Riverview High: Circumstances

Family Dinner

When I got home, I logged onto the new Apple laptop that the Henderson’s got for me. Although it was extremely thoughtful of them to get it for me, I still wasn’t head over heels for them yet. I wasn’t ready for what happened at dinner that night either. My life has become so drama filled that it’s crazy!

I logged on to my Facebook and saw that I had a message from a local rapper named “Amahd The Rapper”. Even though I’d never heard any of Amahd’s music, I’d heard the name before. Nevertheless, he was offering me $100 to sing the hook on his new song. My first paid feature!

I was about to type him a response back but Mr. Henderson opened my bedroom door,

“Brianna, dinner is ready.”

I said, “Ok, I’ll come down in a minute.” without turning away from the computer screen. 

I heard him let out a sigh. He then said, “Brianna, you’re about to come down right now.”

I smacked my lips and turned to him, “What part of ‘in a minute’ don’t you understand?”

He walked up on me, “Young lady, I’ve gotten about tired of the disrespect you’ve been showing your mother and me! I understand you’re going through a lot in your life but enough is enough! I’ve tolerated it long enough. You live in our house now, which means you operate under our rules. Every Thursday we all sit down in the dining room and have family dinner. I need you up right now so we all can pray and eat together. Do you understand me?”

I mumbled, “Yes.”

He said, “Yes what?”

I sighed and said, “Yes sir.”

Before walking off, he looked down at his watch and said, “I expect for you to be down in this kitchen within the next two minutes. Make sure you leave your phone up here.”

Dang! Did he have to get that rough on me? I understand he’s my father and all but this man came in messing with me. I didn’t mind going down to grab a bite to eat because Mrs. Henderson can throw down in the kitchen. I’m not even gonna lie about that! Was all that forceful stuff necessary though?

I walked down the stairs and it smelled great! Mrs. Henderson made fried tilapia with mash potatoes and green beans. I then went to go get a glass plate from the kitchen. Mr. Henderson walked over to me and said, “Thank you for cooperating.”

I just nodded my head and walked over to prepare my plate.

Outside of me, the Henderson’s have two other daughters. My sister Sheri is the youngest out of all of us at the age of eleven. She’s the only one that hasn’t annoyed me since I’ve “rejoined” the family. Sheri is such a sweet girl! I wish I could say the same about Cynthia, our middle sister.

Cynthia is fifteen years old and a major trash talker. She isn’t one to hold back her tongue for anyone. I haven’t had that many run-ins with her in my first week of staying with the Henderson’s. From the house onto Riverview High, we go our separate ways. I do catch her staring me down whenever I’m around our parents. I guess she’s jealous that I’ve come in and taken all the attention and her spot as the oldest child.

In the midst of small talk, Mrs. Henderson asked, “So, how did the auditions for the Drama Club go Brianna? We never heard back from you about that.”

I nodded, “It went well. They’re not posting the list of the people that made it until next week but I’m sure I got a spot. Some people even filmed my performance and put it on YouTube. I checked earlier today and it’s about to hit forty thousand views.”

Mrs. Henderson smiled, “Wow! That’s great! One thing your father and I are supportive of is the talents of all of our children. I can’t wait to hear you perform live honey!”

“Thanks Mrs. Henderson.”

When I said that, Cynthia smacked her lips and mumbled something under her breath.

Mr. Henderson turned his attention to her, “Is there something you want to say Cynthia? There’s no need for you to mumble.”

I said, “Yeah Cynthia. Say it loud enough for all of us to hear it.”

She banged her hand on the table, “I’ve gotten so tired of you walking around like you’re just so much better than us! All Mom and Dad have been is loving to you in this short time you’ve been staying here but you’ve treated them like they’re strangers.”

I rolled my eyes, “I’m not treating anybody like a stranger. I’m just getting used to this family after all.”

“Well, we need you to act like you’re a part of this family! This is the first time any of us have seen you since you started living here. You’re always cooped up in your room!”

I snapped, “How do you expect me to act when I find out that the people that I called my mom and dad were really my aunt and uncle-in-law? What do you know about how I feel? Besides, it’s not like you’ve been treating me like a sister. I’ve been a part of petty drama since I walked through the doors of Riverview and you haven’t even lifted a finger to help me!”

“Well, maybe if you stopped calling my Mom and Dad ‘Mr. and Mrs. Henderson’ I’d start treating you like you’re a sister!”

I forcefully got up from my chair, “I don’t have to deal with this! I’m going up to my room!”

“Isn’t that a surprise? You’re running up to your room to do God knows what. That’s cool though! We don’t need you to be down here to have a family dinner! We haven’t needed you to be here for sixteen years!”

We started shouting more stuff back and forth at each other. Sheri pleaded for us to stop, saying, “Please stop fighting you guys! This is our family time!”

None of us heard her though. We kept going at each other’s throats until Mr. Henderson had enough. He slammed his fist on the table so hard that it jumped. We immediately stopped arguing.

“That’s enough you two! This senseless fighting going on between us has to stop! We are a family and I refuse to let anything as simple as money or sibling rivalries break us apart.”

I shook my head, “I sort of think this goes deeper than a sibling rivalry Mr. Henderson……”

“Did I tell you to speak Brianna? Did I tell you to speak?”

I lowered my head, “No sir.”

“You know what? You’re actually right Brianna. We’re going to settle this problem between you two right now. Brianna, Cynthia I need for you to follow me to the den.”

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