Fast Break

eighty-five : showcase

‼️Family issues, trauma, anxiety‼️

3 weeks later

Christopher had hidden the tattoo from everyone in his life, he wanted to wait for it to be healed before he showed it off. Only Matthew, Spencer, Jon, and Sam knew.

He waited till a family dinner to show it off. This was a strict Christopher's family only, no significant others. Matthew understood and stood home to avoid any unnecessary conflict.

Christopher drove to Abuelita's house, he wasn't worried about revealing the tattoo. At least to his mom and sister. He took his Impala, he pregamed with the best music he could have. His family could be a lot but he didn't expect it to be everyone, his cousins never showed.

He got to the house, he greeted everyone, and sat down in the kitchen. He talked to Abuelita, they got caught up. Dinner time rolled around, the whole family assembled at the dinner table. Christopher's eyes shot around the table, his three uncles sat next to each other along with his two aunts. Christopher took off his hoodie and waited for the family to notice.

"Chris! What the fuck is that?" Eva silently yelled at him.
"A doodle. What the fuck does it look like?" Christopher replied silently.
"She's gonna kill you." Eva whispered back, referring to Abuelita.

Christopher helped pick up the dishes on the table after dinner was done, he reached in-front of abuelita to pick her plate up. She grabbed his arm.

"Mijo, what is this?" Abuelita asked.
"A tattoo." Christopher replied.
"Chris, when did you get a tattoo?" Angela grabbed his arm and looked it closely.
"I got one when I went to Salt Lake with Matthew." Christopher said.
"Who paid for it?" Angela asked.
"I did, I had some money saved up and I wanted one." Christopher responded. He wasn't going to bring Spencer and Jon into this, he made the decision with a clear head.
"Why didn't you tell me about it sooner?" Angela asked again.
"I wanted it to be healed before I showed it to you." Christopher sighed.
"Chris, why do you ruin your body like this?" His Tio Ruben asked.
"I didn't 'ruin' my body, I wanted a tattoo so I got one. I'm old enough to make those decisions by myself, i paid for it." Christopher replied.
"What even is it?" Tia Isabella asked.
"It's barbed wire." Christopher said.
"It seems like that little boyfriend of yours is a bad influence." Tia Isabella commented. Christopher paid no mind, his family could be irritable, no reason in him started a pointless fight. "Is this because you don't come to church Mijo?" She asked.
"No it's not because of my lack of religion." Christopher sighed.
"You should really come sometime Chris, it's beneficial for you to be in touch with the lord. He's always looking out for you, ya know?" Tia Isabella nagged.
"I'm not going to church." Christopher responded sternly.
"What does it even mean?" Tio Ruben asked. "It must have some sort of meaning, you wouldn't get that pointless design for nothing." He continued.
"It represents all of the pain, struggle, and trauma I have went through because I've lived this life. I have walked through fire for a lot of my life, I have a right to represent that on my body." Christopher responded firmly.
"I'd appreciate a little respect Chris. I am your tío." He said. "It's stupid, you're only 18. You haven't even experienced trauma yet, your generation wouldn't understand what trauma is." Tio Ruben condescended him.
"I wouldn't know trauma?! My dad abused my mother, me, and my sister. I lived the first 17 years of my life closeted because I was scared of you all disregarding me and pass it off as a phase. And all of you pretend that you like me and my sister and our partners, but you don't. None of you respect my boyfriend or her girlfriend, none of you have any decency to respect me as a person because I'm different." Christopher rambled. "Y'all are shitty tías and tíos. If abuelito was here-" He stuttered.
"He'd what?" Tio Ruben seethed.
"He would be supportive of Chris." Abuelita piped up.