Growing up in a large, middle-class (if not lower) family had its challenges. More than I can account for actually. I had five older sisters and two older brothers. Throw me into the mix and that's a grand total of eight children living under one ro...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"And do you want to know why nobody bothered to get you anything for your damn birthday?" Sadie, my third oldest sister, questions fumingly as the car comes to a halt on the corner of our street. I don't want to hear what she is going to say because there is no doubt in my mind that it is going to cause my heart to clench.
I shift my head towards the window while my arms press and cross against my chest. Maybe if I stay quiet, she wouldn't bother to slap me with an insult. "It's because you don't deserve shit." She hisses at me before she cuts across the main road, finally giving me the option of no longer having to be in the same vehicle as her.
And there is it, ladies and gentlemen. Did she have to tell me that so bluntly? I didn't have to know the reason why she or my other sisters didn't bother to get me presents because deep down, I already knew I wasn't worth it to them. But hearing her actually saying it to me still stings because I know she really means it.
I don't respond to her snide and snarky remark because it hurts too much. I don't even know how we started talking about my birthday when it had already passed. As soon as the engine is killed off, I open the door and exit. I search for my keys and hear the car door slamming behind me, signifying that my business with her is not yet finished.
God, why can't I just have a peaceful day for once? Can't she just leave me alone? Can't they just all leave me alone? When I find my keys, it is already too late. Sadie is standing behind me but I dare not look back at her. "And make sure you clean the dishes. There's a shitload of them." She orders. At last I manage to unlock the door to the two-story apartment but before I could step in through the threshold, she shoves me aside and enters first.
My backpack, which had been slung over one shoulder and partially opened, slips and hits the ground. Some items spill out and I groan. I couldn't wait for spring season to start because that meant sports and nice weather, things that would surely decrease my level of stress and prolong my hours at school instead of having to come to this hellhole. After I climb up the stairs and kick off my shoes, I open the second door that actually leads me into the living-room.
The television is on, as it usually was, and my dad is seated on the wooden floor, completely absorbed in whatever it is that is being aired. I glance over to what he is watching and discover it to be some sort of boxing match. He doesn't even greet me but it's okay, because I am used to it by now. Lazily, I drop my bag onto the couch and plop down. Luckily for me, Amy, the fourth oldest girl, is out at work while Elise, the second youngest is locked up in her room doing who knows what.
Realizing this moment as probably one of the only serene times I would get, I take out my phone and check my messages. There are three new ones and I am excited to read them because they're usually from my friends. Quickly, I unlock the device but when I see who sent them, I release a disheartening and irritating sigh. I thought the chances of my mood getting even lower were impossible.
"Hey, lazy ass, get off your phone and do the dishes. You're always on it." Elise's voice sneers. She just came out of the room she shared with Sadie (which used to be my old room) and I couldn't help but ask myself why couldn't she have just stayed in there forever? Spoke too soon, I guess. I mean, I just got home; couldn't she cut me some slack?
