Problems of an Invisible Girl

Chapter 17

Although Rina was sitting alone at home, waiting for the new year to come, invisible, she tried to convince herself that she was having a good time. That was partially true since she got to do all the things that she usually couldn't do, but she couldn't help but feel lonely. She wondered why bad things kept happening to her, why her family didn't love her as much as they seemed to love each other, and many other questions that made her heart ache. After a few hours of misery, when it was close to midnight, she decided to try to turn over a new leaf in the hopes that doing that would make her new year much better. She turned off the lights and turned on the Christmas lights on the Christmas tree next to her. The room looked even more beautiful illuminated only by the fire from the fireplace and the mesmerizing twinkling lights. "That's much better." She thought to herself. Then she pulled out some sparklers from the drawer and got ready to light them up when the clock struck twelve. Soon enough, it was midnight, and she lit two sparklers, one in each hand and started spinning them around really fast. Since she found that to be extremely fun, she started spinning around herself all over the room, dancing around the furniture. She felt something she hadn't felt for a very long time, joy. It was the simple joy of being alive and having fun, and she hoped that the feeling of happiness would stay with her for a long time.

After midnight, she decided to follow her tradition and go to her room to watch some 'New Year' movies. Well, she watched what she, for some reason, considered to be New Year movies, although most people would disagree. One of the movies that she watched every year without exception was "Charlie's Angels", and she only watched it on the New Year's Eve. No matter how many times she had seen it, she never got tired of watching it. It was a part of her New Year's marathon for many years, and she thought she would watch it for many years to come. Before she pressed play she prepared everything she might need, snacks, water, etc. Then she snuggled in comfortably under her blankets and started watching the movies on her laptop. Before her five-movie marathon ended, she was fast asleep and dreaming of a better time to come. During the marathon, she became visible again, but she didn't mind either way at that moment, she was too engrossed in the movie's storyline. Some would say it was boring to watch the movies you have already seen, but she liked the comfortable feeling that everything would be okay that she had when watching movies she had already seen.

In the morning she felt a bit better, that was until she went downstairs to have breakfast. The moment she stepped into the kitchen, she knew she had made a terrible mistake. Her brother Rocky was in the kitchen drinking coffee and stinking of alcohol. It was obvious to her that he had just arrived home and that he was wasted. Knowing that he was very mean when he was drunk she tried to backtrack out of the kitchen without him seeing her, but it was already too late. "Rina, you are awake." He said slurring his words. "Come here, let's have a chat." He said and approached her only to grip her in a tight one-handed hug. The hug was too painful to be an expression of love. It was the hug the main aim of which was to keep her in place, to stop her from running away. "There is something I have always wanted to tell you, but mum didn't let me. " He said barely keeping his eyes open. He seemed very sleepy but his grip on Rina's shoulder didn't lessen. It was clear that he was about to tell her something extremely hurtful, and she did her best to try to escape his deadly grip. She tried to wiggle herself out since sometimes that tactic worked with her brothers because they used brute force, and didn't think that someone could wiggle out. However, that time it didn't work, the grip of a determined drunk turned out to be much stronger than the one of a regular person. "You know,... you are... not my sister. " He said hiccuping between the words.

Although she understood that he was drunk and hurtful because of it she couldn't help but feel the sting of what he had told her. It hurt more than she wanted to admit, to know for sure that he was sorry that they were related, that he hated her so much as to tell her something as cruel as that. As they say, a drunk mind speaks a sober heart. She knew that she didn't fit into her own family, but she never even thought that he might feel that way. It took her by surprise to hear those exact words coming from him, so she couldn't help but reply angrily: "That is such a cruel thing to say. I know that you are drunk, but that is no excuse for hurting my feelings. " "I am just telling you the truth. When you were a baby, mum and dad found you in a dumpster. Mum wanted to just leave you there, but dad convinced her to take you home with them. I don't know how or why, but he also managed to convince her to adopt you. A big mistake if you ask me. He made it sound like it would be fun for mum to have a girl in the house, but she grew to resent him for convincing her. She never liked you, you know. What do you think, why do we keep ignoring you? It's because you are not our blood, you are just some poor ungrateful orphan that we took in. We gave you everything, but you were never happy, you always wanted more. Dad was the only one who could stand your presence, and I am not sure why he bothered. You are nothing. You don't have any roots, any ancestors, you are no one." He said spitefully.

At first, her brain refused to register what he was saying. She just stood there with a dumb-found expression trying to figure out what had happened. When her brain finally managed to process what was said, the first thing she felt was sharp pain piercing her chest. The thought crossed her mind that what he said made sense, but she quickly discarded it. "He couldn't be telling the truth, could he?" She thought doubtfully. There was a seed of doubt planted in her mind, but she refused to pay any attention to it. She decided that he was just trying to hurt her feelings, that it couldn't possibly be the truth." Rocky stop messing around, that is very rude of you! I know that you don't like me much but those lies are too cruel even for you." She said trying to hold back her tears. "I am just telling you how it is. If you don't believe me, mum and the others are in the living room go and ask them. They will confirm what that I am telling you is the truth. " He said sounding soberer than she assumed at first. It seemed like he was using alcohol as an excuse to be a jerk to her. Nevertheless, she headed to the living room to confront the rest of her family.

The first thing she said when she entered the living room was: "Am I adopted?!" "Well Happy New Year to you, too. Can you be any ruder?" Was the first thing her mother said. "I have just been told that I was found in a dumpster, so forgive me if I forgot my manners after hearing something as shocking as that." She said barely containing her anger. Her mother and brothers started laughing uncontrollably. "Who told you something that ridiculous? It was Rocky, wasn't it? Oh, that joker! As if we would adopt you if we found you in a dumpster!" She said laughing so hard that tears started streaming down her face. "So I am adopted?" Rina asked barely controlling her voice. "Of course you are, but we found you in a church, not in a dumpster. Someone left you there and for some reason, Ronald decided it would be a good idea to adopt you. He wanted to be your dad, God bless his generous heart. He said it would be good for me to have a daughter, that it would be good for the family. I agreed only because he begged me, and then he dared die on me and leave me with more children than I could handle. Not you, my dearies." She said turning to her sons making it clear that Rina was the odd one out. Since she didn't want to let them see her cry, Rina ran to her room thoroughly crushed.