Dear Jellybean,
Well this is about my friend... Her exboyfriend is my big brother... Now that he broke up with her, I don't know what to tell her when she calls to talk about him... What can I say?
Dear Writer,
You can say one of these things:
"Hang on, I'll ask him if he can come to the phone."
You can ask him. If he says no, just tell your friend he says he's busy. If she want to complain about how she misses him and you feel uncomfortable, you should be honest about this. Just tell her, "It's kind of weird for me to talk about this, since he's my brother. Maybe we could change the subject."
"I don't know where he is."
You're not your brother's keeper, after all. If your brother isn't around, or you don't feel like traipsing all over the house looking for him, just say so. Or say he's out, or asleep, or has friends over, or whatever.
"Let me give you his cell phone number."
This is the best option. Your friend can call your brother on his cell directly, and you can reserve the family phone for calls between you and your friend. You might even want to suggest this. Just say to your friend, "That way, when you call here, I know it's because you want to talk to me."
