Aunt Julia and Uncle John ignored Oliver's screaming.
I can tell you that it wasn't easy because he was screaming really loud.
They just acted like everything was normal.
"Well," said Aunt Julia, "our cruise ship leaves in two hours."
"That's right. We don't want to miss the boat!" said Uncle John.
"So long, Oliver.
You have our cell phone numbers!"
"I'm not staying here!" yelled Oliver.
"We'll be back before you know it,"
said Aunt Julia, giving Oliver a hug.
"Don't forget to brush your teeth, sweetie."
And then they were gone.
"Hey, Oliver," I said, before he could start screaming again.
"Want to see the bed we made for you on the floor?
It's right next to mine."
Oliver shook his head.
"I want to go home!" he cried.
Mom put her arm around him.
"I'm sure you'll be very happy here, Oliver," she said.
"We'll have lots of fun."
Oliver opened his mouth to start yelling again. "I want—"
"Let's play Princesses and Pirates!" interrupted Jenny.
Oliver shut his mouth.
"That's a stupid game," he said in a grumpy voice.
Boy, if anyone needed an attitude adjustment, it was Oliver.
"Would you like a hot dog, Oliver?" asked my mom.
Oliver shook his head.
"My mom says hot dogs are bad for you," he said.
"She says you don't know what's really in them."
"What's really in them?" I asked.
"Slimy snake guts," said Oliver.
Josh and I burst out laughing.
Oliver seemed surprised that we thought that was funny.
Oliver complained all through dinner.
At bedtime I took him to my room.
I showed him the bed we'd made on the floor.
"And look, my room has a skylight," I said.
"You can see the moon."
I pointed to the skylight.
But Oliver did not seem interested in the moon.
Instead he took his toothbrush out of his suitcase.
"You have to brush your teeth in the kitchen," I explained.
"Why?" asked Oliver.
"Because there's no sink in our bathroom," I said.
"Who ever heard of that?" said Oliver.
Our bathroom is kind of weird.
First of all, it's right next to the kitchen.
And because it's so small, there's no room for a sink.
That's why you have to brush your teeth in the kitchen.
"Boy, that's the smallest bathroom I ever saw,"
said Oliver when he came back to my room.
"Our bathroom at home is as big as your whole kitchen."
By now I was sick of listening to Oliver complain.
I just wanted him to go to sleep!
Oliver lay down on his bed.
I turned out the light.
"I've never slept on the floor before," he said.
He didn't sound too happy.
I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep.
"You gave me a frog pillow," said Oliver.
"I hate frogs!"
I started snoring very loudly.
"I can't sleep with a frog pillow!" wailed Oliver.
"I hate the color green!"
He kept moaning and complaining.
I tossed and turned in my bed.
Finally I sat up.
"I give up!" I shouted.
"You can have my bed!
I'll sleep on the floor!"
To my surprise there was no answer from Oliver.
I leaned over and looked at him.
He was curled up on his bed in the moonlight, sound asleep.
"Thank goodness!" I thought.
As I lay back down, I realized something.
Tate was right.
Being a big brother was a lot harder than I had thought.