“So you want to keep you fingers straight, like knives.” Lee demonstrated this for sons. “This way, they'll cut through the air, and you'll go even faster. Now try.” Nick and Will teased each other by making fists, scissor fingers, and a Vulcan handshake sign before settling into the right shape. As always, though, Pete went right for it. “Good. Now with each step, twist your hips like this so you get better reach.” Once again, he demonstrated for his sons, and the move was complicated enough that all of them concentrated on his outstretched leg. Nick got it right away, but he had to correct the other two. Once he was confident they understood, he lined them on the sidewalk. “On three. One, two, three!”
They bolted off. Nick and Will were pretty evenly matched, which made sense since they were basically the same person. (Lee knew that Mary would hate it if she heard him thinking like that, but really, who could deny it?) Pete had the definite edge, and while his two brothers lagged behind, he sprinted all the way to the fallen tree, touched its trunk, and then started back. Nick and Will hardly noticed. They never expected to beat their brother anymore, and the competition was solely between them. Evenly paced, they started pushing and jostling each other as they came back.
Pete flew through the finish line, and then bent over, breathing heavily. Lee really couldn't tell if what Pete so different was his body or his strength of will. He always crossed the finish line a good seven or eight seconds before his brothers, but he was also the most winded. If he could just get Nick and Will to run with half the abandon of their brother. . . . It probably would never be, though. They were already beginning to see themselves as losers. Perhaps Mary was right that he needed to find new activities for them so that they could feel like winners, too.
Mary would hate it if she knew he thought this, too, but Lee definitely had a favorite. Ruffling Pete's hair, he gave him some praise. “Good job!” When the other two brothers crossed the finish line, he grabbed them both in a big bear hug and spun around with them. They laughed hysterically, and when he put them back down, they stumbled in a dizzied fog. Soon, the twins were wrestling each other while Pete stood back and watched. Lee didn't really understand what went on between the three of them, but it was obvious that Pete was an outsider. They were all still close, but the twins had a kind of intimacy that the third brother would never be able to share. Perhaps Lee kept having them run so that Pete would have something to be proud of. Even if he was never as close to his two brothers as they were to each other, at least he was a winner.
Lee clapped his hands. “Alright, boys! Let's line back up! I want to see y'all twisting those hips!” Pete was right at the start line again, but Lee had pick up the other two and set them back down beside their brother. They were still laughing and jostling each other. “One, two, three!” And once again, Pete took right off, his two brothers lagging just a little bit behind. Within just a few seconds he had developed such a lead that the others had no chance of catching up. Soon, the twins were focused on each other again. As their brother crossed the finish line, they kept running, but they were also laughing and shoving each other.
“Wow!” Lee gave Pete a big squeeze on the shoulder. “That was the fastest yet!” His son looked up at him, just soaking it in. It was the strangest thing. Pete absolutely needed his approval. It was his sunlight. The other boys, though, they could take it or leave it. There were just two of them, but it was like they had formed their own little society. They had their own standards, their own values. Lee wasn't part of the system. Pete wasn't part of the system. Mary was a bit, but even she had only the most limited influence. He watched his other son, still breathing heavily from the long sprint. “You're a tiger. You remember what a tiger is, right?” Pete nodded. “They're strong, yes. But what makes a tiger really special?”
Pete grinned big. “Dedication!”
“That's right! Pete the Tiger! You've got dedication!” He gave his son a big smile as the other two boys sprinted across the finish line.
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