The Troublesome Life of the Brothers & Me

Introduction Part 1

I don't even know why I'm keeping this diary. Maybe this is a last resort in order to escape the insufferable brats currently living in my household (even though I love them very much) or maybe I'm just a person who just likes to vent stuff. Either way, I'm not losing any money. At least not until Barry decides to flood the basement with raccoons again. But, before all events come tumbling together, I suppose I should give you some backstory before you start getting lost in the wreck that is my life.

My name is Gabi, and I'm 26. I enrolled in NYU a couple of weeks ago (bankruptcy here I go) and currently working part-time at the burger joint close to my dreary apartment in Jersey city. I like cats, hiking, and video games. Alright, I don't really like the getting to know you part in books, so I'm just going to move on. It's not like your not going to know more of me as I tell you these stories anyway *insert awkward chuckle* I am the oldest of three brothers, and wow, you do NOT wanna associate yourself with any one of them. Like I am begging you, please walk the other way if they even glance at you. It's for your own good, trust me. Am I overreacting? No, no I'm not, and let me tell you why.

My first brother is named Micheal. Now, he isn't necessarily the worst, but he's not an angel either. You know those popular high school jocks in movies? Well take their arrogance and multiply it by a million, and ta da, you get my brother on a platter. He used to be a straight A student before our parents left; he had a small solid group of nerdy friends, and was high on the drug that was volunteering, which I was very proud of. Something just twisted in him when they left two years ago, and it felt like the pieces that made him were totaled and sent away to some uninhabited land.

The first few months, I thought it was teen angst, just hormones shifting his body from one thing to another. I was wrong, like I usually am. He began designating himself as Micheal The Third, which was an absurd negation of the truth. He is NOT a prince, or whatever else he had in mind. He dyed his hair, spent countless hours at the gym, and went to 'pick-up girls in just one month' courses. I just hoped it wouldn't be with a white van. God knows how much those courses really helped him. I see girls gawking at his every move these days, so maybe I should take one of them for the heck of it.

Everyone knows my brother, quite literally EVERYONE. I was in the back of a stranger's car Tuesday night (don't ask why) and the first thing he asked was, "By any chance, are you related to Michael The Third?" First of all, his name is MICHEAL, not whatever that is. And second, his identity may have helped me get out of jams like that, but whatever I get into is usually caused by him and his brothers, so as you can see there's a certain balance in this mess.

He's a real gentleman at school, or at any other establishment. At home as you can guess, he plops down on the couch, scrolls through tv, and barks at the serf (me) to get him some chips after the busy day he had (the busy day being everyone giving him compliments) I of course, tell him to get his lazy behind off the couch and do homework, but I usually have to threaten to turn the internet down for forty times until he listens. One day when I'm old and crippled, I shall have my revenge.

My second brother Rafael, is the most troublesome of them all. My parent's departure may have hit him the hardest. He wouldn't stop crying the first couple of months. My blouse would be utterly soaked from his tears, while his numb body lay at the shirt I got from walmart. I used to put my arms around him and tell him the world wouldn't be so bad anymore, we would get through it. Oh boy, was I wrong. Not in the sense of, "oh no we're getting past this" but in the sense of, "why did I choose to raise three delinquents on my own" But getting through it, we did. If you see him today, he'll be wearing the worn off cap he got from my dad when he was five, or one of the only 14 year old I know that wears one of the massive shirts, as it apparently "shows him masculinity"