"What the fuck do you mean you broke up?"

Jake pulls pulls his head out from under the hood of the Chevelle and glares at me.

"Kim's the best thing that's ever going to happen to you, man, why would you let her just walk away like that?"

Jake makes a motion with his hand for me to turn the key even though he's still yelling at me.

I twist the key in the ignition and we wait for the engine to roar to life. Which it doesn't. Not that either of us are particularly surprised by the old car's lack of cooperation. My brother picked it up for a couple hundred bucks right after his divorce and it's been sitting in his garage ever since.

I think this is the first time he's ever actually worked on getting it running and I'd wonder what has him suddenly interested in the project if I wasn't so busy with my own shit.

Jake motions at me to turn off the ignition and keep my hands off the key while he sticks his head back into the mechanics of his prized possession.

What I am surprised by today is how pissed my brother is when I tell him he can lay off all the warnings and shit-talk about marriage...I won't be doing it after all.

After everything he's said about what a trap marriage is and how women change the minute they get the preacher's signature on the license, I thought he'd be the one person I could count on to back me up on this. That's why he's the only person I've mentioned it to so far.

"So you mean to tell me that you paid that match maker chick all that money and put me and the folks through all that bullshit to help her pick out a fucking wife for you and you bailed as soon as things got a little stressful?" Jake scolds from under the hood.

"No," I say defensively, "we just realized we weren't ready yet. We both got carried away with Brent and Kay--"

Jake interrupts with a short laugh, standing up and wiping his hands on a rag that probably puts more grease on his hands than takes off them, he shoves the rag in his back pocket and eyes me where I'm sitting in the driver's seat of the car with the door open.

"That was a fucking coincidence, wasn't it?" he asks.

I'm not sure I follow, "What was?"

"Brent and Kay. You and Kim." He says with a half nod of his head like I should understand. "We had no idea, you know. I just want you to know, it's not like anyone knew we were setting up the best man and the maid of honor from the same wedding."

It was definitely something Kim and I had noticed after we met, we thought for sure that Raven had had something to do with that. After a lot of asking around, Kim and I were finally convinced that the people who made the ultimate decision for us had no idea how we were connected.

If Raven thought we were a good match because we were both referred by one half of the same couple she never told anyone else.

"Yeah man, I get that," I tell my brother, "What I don't get is why the hell you're so bent about us calling it off? You've been nothing but down on marriage since you and Jen split. You gave me hell for hiring Raven and you haven't shut up about the miserable ever after jokes since I put a ring on Kim's finger. I thought you'd be congratulating me for coming to my senses."

Jake walks around the front of the car and slams the hood before heading over to his work bench and grabbing the 54 ounce gas station soda he picked up when we walked down earlier.

I can see he's thinking about how to answer and I think about showing him some brotherly love with a comment about how I can smell something burning, but something tells me maybe my big bro is about to get serious so I lay off.

"Thing is, you did hire that chick and you did make me help her find you a wife. You know, that's some serious shit there, Brother," Jake leans back against his work bench and stares at me. "Everybody took the job seriously. It's not like you just picked some random girl up at a bar or on a Tinder date and brought her home with a 15 thousand dollar ring on her finger and announced you were getting married."

I take the hint that we're done trying to get the Chevelle started today and climb out from behind the wheel.

"Sure, you caught us off guard with this sudden I want to get married shit, but I get it, Bro, believe me, I get it."

Jake sets his soda cup down on the bench. "You know, we got good parents that are still together after all this time. Mom and Dad make it look so easy, you know?"

I lean against the side of his car and nod. He's right. Our folks are great role models. They've been together for 30 years and they're still in love. Giggling and chasing each other around the kitchen-- used to embarrass the hell out of me and Jake when we were teenagers.

Now I realize how lucky they are. How lucky I am to have that kind of influence to be my measure for what being married is supposed to be like.

"I think that's why I wanted to get married so young, you know?" Jake tells me, "I thought that's what being married was going to be like. Like, me and Jen would get a place and she'd doll it up all cute and make it feel like home the way Mom does. We'd start our own family and things would just work out."

I nod. I never really thought of why Jake and Jen got married right out of high school. I guess I figured it was something Jen was pushing for and Jake was just blinded by the pussy at that age.

"Yeah but, you know getting married doesn't solve all your problems, you know Mom and Dad have been through some rough spots too," I remind him.

"Yeah, I know, but they always work it out," Jake says. "I thought being married meant we'd be a team. I thought I'd be able to count on her to work shit out with me like Mom and Dad do."

My brother looks up at me with a pained look on his face and if he wasn't such a macho bastard all the time, I'd think he might be getting kinda choked up.

"I thought I could count on her not to give up so easily." Jake clears his throat, pounding a greasy fist against his chest like he's trying to knock something loose inside himself. I give him a minute to get himself together again and I'm not about to give him shit about this cuz I know exactly how he's feeling at the moment.

"Kim's not like Jen, Rye," he tells me with a renewed determination in his voice, "I talked to that girl 6 ways from Sunday for months. She knows what marriage is all about, she's not just in it for the fancy dress and the big party, she wants to be somebody's wife, man. She wants to settle down and make babies and eat dinner around the table every night.

"That girl will sit down with you at that same table and work shit out with you when things stop going easy. And I've seen you two together, man, you guys are good together. She's head over heels for you and you're a fool for her. So if she called it quits it's because you fucked up. And if you let her get away because you're too fucking dumbshit to go after her then you deserve to lose her to a better man."

Just like that Jake's done with his little speech. I watch in awe as my brother grabs his cell phone off the work bench and heads through the door into the house, leaving me out in the garage to absorb what he just said.