Family...Sux, chapter 1
I was in my room covered with Green Day posters (mostly consisting of Tre Cool) listening to blasting loud Green Day music on my iPod speakers. I lay down on my bed and I was faced with the sexy face of Mr. Tre Cool. I smiled and blew a kiss to him and took out my computer. I just started to IM my friends when I heard Chris (my step-father) called from downstairs,
"SHANNEN! COME SET THE TABLE!"
I rolled my eyes, turned off the music, put my away message up on AIM and went downstairs to set the table for my five person family. I finished and Chris told me to tell everyone else that dinner was ready. I nodded and yelled upstairs to my two brothers that dinner was ready. They came running down with Michael -my five year old brother -on Ryan's -my 14 year old brother- back. I smirked and followed them into the kitchen to eat the chicken, pasta and vegetables Chris had made for our dinner. We all began eating and then I broke the long silence between us.
"Umm...where's Mom?"
"She should be home now actually," Chris responded looking at the clock on the oven that read 6:30. I just nodded and went back to my food. A few seconds after my mom opened the door looking tired, stressed and depressed. She dropped of her files full of attorney files and trudged into the kitchen and sat down and began eating acting like nothing was wrong. She smiled a fake smile that only I could recognize and asked us how everyone's day was. Mikey (a.k.a Michael) began blabbering on how he played outside with is friends and played fire trucks. Chris just answered a simple "Fine" and Ryan had the same reaction as Chris. I just looked at her funny for a second and then answered her fully.
"A little boring, how about yours mom?" I asked sweetly to my mother knowing that something was wrong.
"Oh, fine...hard..." she answered tiredly and began pecking at her food again. The rest of the dinner consisted of Ryan talking about how stupid his high school was going to be and Michael butting into the conversation too feel included. Chris just kept eating occasionally asking about things Ryan explained and my mom kept on asking Ryan questions about what he's going to do, what classes he's going to take, all that boring stuff. I spent the whole dinner thinking of what could be bothering my mother. I couldn't figure it out I was racking my brain for anything I could think of Work? Her Boss? Her friends? Finally the dinner was over and each of us left by one Michael, and Ryan, then me. I wanted find out what was wrong but I could tell Chris and her wanted to be alone for a bit. I got up, cleaned my plate into the sink and left. I pretended to go upstairs but I really stayed downstairs with my ear plastered to the closed kitchen door.
"What's wrong honey? You're not yourself today..." Chris asked.
"Chris... I have to tell you something really important," my mother told her husband very seriously.
I could tell he was nervous, "Umm... okay... shoot." I could hear my mom get up from her seat and russling through some paperwork. She sat back down in her seat and put the papers on the kitchen table. Chris picked them up and read them with his eyes getting wide.
"What the hell is this all about?" Chris asked setting the papers back down on the desk.
"There papers... that state that Shannen has to visit her father for the summer." My mother explained a little scared of what Chris would say.
"What?! I thought he was out of your life! You put a restraining order on the man for gods sakes! How did this happen?!" Chris exploded.
My mother sighed, "He came into my office today demanding to see Shannen. Of course, I exploded on him saying that he had no right to take my daughter away from me. We set up an immediate trial case..."
"And?" Chris asked eager to know the result.
My mother rubbed her eyes and continued, "The judge said that he was allowed to take Shannen for the summer and that's all the time he could have with her. I put up another argument but the judge said if I didn't stop he would make him take Shannen for longer so I had no choice to give in..."
Mom began to cry and Chris hugged her trying to comfort her, "Honey, it could have been worse...I mean...it's only for the summer right? I mean...it's not like it's for the entire year..." Chris said soothingly to my mother and embracing her. My mother calmed down a bit with Chris's kind and gentle words.
"So... when is he coming?" he asked. There was a silence in the big kitchen and then she whispered,
"Tomorrow..." Chris was shocked but handled it calmly. They hugged each other for awhile and mom made Chris sign some permission papers saying that it was okay that I left.
I heard every single word of this horrible conversation and I began to cry thinking about what the hell was happening. I mean, she told me that Chris was my step father but she never said anything about my real father. I ran up to my room and blasted on my Green Day music once more controlling my tears because I didn't want to let my mom know that I heard everything in the kitchen. I lay down on my bed staring at my picture of Tre Cool and I just got lost in all my thoughts until my mother came in and sat down on my bed. She turned the music off and began talking to me about random things obviously stalling about what she was going to tell me which I already knew. I sat up and looked at my mother and asked her,
"Mom... why is my father coming to get me and not Ryan and Michael?" Mom looked surprised at how straightforward I was. She sighed and began explaining,
"See... when I was around 30... I met your father at a bar and we had you together but never decided to get married because we didn't love each other the way we thought we did. When you were born he left me and we never had contact since. After years of raising you to the beautiful 19 year old women sitting before me, I re-married to Chris... your step father. We had Ryan and Michael together... so... " I was getting very frustrated at this point. I started to scream at my mother with tears running down my face.
"RYAN AND MICHAEL...THEIR REAL DAD IS CHRIS?! WHAT THE HELL?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!"
"Shannen...I wanted you to be happy..." my mom said, crying also.
"WELL HOW TO THINK I FEEL NOW?!" I screamed at her.
"I'm sorry...I tried to keep him away but it came back at bit me in the ass," I gave a huge sigh and just began sobbing, angry that my mother kept this from me for such a long time. Mom tried to hug me but I just pushed her away.
"Just...get...away...from...me," I said in between sobs. My mom stood up weakly and went to the door and quietly spoke,
"Get your stuff ready...he's coming tomorrow to get you..." I got more frustrated and threw my pillow at her but it only hit the door because mom already left. I cried myself to sleep that night with horrible thought running through my head about how my mother lied to me all these years and what my father is like. Mean? Nice? Abusive? Kind? I finally got all these thoughts of my head and I dried myself out so I couldn't cry anymore. I slowly drifted off to sleep with the face of the sweet, charming, sensitive face of Tre Cool to comfort me.
The next morning I woke up around seven because I couldn't sleep any longer knowing that my jackass of a father was coming to pick me up today. I began packing some crap and I eventually got everything packed and ready to go. I picked my four bags full of stuff and began to descend my way down the stairs. I dropped my bags and went into the kitchen completely ignoring my mother was staring at me. I casually took a breakfast bar and walked out into the living room. I turned on the TV to MTV and Green Day's Wake Me Up When September Ends came on. I watched MTV for a while until I heard a doorbell ring. I rolled my eyes knowing it was my father. I didn't even bother to answer the door so my mom had to get it. She went up to the door and looked at me.
"You ready for this? It's going to be quick a shock seeing your real father for the first time..." I replied with a simple groan. I stood up turned off the TV and walked up next to my mother still eating my breakfast bar. I took a huge bite out of it when my mother opened the door. When I saw who was standing at our little suburban home's door, the breakfast bar bite in my mouth fell to the ground. I just stood there at my front door, staring at the eyes of my real father.
"SHANNEN! COME SET THE TABLE!"
I rolled my eyes, turned off the music, put my away message up on AIM and went downstairs to set the table for my five person family. I finished and Chris told me to tell everyone else that dinner was ready. I nodded and yelled upstairs to my two brothers that dinner was ready. They came running down with Michael -my five year old brother -on Ryan's -my 14 year old brother- back. I smirked and followed them into the kitchen to eat the chicken, pasta and vegetables Chris had made for our dinner. We all began eating and then I broke the long silence between us.
"Umm...where's Mom?"
"She should be home now actually," Chris responded looking at the clock on the oven that read 6:30. I just nodded and went back to my food. A few seconds after my mom opened the door looking tired, stressed and depressed. She dropped of her files full of attorney files and trudged into the kitchen and sat down and began eating acting like nothing was wrong. She smiled a fake smile that only I could recognize and asked us how everyone's day was. Mikey (a.k.a Michael) began blabbering on how he played outside with is friends and played fire trucks. Chris just answered a simple "Fine" and Ryan had the same reaction as Chris. I just looked at her funny for a second and then answered her fully.
"A little boring, how about yours mom?" I asked sweetly to my mother knowing that something was wrong.
"Oh, fine...hard..." she answered tiredly and began pecking at her food again. The rest of the dinner consisted of Ryan talking about how stupid his high school was going to be and Michael butting into the conversation too feel included. Chris just kept eating occasionally asking about things Ryan explained and my mom kept on asking Ryan questions about what he's going to do, what classes he's going to take, all that boring stuff. I spent the whole dinner thinking of what could be bothering my mother. I couldn't figure it out I was racking my brain for anything I could think of Work? Her Boss? Her friends? Finally the dinner was over and each of us left by one Michael, and Ryan, then me. I wanted find out what was wrong but I could tell Chris and her wanted to be alone for a bit. I got up, cleaned my plate into the sink and left. I pretended to go upstairs but I really stayed downstairs with my ear plastered to the closed kitchen door.
"What's wrong honey? You're not yourself today..." Chris asked.
"Chris... I have to tell you something really important," my mother told her husband very seriously.
I could tell he was nervous, "Umm... okay... shoot." I could hear my mom get up from her seat and russling through some paperwork. She sat back down in her seat and put the papers on the kitchen table. Chris picked them up and read them with his eyes getting wide.
"What the hell is this all about?" Chris asked setting the papers back down on the desk.
"There papers... that state that Shannen has to visit her father for the summer." My mother explained a little scared of what Chris would say.
"What?! I thought he was out of your life! You put a restraining order on the man for gods sakes! How did this happen?!" Chris exploded.
My mother sighed, "He came into my office today demanding to see Shannen. Of course, I exploded on him saying that he had no right to take my daughter away from me. We set up an immediate trial case..."
"And?" Chris asked eager to know the result.
My mother rubbed her eyes and continued, "The judge said that he was allowed to take Shannen for the summer and that's all the time he could have with her. I put up another argument but the judge said if I didn't stop he would make him take Shannen for longer so I had no choice to give in..."
Mom began to cry and Chris hugged her trying to comfort her, "Honey, it could have been worse...I mean...it's only for the summer right? I mean...it's not like it's for the entire year..." Chris said soothingly to my mother and embracing her. My mother calmed down a bit with Chris's kind and gentle words.
"So... when is he coming?" he asked. There was a silence in the big kitchen and then she whispered,
"Tomorrow..." Chris was shocked but handled it calmly. They hugged each other for awhile and mom made Chris sign some permission papers saying that it was okay that I left.
I heard every single word of this horrible conversation and I began to cry thinking about what the hell was happening. I mean, she told me that Chris was my step father but she never said anything about my real father. I ran up to my room and blasted on my Green Day music once more controlling my tears because I didn't want to let my mom know that I heard everything in the kitchen. I lay down on my bed staring at my picture of Tre Cool and I just got lost in all my thoughts until my mother came in and sat down on my bed. She turned the music off and began talking to me about random things obviously stalling about what she was going to tell me which I already knew. I sat up and looked at my mother and asked her,
"Mom... why is my father coming to get me and not Ryan and Michael?" Mom looked surprised at how straightforward I was. She sighed and began explaining,
"See... when I was around 30... I met your father at a bar and we had you together but never decided to get married because we didn't love each other the way we thought we did. When you were born he left me and we never had contact since. After years of raising you to the beautiful 19 year old women sitting before me, I re-married to Chris... your step father. We had Ryan and Michael together... so... " I was getting very frustrated at this point. I started to scream at my mother with tears running down my face.
"RYAN AND MICHAEL...THEIR REAL DAD IS CHRIS?! WHAT THE HELL?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!"
"Shannen...I wanted you to be happy..." my mom said, crying also.
"WELL HOW TO THINK I FEEL NOW?!" I screamed at her.
"I'm sorry...I tried to keep him away but it came back at bit me in the ass," I gave a huge sigh and just began sobbing, angry that my mother kept this from me for such a long time. Mom tried to hug me but I just pushed her away.
"Just...get...away...from...me," I said in between sobs. My mom stood up weakly and went to the door and quietly spoke,
"Get your stuff ready...he's coming tomorrow to get you..." I got more frustrated and threw my pillow at her but it only hit the door because mom already left. I cried myself to sleep that night with horrible thought running through my head about how my mother lied to me all these years and what my father is like. Mean? Nice? Abusive? Kind? I finally got all these thoughts of my head and I dried myself out so I couldn't cry anymore. I slowly drifted off to sleep with the face of the sweet, charming, sensitive face of Tre Cool to comfort me.
The next morning I woke up around seven because I couldn't sleep any longer knowing that my jackass of a father was coming to pick me up today. I began packing some crap and I eventually got everything packed and ready to go. I picked my four bags full of stuff and began to descend my way down the stairs. I dropped my bags and went into the kitchen completely ignoring my mother was staring at me. I casually took a breakfast bar and walked out into the living room. I turned on the TV to MTV and Green Day's Wake Me Up When September Ends came on. I watched MTV for a while until I heard a doorbell ring. I rolled my eyes knowing it was my father. I didn't even bother to answer the door so my mom had to get it. She went up to the door and looked at me.
"You ready for this? It's going to be quick a shock seeing your real father for the first time..." I replied with a simple groan. I stood up turned off the TV and walked up next to my mother still eating my breakfast bar. I took a huge bite out of it when my mother opened the door. When I saw who was standing at our little suburban home's door, the breakfast bar bite in my mouth fell to the ground. I just stood there at my front door, staring at the eyes of my real father.
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