Brand New Crue

God Bless The Children of The Beast pt2

Nobody is truly carefree anymore. Everyone, everywhere, and at every turn, has some ridiculous concern. A worry that plagues them constantly. A voice of negativity deep within them, that perpetually negates their ability to succeed at whatever task is currently at hand. Only the truly ignorant individual, a rarity in this world, possesses the ability to ignore said negative voice and push forward without a care or cause for concern. That's usually where the trouble begins. Many of these ignorant individuals are lucky enough to have at least one person in their life to assist in picking up the pieces in the wake of the disaster. One person that is loyal enough to stay by their side through thick and thin, and help glue the pieces back together. All while knowing, they will be in this position again, and it will most likely be worse than the time before. Considering, the ignorant one pays little to no attention to the consequences at hand, and simply barrels forward.

Niki glanced up from the notebook she carried everywhere, and frowned at her brother. She was sprawled on her belly in the middle of her room, scribbling absently on the pages. She found herself in this position frequently. The only place she could hide from her mother's constant wrath. She never understood why her mother hated her so much, yet showered her twin brother with so much affection. They were practically the same in every way, except he was a boy and she was a girl. He was always in trouble in some form or fashion, but Niki caught hell for it, as it was her responsibility to take care of him, regardless that he was older by 2 minutes. Her eyes darted to the open closet door, and the cardboard box that lurked behind it. All of Niki's thoughts and feelings over the last three years cloistered in an ugly brown box.

Tommy was always in her room admiring himself in her full length mirror she inherited from Grammy. It wasn't that Tommy was vain. Far from it. He never walked through life as if he was some Adonis for all to admire and worship. He simply liked to primp. To assure himself he was properly disheveled and remnants of his most recent meal weren't lingering in his teeth. It only irritated her occasionally, as Tommy was her rock, so to speak. That and he didn't take cheap shots at her aspirations in life because of it. Which her mother was prone to do as often as possible. That could be why Niki never excelled at anything outside of music. All things girly she attempted, her mother was there to shoot her down. Deftly sealing Niki's hatred for simply being born female.

They were seventeen now, and practically on their own, since their parents' divorce. Their father had moved his little family into his grandparents' house when the kids were five, under the guise of it being his inheritance from them, along with Pops' construction business. At least that's how he had explained it to his then five year olds. However, Niki knew it was because of her. She took the blame from her mother for where they lived along with everything else. If she wasn't such a sensitive little whiner, they wouldn't have left their beautiful apartment. Pops and Grammy had passed away not long after her and Tommy had turned 13 years old. Niki missed Grammy all the time. When her father wasn't around, Grammy would shield Niki from her mother's hatred. When Grammy passed away, Tommy stepped into the role. His idea of shielding his sister was to distract Mom from whatever she was pissed about long enough for Niki to lock herself in her room or their father's studio. It was hard on him to take on this role, seeing as how he was Mom's obvious favorite, and he loved her dearly, but he loved his sister too. That had been a constant fight between their parents before their divorce. Mom hated the fact that Niki and Tommy were so close. She considered it unnatural and she blamed it all on Niki.

She would hear them arguing late at night. Mostly about Dad spending too much time at work, and then every spare moment with the kids, especially that girl. That's what Mom called Niki when discussing her with others, including their father. He always defended Niki, which would lead to Mom accusing Dad of loving Niki more than he loved her. Then inevitably, it would lead to Mom systematically dissecting everything Niki did down to being abnormal. Her love of music was abnormal. Niki had a natural musical instinct and that was abnormal. What she wore was abnormal. What she said was abnormal. Constantly writing in those stupid notebooks was abnormal. She had no friends and that was abnormal. Niki was beginning to think there really was something wrong with her. She couldn't remember the last time her mother had hugged her. And she was certain it was more of a show for the general public, than an ounce of genuine affection for her daughter.