Fried Burrito

t w E N t y - t W o

I hated airhorns. I'd barely heard, seen, or used them but my newfound disdain has shown me otherwise because it was responsible for slapping me out of my slumber in the middle of the night by the heartless woman who ruined my childhood.

"Bennett's, it is time to get up!" she yelled from the bottom of the stairs. "Everybody down here now!"

She blew the airhorn countless times after to either be an ass or push us out of bed. I figured she was doing it for both those reasons.

My brothers and I shuffled down the stairs into our living room where our mother was standing.

"What's the matter?" Casey asked first.

"This family is the matter. I know you all know that your father and I aren't on speaking terms right now-" she stopped to look at me. "But I don't want that to affect us any longer. I've given you all enough time to mope so tonight we are going to make a family appearance at your Dad's award dinner."
"Award dinner? Award for what?" questioned Carson.

"His accomplishments with his realty. He's been doing very good lately."

"Since when?" questioned Charlie.

"Since forever."

I'm surprised she'd been paying attention.

"You had to wake us up in the middle of the night to tell us this? Are you-" Cal said but Mom held a hand to his face to interrupt him.

"No more questions or unnecessary thoughts. We will be leaving here at 5 pm, sharp. Be dressed in accurate attire, it is a formal event."

We stood there in silence probably questioning the sanity of our mother at the same time.
"You are dismissed," she said before she went back up the stairs.

"I think she's officially lost it," I muttered before I started to go back up the stairs.

"You're one to talk," CJ said to me.

I stopped in my tracks. He should be the last person talking to me. None of this would have happened if he had just been honest in the first place.

"Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?"

"None of this would've happened if you never lost your sh-"
"Shut up Caleb, if you clowns were honest with me, I would've never had anything to lose. I don't want to hear it."
"Ohh, she called you Caleb." joked Casey as an attempt to lighten the tension but I was in no joking mood.

"You never want to hear it, Caden! When you finally do, you go crazy and you destroy everything around you." CJ argued while moving towards me.

"Guys you need to relax, it's really late," Cal advised as he stepped in between us.

"What exactly are you trying to say? If you're trying to blame me for whatever is going on with our family then you better shut your mouth before I do it for you," I threatened.

"Caden-"

"No, I'm sick of this! I'm tired of having my feelings be neglected! First, I'm manipulated by some stranger my mother still advocates for years with no remorse. I mean I can't forget the brothers that helped her keep it a secret for years. Next, my boyfriend's brother tries to do the same days after I find out about it and now I've messed up my parent's marriage and I've lost the one boy I ever cared about..." The idiots were painfully silent as they listened to me. "I know this is messed up. We all do but surprise, this is how life goes. No matter how messed up I feel or how messed up things get, life goes on. Get over yourselves and start acting like the grown-ups you try so hard to be."