The Shattered Memory of a Violinist

//One - Drink Until You Cannot Stand//

WILLA VALENTINA VAN DER MARIEL ^

//One — Drink Until You Cannot Stand//

Willa Van der Mariel

The last thing I want to be doing right now was listening to my dad complain about the neighbour’s loud music at night. Honestly, did he not think he was the only one suffering from the lack of sleep? We may of only been living here for nine months, but it felt like we had become part of the loud neighbour family quickly.

We were seated at the dinner table, eating beef stew which Mike, had prepared for us. My brother was sitting beside me, his little eye’s trained on the television. He had some weird obsession with the news, and always asking if we could watch it. Since, none of us wanted to watch it and Judge Judy was on right after six o’clock, Dave, compromised and said we could watch it during dinner. I honestly think I am the only one who doesn’t like watching war’s through dinner. 

“Do you think we should go over there?” Demanded Dave, obviously still on the topic of our rowdy neighbours.

Mike sighed. “And what? Asked a high person to shut the fuck up? Honey, they aren’t gonna do it”

Dave must really be tired, because normally he scolded at Mike for swearing at the dinner table, and in front of us kids. Instead, he gave a annoyed sigh and went back to eating his beef stew. 

“Maybe we could send the Kelli’s boy over there? Teenager’s often listen to other teenager’s” Dave tried.

“I’m a teenager” I pointed out. 

Good luck with that fight, Willa.
Dave and Mike both looked at me. Whoever said Gay parent’s were laid back obviously was a idiot. My parent’s are the most strictest human being’s alive. Well, Mike is more of the fun parent who slips you twenty bucks to go to the movies after curfew.
“There is no way in God’s earth are you going over there, you hear me, Willa?” Dave said protectively, he had grown phobic to letting me speak to teenager’s now. Especially, lunatics. 

I nodded. “I hear you, Papa”

“I could go” My little brother, Eldon said beside me, peeling his eye’s off the t.v. “They will listen to me”

Mike grinned in amusement, and Dave frowned. “Um, Ed” He started with the nickname. Good call Pa. “You have to save your strength for when you are older and more buff”

At this, I choked on my stew. 

I earned a glare from Dave, a grin from Mike and a cold look from my brother.
“I am already buff!” Retorted Eldon, scowling at our father’s. “I am a big boy and all the ladies love me” He added cheekily. 

Yeah, right. He is like eight.

“Your eight, Eldon. There are no ladies in your class” I said, still laughing.

Mike looked like he was going to burst out laughing, while Dave had even began to smile, but his tight business owner frowned stayed. I swear it had become a permanent fixture on his face.
“Alright. Dinner’s done” I said happily, standing up.

“Dishes, Willa” 

I sighed, sometimes it sucked being the only female in the family who had a natural talent of being able to clean thing’s. There was no female in my parent’s relationship. 

Wasn’t that the point?

I took up the bowels, and everyone else’s. Including, Eldon — who was not done — but was too interested in the news to care. Our home, I decided, was better than everyone else’s a long time ago. We lived in a neighbour hood where all the houses were the same, and inches apart, so everyone tried desperately to stand out. My father’s didn’t try — they did stand out. We had crazy colour coronations, and fancy furniture yet it somehow all seemed to fit together like a puzzle. For instant, there was a red striped seat that was attached from the ceiling, and seemed to fit perfectly with the fluffy white rug that our cat - Wolverine, was in love with. And beside that was a coffee table with bright yellow flowers, and orange weirdly shape pots that held the flowers. There was a large book case filled with my father’s and sisters books, and pictures of our family. The ones where we were younger consists of us eating ice-cream in Boston, some had been packed away since the move.