. Mom was working. Brooke was entertaining Ava and McKenzie with stupid songs.
Sam was carrying a small bundle. Ah, there was Dominic's suitcase! It was already packed, but not closed yet. Sam removed a layer of clothing and flattened his bundle, he then put back Dominic's clothing as he had found it. Unnoticed he left the room.
In Seattle Dominic was unpacking. He looked surprised, when he held Maxwell's uniform in hands. Dominic hadn't a clue how it ended up there. He was happy, not only for his parents and brother, but also that Mom and Dad were still in Seattle, so he could save the transportation costs. When Dominic handed over the clothing, a light went off in Jack's head. He had a fair idea who was behind this prank and also why. He decided to have a serious talk with his youngest son, when Madeleine and he were home again. Maxwell was relieved, when he heard the uniform was found.
Jack kept a very close eye on Sam and how he reacted, when Madeleine gave Maxwell the uniform. Sam seemed to be pleased about the safe return of the uniform. Hm, maybe Jack had been wrong. Still, he wanted to talk to Sam.
Jack arranged, that he and Sam were alone in the living room. "Sam, did you lie to me, when I asked you about Maxwell's uniform?" Sam replied: "No, Dad." He looked Jack into the eyes and seemed hurt, Jack would suspect him. There was no sign he was lying now. "Are you sure, son? It's time to come clean." "Dad, I really didn't. You are totally unfair!" Jack didn't like Sam's angry tone, but overlooked it, because he suddenly had doubts, if his hunch was right. Still he pressed on. "Sam, you were angry with both of your brothers, and it was your way to get back at them."
Around a month earlier Sam had been punished for misbehaving big time. The Richards' invited a potential client and his family to dinner. Brooke had baked an Imperial Torte as dessert for the occassion. Sam stole it and a bottle of Coca Cola, even though, he knew he wasn't allowed any sweets before dinner or drinking coke. Dominic caught Sam reading Brooke's diary. The cake had been destroyed in the process of eating, and Sam's clothing was smeared with crumbs and cream. The trousers could be salvaged, but the shirt had to be replaced with an old one of Maxwell's. Another more immediate problem had been to serve a dessert to their guests. A solution was found. Sam was angry with Dominic, because he told Jack and Madeleine what had happened and forced Sam to tell Brooke the truth. Maxwell used the chance to tease Sam merciless, calling him a baby, stupid and other things. The worst had been for Sam, when Maxwell said: "Even Ava has better table manners than you, and she is only three." Jack had of course noticed some of the teasing. He didn't stop Maxwell. He had an hands off approach and only stepped into arguments, if he feared they were ending in a fight. Jack also knew Sam could fend for himself.
Jack gave Sam his reasons, why he thought, Sam had been responsible for the vanishing of Maxwell's uniform. Sam still denied any involvment. His body language didn't indicate he was lying. Jack let Sam off, because he didn't have any evidence of Sam's guilt.
Of course Sam had been behind it. Maxwell had gone too far with his teasing. Now he knew exactly what it felt like, when Sam was told he had to wear a hand me down. Smuggling the uniform into Dominic's suitcase had been a way of getting even with his oldest brother. He knew, it would drive Dominic mad, if he had packed something that didn't belong to him, and if he had to pay for the postage, it would have been a nuisance for Dominic. Sadly Dominic found the uniform too early. Sam hadn't been sure, if his parents were going to combine he had played a prank on his brothers. Because he didn't want to get punished for it, he imagined how he would react, if he was really innocent and trained his body language and facial expressions not to let him down. Sam had the last laugh.
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