I know he never wanted to foster me, but he needed to, it's what his brother, my dad would have wanted.
And for the most part, Mr.Wish honored every wish my dad could have asked, he fed me, gave me a roof over my head, and helped with everything, homework, yard work, and girls, still find that funny. He wasn't always home, but he had multiple jobs just to support us, and he deserved the money. He was a tailor, a therapist, and a pharmacist in one, anybody could come to him at any moment in the day for services from any of these jobs, he was a multitasker and a damn good one.
One great person to note, however, was always Ellian, my cousin. She was always there for me regardless of the circumstances, and better yet, she was a troublemaker dragging me along to her bad ideas.
As a kid, I was a book nerd, and it wasn't even that I was huge on reading, or that I even really was a nerd, just that I hated being around people. For as long as I can remember, I always hated people, they were always the root, the very cause of all the things wrong with my life, so I would bundle up in a sweater and a blanket in my bedroom and ignore everyone for as long as I could get away with it before they started questioning my silence.
Well, one day, Ellian comes up to me and asks. "William, would you like to go out?" I replied, "No, not really?" Obviously. She sits in the doorway, twirling her body, "But, it'd be fun, Will, I have some ideas of what we can do" I sighed and put my book down on my bed. "What is it, Elli?" She jumped up and down, excited I was finally acknowledging her. "I want to go out and grab some records, I know how much you like all that music! Daddy keeps a player in the corner of the living room, I know you've seen it, but he doesn't have any records to play on it, so let's buy some!". I smiled, pulling off my sweater. "That sounds quite nice" I replied. She hugs me, I pat her back, and we walk together. She stops in the living room, looking around with a smile till she stops at my uncle's bedroom.
"What are you doing?" I asked as she walked inside. "I've got an even better idea, Will" I followed her. "What is it?", she doesn't respond. Before I discuss what we did next, it was 1916, we were both 16 at this point. She reaches inside a drawer next to Phillipe's bed and pulls out a key. She uses it to open a locker that sits on his wardrobe shelf. In the locker, are bottles of BirdDog apple whiskey, and she hands me one of the two bottles. "Take this," She says. I think my reply was just as outlandish as the idea, something like "What the fuck is wrong with you?" But she shrugged it off and walked out. "You come or you don't but we're bringing the booze" I jumped to my feet and followed behind her. It was like something out of a film, she snuck in between houses so nobody would see us, but I was slow and falling behind.
We got onto a train to Damianstown, where the best shops and musicians in the area were and lived. We sit alone in a train car, quiet, I'm blushing from the nerves of getting caught. She watches me intensively as she pours a portion of the bottle into a flask and hides the bottle underneath the seat. "Come on will, I wanna see you try it" She hands me the flask, and I knock it back and take a swig, taunting her with a pinky thrown back as I do. It tastes good, I enjoy it, and I take another sip. She pulls it out of my hand laughing, "Save some for me, asshole" In a joking tone. I hand the bottle over and she takes a swig before setting it in between us.
She starts speaking to break the awkward silence as I reach for the bottle, the train coming to a stop. "Leave the bottle, Will, we'll just stay in DamiansTown for a few hours and wait for this train to circle back around, then we'll grab our bottle and wait for it to bring us back to Burroughsville. I nod and follow her, leaving the train.
I'm amazed by the tall buildings, the beauty of all the happy people, the beautiful people. I found it fun. We entered a shop, a grand opening sign still in the glass. We were the first customers of this shop, the shelves stacked head to toe in vinyl records wrapped in plastic. I pick up one with a photo that catches my eye, a photo of five men in suits playing various instruments. "The Original Dixieland Jazz Band" it read.
I bought it so quickly, just 25 dollars. We walked throughout the town with our new record in my hand, showing it off to anybody who'd asked what it was.
With alcohol in our systems, I got sentimental, and Ellian got jumpy. We together were yin and yang, opposites with a bit of influence from the other. The energy was amazing with Ellian.
On the way home, it contradicted just as well. 9 pm, we're on the train. Ellian goes from rambling to barely audible groans of speech. I said to her, "Is everything alright, are you tired?" She nodded with a yawn. "Don't fall asleep on me now, Elli, we still have to listen to the music together" She popped herself to an upright position and mumbled, "Yes, but it won't be easy for me to stay awake" I handed her the bottle of whiskey. "A buzz is boring, we can share this longer, just promise me you'll stay conscious and I'll try and do the same" She takes a large gulp and hands it over. "Will do, Will".
We eventually got home and were caught by my Uncle while we played music having had a ton of alcohol. And I can tell you it wasn't fun getting that lecture. But this is one of my favorite memories from my childhood
YOU ARE READING
The Phoenix-Book 1: Farforth Martyrdom
General FictionWilliam Phoenix is born into poverty but slowly makes his way up through the ranks of society. He has all he can dream of, the girl, the friends, the money. but it all begs the question, who are you with and without challenges in your life? and he f...
