After having a VERY bad day, and seeing the Aluminum #4 prompt, I couldn't help myself.
Enjoy.
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"Everybody's Got A Family"
The first time he heard the word family, it was a picture on the fridge. Messy crayon strokes came together to form a Mom, Dad, Big Brother, and Me. They lived in a sky blue frame and the sun was a giant yellow ball mixed with the occasional orange blot.
Family was a dinner table every night, without fail. His Ma insisted, seeing as she worked all the time, and rarely got to see her boys without having to juggle a dozen different things for work.
She worked so hard to keep them all fed, and clothed, and educated, and twice as hard when his father ôhad an early retirementö, a phrase that he didnÆt understand until much later. The lines on her face deepened with the years and the stress and the office politics until both of her precious little birds had flown away, and she was happy, a new woman, because she knew she had done all she could, and now she could rest.
Family was chasing after his older brother, thinking that he was just the coolest thing on two legs, even if the feeling wasnÆt mutual. They fought like cats and dogs, and the teasing and sabotage was endless.
It took years before the hatred and bitterness that had once been admiration faded. As they had gotten older, the novelty of ôBig Brotherö had worn off. Now he was just ôBenö on the good days and ôA fucking asshole with a God complexö or worse on the bad ones. But when ôBig Brotherö had made him an uncle, and he saw that really, Ben wasnÆt so bad after all, that he forgave him. They still couldnÆt stop picking on each other, but the malice had gone.
Family was the carefully maintained faþade of half-truths and misdirection that were his daily interactions with Dad. He hated how his old man could never keeps his nose out of his business, no matter how trivial it seemed.
Dad was the antagonist, more than his brother had ever been. In his father, he saw the unfulfilled dreams, the bitterness over his own failures, and the constant self-flagellation that drove him to make sure that his youngest son never became like him, broken down and murmuring ôIf only, if onlyàö. But for all his bluster and the screaming and the fighting, his father loved him, and that was enough for the old man. Love made it all better in the end.
And for a long time, it was good. Not great, not by a long shot, but good. He didnÆt need another family; he had all he needed in these three people. He never dreamed that when he made that drawing during art class that day in kindergarten that he would ever call anyone else æfamilyÆ.
@$&@$&
The second time he heard the word family, really heard it, it was a three-by-five of four young men, each toasting the photographer with pints, smiles like lottery winners on their faces.
On the back was written ôMatt (Maus), John, Jake, and Dan û MausÆ birthday, 4/4/06ö
Family was a blistering argument with Jake over his friendsÆ infidelity, the pain and heartache that he wanted to avoid brining to his peaceful existence.
He and Jake threw down over it, and they both wore the proof on their faces for a week before they spoke again. Jake caved first, and he forgave him, and then made the older man promise to never cheat again, and all was forgiven. He forgot that he had a brother by blood that day, and only saw the brother in front of him.
Family was the drunken laughter and the roar of badly sung songs as he and John stumbled down the street in the dark, each holding the other up, drowning their mutual sorrow over women in a bar for hours before getting tossed out along with the trash.
John was a worrier, and he worried that his girl had dumped him because he was fat, because he was nerd, because he didnÆt like to go out, about a million things that were all so trivial. He punched him once, lightly, and told John that if that was the case, then she really wasnÆt good for him in the first place was she?
Family was charcoal ash and quiet scraping of tongs on a grate as Dan made barbeque for his three friends as they sat and drank, in companionable silence, wishing for the long departed friend that was never coming back.
When they got the news that Jack had gone missing ôover thereö, Dan refused to speak for days. They all cried, but Dan just kept quiet. When the flag came along with condolences, Dan wept bitterly for his missingàwhat had they been exactly? Nobody knew, but the hurt was beyond words. They came together and grieved as family. DanÆs pain was their pain, and when Dan wept, they wept.
Family was Jake, John, and Dan knocking on my door and taking me out to a surprise birthday party, to a little bar where all of our mutual friends were, and reminding me that despite my drug addiction and my constant masochistic streak that they all still loved me.
I cried in the back seat on the way to the bar, convinced that they had forgotten me. They all took turns holding my arms and beating some sense into me, tearing into me for being a whiny little snot who forgot what family meant the minute my own drama eclipsed the woes and worries of those around me. I spent so much time picking up the pieces of everyone else that I didnÆt notice my own cracks.
@$&@$&
ôWhat is a family?ö he asked them. They were arrayed around JakeÆs living room, slightly drunk and feeling philosophical.
ôA family isàthe people you would die for, no, the people you would kill for,ö Jake spoke after a quiet moment.
ôA family, a real family, is a group of people that canÆt imagine life without each other,ö Dan fired off, belching afterward.
ôFamily is the pain and the love, no matter what, even if it kills you,ö John mumbled.
There was a quiet moment, before Matt stood up and swept them all into an embrace. ôJust checking,ö he choked out, voice filled with tears.
Enjoy.
-------
"Everybody's Got A Family"
The first time he heard the word family, it was a picture on the fridge. Messy crayon strokes came together to form a Mom, Dad, Big Brother, and Me. They lived in a sky blue frame and the sun was a giant yellow ball mixed with the occasional orange blot.
Family was a dinner table every night, without fail. His Ma insisted, seeing as she worked all the time, and rarely got to see her boys without having to juggle a dozen different things for work.
She worked so hard to keep them all fed, and clothed, and educated, and twice as hard when his father ôhad an early retirementö, a phrase that he didnÆt understand until much later. The lines on her face deepened with the years and the stress and the office politics until both of her precious little birds had flown away, and she was happy, a new woman, because she knew she had done all she could, and now she could rest.
Family was chasing after his older brother, thinking that he was just the coolest thing on two legs, even if the feeling wasnÆt mutual. They fought like cats and dogs, and the teasing and sabotage was endless.
It took years before the hatred and bitterness that had once been admiration faded. As they had gotten older, the novelty of ôBig Brotherö had worn off. Now he was just ôBenö on the good days and ôA fucking asshole with a God complexö or worse on the bad ones. But when ôBig Brotherö had made him an uncle, and he saw that really, Ben wasnÆt so bad after all, that he forgave him. They still couldnÆt stop picking on each other, but the malice had gone.
Family was the carefully maintained faþade of half-truths and misdirection that were his daily interactions with Dad. He hated how his old man could never keeps his nose out of his business, no matter how trivial it seemed.
Dad was the antagonist, more than his brother had ever been. In his father, he saw the unfulfilled dreams, the bitterness over his own failures, and the constant self-flagellation that drove him to make sure that his youngest son never became like him, broken down and murmuring ôIf only, if onlyàö. But for all his bluster and the screaming and the fighting, his father loved him, and that was enough for the old man. Love made it all better in the end.
And for a long time, it was good. Not great, not by a long shot, but good. He didnÆt need another family; he had all he needed in these three people. He never dreamed that when he made that drawing during art class that day in kindergarten that he would ever call anyone else æfamilyÆ.
@$&@$&
The second time he heard the word family, really heard it, it was a three-by-five of four young men, each toasting the photographer with pints, smiles like lottery winners on their faces.
On the back was written ôMatt (Maus), John, Jake, and Dan û MausÆ birthday, 4/4/06ö
Family was a blistering argument with Jake over his friendsÆ infidelity, the pain and heartache that he wanted to avoid brining to his peaceful existence.
He and Jake threw down over it, and they both wore the proof on their faces for a week before they spoke again. Jake caved first, and he forgave him, and then made the older man promise to never cheat again, and all was forgiven. He forgot that he had a brother by blood that day, and only saw the brother in front of him.
Family was the drunken laughter and the roar of badly sung songs as he and John stumbled down the street in the dark, each holding the other up, drowning their mutual sorrow over women in a bar for hours before getting tossed out along with the trash.
John was a worrier, and he worried that his girl had dumped him because he was fat, because he was nerd, because he didnÆt like to go out, about a million things that were all so trivial. He punched him once, lightly, and told John that if that was the case, then she really wasnÆt good for him in the first place was she?
Family was charcoal ash and quiet scraping of tongs on a grate as Dan made barbeque for his three friends as they sat and drank, in companionable silence, wishing for the long departed friend that was never coming back.
When they got the news that Jack had gone missing ôover thereö, Dan refused to speak for days. They all cried, but Dan just kept quiet. When the flag came along with condolences, Dan wept bitterly for his missingàwhat had they been exactly? Nobody knew, but the hurt was beyond words. They came together and grieved as family. DanÆs pain was their pain, and when Dan wept, they wept.
Family was Jake, John, and Dan knocking on my door and taking me out to a surprise birthday party, to a little bar where all of our mutual friends were, and reminding me that despite my drug addiction and my constant masochistic streak that they all still loved me.
I cried in the back seat on the way to the bar, convinced that they had forgotten me. They all took turns holding my arms and beating some sense into me, tearing into me for being a whiny little snot who forgot what family meant the minute my own drama eclipsed the woes and worries of those around me. I spent so much time picking up the pieces of everyone else that I didnÆt notice my own cracks.
@$&@$&
ôWhat is a family?ö he asked them. They were arrayed around JakeÆs living room, slightly drunk and feeling philosophical.
ôA family isàthe people you would die for, no, the people you would kill for,ö Jake spoke after a quiet moment.
ôA family, a real family, is a group of people that canÆt imagine life without each other,ö Dan fired off, belching afterward.
ôFamily is the pain and the love, no matter what, even if it kills you,ö John mumbled.
There was a quiet moment, before Matt stood up and swept them all into an embrace. ôJust checking,ö he choked out, voice filled with tears.
