Good brothers, bad brothers, good siblings, bad siblings

Jared would often ask Audrey, “Are we good brothers?”

It was his way of gauging whether all was good between them or not. Things would genuinely have to be good for her to call herself his “brother” at all, so her answer was almost always a binary yes or no.

But sometimes the situation wasn't exactly clear cut, so Jared figured there should be some other answer options. He devised a multiple choice question system to ask instead: “Are we good brothers, bad brothers, good siblings, or bad siblings?”

“Good brothers” was the same as before: it was when things were all good and Audrey felt like his true brother.

“Bad siblings” was the opposite; she'd answer that when they were fighting (“bad” with each other) and did not feel like a brother.

“Good siblings” was less frequent, but still an answer Audrey was known to give. Sometimes, she felt that things were good, but for whatever reason didn't want to refer to herself with the masculine brother.

“Bad brothers” was an answer that made Jared laugh but that Audrey never used. If things were bad between them, there was no way she'd be calling herself his brother. (”We're bad brothers!” Jared would sometimes declare emphatically after a fight.)

All along, Jared intended for them both to ask the question of each other as needed. As expected, Jared used it frequently, and Audrey never.   ❐

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