Free Don't Make Me Smile by Barbara Park

ahead,” she said. “Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”
    I went inside and turned on the TV. Naturally, nothing good was on. No sports, no cartoons, no nothing. Television stations save their worst shows for Sunday afternoon. They probably figure that on Sunday afternoon people are so bored they’ll watch anything.
    They’re right, too. I ended up watching thisdo-it-yourself show about how to repair water rings on your tabletops.
    My mother and Hank stayed outside and talked for a few minutes. When Mom came in to fix dinner, Hank flopped down beside me on the couch.
    â€œWhat’cha watchin’, big guy?” he asked.
    I can’t decide which I hate worse,
Chas
or
big guy.
    â€œNothing much,” I answered. “Just some dumb show.”
    â€œYou mind if old Cousin Hank watches it with you?” he asked again.
    I said no. But it wasn’t easy. I minded a lot. The guy was seriously getting on my nerves. I thought if he called me Chas one more time, I would blow up.
    â€œWhat’s this show about, Chas?” he asked then.
    Quickly, I sprung up from the couch. “Could you
please
stop calling me
Chas
?” I said. “I
hate
that name. How would you like me to call you Hanky? Huh? Would you like that, Cousin Hanky?”
    Hank’s face looked confused at first. Then just plain hurt.
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know.”
    Right away, I felt terrible inside. I never should have shouted at him like that. Not ever.
    My mother had heard me yell. She came in and grabbed me by the arm.
    â€œCould you please excuse us for a minute, Hank?” she asked. Then she quickly pulled me down the hall to my room.
    She slammed the door. “How
could
you, Charles?” she said. “How could you have said something so hateful?”
    I didn’t know myself, so I couldn’t answer.
    â€œWhat kind of kid are you, anyway?” she asked. “My cousin drove over a hundred miles to brighten up your Easter, and you stand there and scream at him like that? How
could
you?”
    I shook my head.
    â€œI don’t
know
how I could, Mother,” I said. “I’m
sorry.
It’s just that I didn’t really expect that Hank would be the big surprise today. I thought it would be something better.”
    â€œOh, well, that’s just wonderful,” said Mom. “Now what am I supposed to do? Tell him he wasn’t a good enough surprise and send him home? Or first, maybe you’d like to yell at him some more.”
    â€œI’m sorry,” I said again.
    She opened my door and pointed. “Well, don’t tell
me.
I’m not the one who drove one hundred miles to spend Easter with you. If you’re really sorry, you go tell Hank. You
fix
this, Charlie. I mean it.”
    My mother is very big on having me apologize to people. But this time, I knew she was right.
    I walked back into the living room. Hank was sitting there pretending to watch the furniture show.
    â€œHank, I’m sorry, okay?” I said. “I’m really, really sorry for yelling at you like that. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. Honest. It’s just that I’ve been having some personal problems lately. And I’m not really acting that good.”
    Hank smiled. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “We all have to blow off steam once in a while. Everybody says things they don’t mean.”
    I tried to smile back. “It’s okay to call me Chas if you want,” I said.
    Hank reached over and ruffled my hair. “That’s okay, big guy,” he said.
    A couple of minutes later, my mother called us to dinner. While we were eating, no one saidvery much. I forced myself to smile more than usual. So did my mother and Hank. It takes a while for people to start acting normal after there’s been a big argument like that.
    After dinner, Hank stuck around for a couple of hours. He still acted