Revelations: Redemption

Before...

"Happy birthday, Eddie!"

10 years old. Not quite a child and not quite a teenager. The limbo of ages. I mean, a birthday is a birthday, regardless of your age. Family members I haven't seen in a year show up for one day to throw free things at me? You won't hear me complaining.

"My, look how big you've gotten! Come give Auntie Katie a kiss"

"Do I have to?" I moaned

Auntie Katie frowned. "Well of course you do! You're a young man now, it's time you start treating us ladies with the proper respect!"

Then in the blink of an eye she swooped down and gave me a big, old sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"EWWWW!!" I shrieked.

"Oh, that never gets old," she chortled

I hobbled away, wiping the saliva off of my face when I bumped into my father. "So many tall people," I thought to myself.

"Son," he boomed, "I hope you know just how proud of you mummy and I are"

That was a lie. My dad hardly ever noticed me unless he was yelling for me to fetch him another beer from the fridge. Sammy... Sorry, Samuel was always the apple of their eyes since he got straight A's on his exams. I'm learning the alphabet in Spanish and learning my twelve times tables while he's off conducting experiments in laboraties, speaking fluent German AND French, and also being the captain of the football team! Older brothers are just the worst!

"Say, while you're here...," I'd completely forgotten I was with my dad! "why don't you go grab me a nice can of Fosters from the kitchen? There's a good lad," he said, patting me on the head like an obedient dog.

I waddled into the kitchen (I say waddled because my mum had forced me into some overalls she had bought me that made me look like an Italian plumber!) and saw him standing there....

"...Und das ist, warum ich denke, Ihre neue Frisur ist lächerlich"

"Wow Sammy! Sounds like you're almost fluent at this point! I don't even care that I don't know what you said because the language is just so beautiful!"

"Thank you, Uncle John," Sammy chuckled, "but please, call me Samuel. I prefer that name far more than Sammy." His face shrivelled up as his lips spat out that word, as if it was poison.

Uncle John began to giggle when he was interrupted by a hiccup. "Whoops! I guess that's enough alcohol for me today!" He beamed as if he had actually accomplished something. My family confused me so many times in so many ways, I learned to expect this kind of strangeness from them.

As our bizarre uncle left the room, Sammy wiped sweat from his brow and hurried over to where I was standing.

"Happy birthday, bro! How are you feeling?" Sammy smiled.

"Fine" I grumbled.

"Oh, come on! It's your birthday! You're ten years old now! Everything changes when you turn ten!"

"Uh-huh"

Sammy stared at me intensely.

"What's going on, Eddie? Why are you being like this?"

Obviously I couldn't tell him the truth. Just because he was leaving for university next year doesn't give him the right to act all high and mighty! Mum and Dad are constantly singing his praises just because he's the first member of the family to ever go to uni. So what? It's not a big deal! People go to uni all the time! I don't get it. Sometimes...

"Hello...? Is anybody in there?" Sammy knocked on my forehead with his knuckle.

"Wha- I...er..."

Sammy burst out laughing.

"Oh Eddie, please don't ever change" he grinned and patted me the same way my dad did not moments ago.

"Don't worry Sammy, I won't." I tried to make his name sound as malicious as possible.

Sammy's face darkened. "What did I tell you about calling me that name?" He growled.

I backed up, knowing I had made a mistake. "I'm...I'm sorry, Samuel" I whimpered.

Sammy's face immediately lit up. "That's better." And with that, Sammy left the room.

After spending a couple of seconds in a daze, I quickly remembered why I was in the kitchen in the first place. I ran to the fridge, opened the door, scanned the shelves for another can, grabbed the last one and sprinted into the next room.

The living room. One chair by the window, a sofa along the wall, another chair in the corner and four disgusting grown ups sat on them.

"There he is! There's the birthday boy!" Mum exclaimed.

"Where's my beer?" Dad asked, staring deep into my eyes.

I lifted my hand to show him the can. "Good lad." He smiled.

"They're all fake," I thought to myself "Not one of them gives a damn about me. All they care about is their precious little Samuel. Well if they can't be bothered to care for me properly, then I'm through playing nice. I'm through being the quiet, obedient kid in the corner. I'm through being...me!"