Cheating Gods of Death (Sequel to L: Find A GirLfriend)

Last Christmas

The other two that had also been influential died. Actually died. One shot up after essentially drag racing with the cops, the other burning in a big rig with a naked Japanese chick as cargo. Near implied all of this, and I believe that's what he meant.

However, Near did say that Watari was alive, and Father instantly perked up. It was sad, a grown man so excited by the livelihood of, not even his own father... but I suppose I may have done the same. Before he left, he bid me goodbye, and then I saw a small figurine peeking from his fist over Father's shoulder, and it was a rounded out character of Mom. She wore her pantsuit, and her hairspray teased hair, but her face...

She had a sparkling set of blue eyes, and a creepy smile that touched the sides of her hair. It made a Sailor Senshi from the inner reich of hell look. Reflected in the obsidian mirrors... I imagine it, and am duly horrified. I couldn't see his face when he said goodbye to Father or Mom.

On the twenty third, as I remember clearly, Erica's favorite day around Christmastime. I sat beside him while "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" played, and he interrupted the famous musical number "Mr. Grinch" to tell me something.

"Please take me out of this chair..."

His speech had improved with his therapy sessions, but it did take him a while to think, then say. He once told Mom that he rehearsed everything he was going to say, to make sure he wouldn't "make a fool of himself". Even so, he spoke softly, almost humbly. I took him out of a chair, his legs hanging limply.

"Thank you... on the end of the couch would be fine."

And I set him down. Before I could return to the mindless holiday spirit, he instructed me to pull his knees to his chest, so that he could sit like he always had... sort of. He had to hold his legs with his arms, to be sure that they wouldn't fall away from him. The arm of the couch was holding him upright.

I looked back a few minutes later and his eyes were closed, but jaw squared. Looking him over, I saw his big toe and the one adjacent rise slightly. He did that tiny little movement for the rest of the movie, until Mom and Erica bounded in. Mom threw his arm around her waist and he leaned onto her shoulder as she sipped her chamomile tea. She freaking loves hot tea. Erica sat with me, in between my legs, the small of her back protecting and lightly laying on my... you know, and her head resting on my stomach. We all lounged around like that throughout the Charlie Brown Christmas special, until it went off, everyone asleep or dozed off except for Mom. I was on the brink of consciousness, looking at my father's glazed over eyes as he drooled ever so slightly onto Mom's sweater. Mom never slept anywhere but a bed, she just couldn't. Dad hardly slept at all.

He woke up with a jolt, and weakly took up Mom's hand as a "Home Alone" marathon began, his skin looking like... well, terminally ill chicken skin against her hand. Even with her habit of cracking her knuckles every time you turned around, his hands seemed bonier like a sheltered child taught nothing except how to play piano like a prodigy. But, she loved him. That was one thing I could never deny about my parents, or at least Mom: she loved him.

It was nauseating. He was awful in all reaches; he was awful looking, an awful conversationalist, awful parent (well, very absent), and the most inconsiderate piece of shit I've ever had the unholy pleasure of meeting, nevermind being the immediate family of.

But it was none of my business.

And, she loved him.

Even after she accepted that he was pretty much gone, she was happy to have him back. She held his hand, pushed him around, and took care of him as she was getting her independence back. And she never stopped loving him.

I've always been jealous, which might have been the stem of that little crush I mentioned earlier on her. I thought I was in love with Audrey... I really thought she loved me, too, but I guess not. It just sucks to put all you have into a year and have it dropped like it was hot.