Surviving the Andersen Brothers

Michael Andersen

After a long day of school and a dragging two hours of Track and Field practice, I arrived at the Andersen Family home. I went to my room immediately and dropped my bag. I turned on the shower and stripped, the steam filled the bathroom quickly.

            I stepped into the shower and just stood there for a moment, letting the water soak and warm me to the bone.

            My life was so different now. I no longer had to worry if I had enough money to feed my mother and myself. I no longer had to worry about having time to do my homework or being able to stay in shape for Track and Field. I didn’t have to rely on the unreliable city bus to get to school.

            I was always so busy here. Maybe too busy at times. I was too busy to miss my old home, my old school, my old friends—or lack thereof—sometimes even too busy to miss my father. That was a good thing, though. It meant I cried less. Thinking of my father forced me to think about his wife, my mother, and the sad realization that I did not miss her… at all. In fact, part of me might even hate her.

            I just didn’t understand how a mother could just forget their child like she did. How a mother could retreat so far into herself, leaving a daughter to fend alone in the world, to be sent into an insane asylum.

I shook off the funk and did my thing.

When I stepped out of the shower, there was a knock on the bathroom door. I wrapped myself in a towel and answered it.

Michael stood on the other side of the door with that evil smile on his face. He looked me over once before his eyes rested on my face.

“Oh, sorry,” he mutter. We both knew he really wasn’t. “Want to play some video games?”

I gave him a questioning look. Like I was dressed to go off and play video games—I wasn’t even dressed!

“Well, uh, I meant when you are dressed.” Michael scratched the back of his head. “No one else is home right now, so I thought you and I could hang out—not that I only enjoy hanging out with you alone. I just thought that—” He stopped rambling and took a breath. “I just wanted to hang out. If you want to play some video games, I will be in the Theater.”

Michael turned before I could respond and walked away. I shrugged and shut the bathroom door.

I quickly dressed and threw my hair in a ponytail. I tapped my foot, thinking of something to do. I didn’t have any homework, my book collection was nonexistent at this house—and I just wasn’t in the mood for reading right now—there was nothing interesting on TV….

I shrugged.

I guess I was going to go play video games with Michael.

When I entered the Theater, Michael was on his cell phone.

“Yeah, Jamie.” He laughed. “I will pick you up at seven. Mmhm. I’ll see you then. Bye.”

As Michael hung up the phone, he turned to face me. I raised my brows and eyed the phone. Michael got the question.

He smiled. “I’ve got a hot date tomorrow night,” he said.

“Don’t we have the mud and rain Frisbee thing tomorrow?”

“Yes, we do. My date is after that.” Michael set up the gaming system. “What game do you want to play?”

“The same one as last time,” I told him. I had to beat him. This was a matter of pride.

“Don’t you get tired of getting your ass beat?” he wondered, shaking his head. “Are you sure you want to play this one?”

I nodded and Michael shrugged. The game title flashed across the screen for a second before Michael pressed the START button and selected the game play option allowing us to select our characters to fight with. I selected a character that could transform from a dress-wearing princess to a stealthy, ninja-like assassin. I preferred to use the assassin side of the character more than the princess side—I would only use the princess when someone needed some serious blasting off of the screen. Michael, of course, picked the heaviest, slowest, most powerful character on the game. One hit from his two handed sword and it cause somewhere around twenty-six damage—which was a lot.

“So how did you meet this Jamie girl?” I asked as I picked the level Michael and I would fight at.

“She is in one of my classes in college,” Michael said. “My psychology class. She is hot too.”

I made a face. I didn’t like the term hot in reference to looks. Anyone’s looks. People weren’t slabs of meat.

I realized that this was the beginning of the end of my interest in hanging around Michael. He wasn’t who I thought he was. He was one of those guys.

“You know who else is pretty hot,” Michael went on, “your friend Charlotte. She’s a firecracker too. I saw what happened with her and Vincent at school last year. Firecracker.”

I guess I didn’t have to worry him being hung up on me. Michael really was the jock, the one who wanted conquest more than a relationship. It was weird. I felt weird. I went on a date with him. A good date, but where did he plan for us to go after that? I’m glad I didn’t fall for him.

With the tiny bit of aggravation brought on by the recent conversation I was able to finally beat Michael in the game. I crushed him, bringing his five lives to zero while I still held on to three.

I looked over at him with a cocky smile, daring him to day something.

“Well, look there,” he breathed. “You finally got me…. Let’s go again!”

Michael and I continued to play the game—I had nothing better to do anyway. With each word that came out of Michael’s mouth, the more I am glad nothing ever happened between us. He won some of the battles, though I won most of them. I was getting better fast.

I decided from this day forward that Michael would not be a big part of my life here at the Andersen home. I did not need his playboy attitude and his fickle tendencies—all that would do is make me angry.

I looked over at Michael, his true colors finally revealed to me.

I was surviving Michael Andersen.