#6- Zürich
I'd never thought I'd say this but I love my father. We were sitting at one of our scheduled dinner's where all of the family, including Elga, are sitting at the table.
My mother, God bless her non-functioning brain, had just suggested that I get a job on a ranch for the summer. In Texas where it's about a million degrees during the winter.
Dad's loud, “Hell no!” still reverberated through the still air.
Alfred and Genevieve also looked surprised while Yolanda seemed confused and Genevieve's husband, Jordan, looked bored. Elga drained her wine, grabbed the bottle and drank straight from the mouth. Taylor was pouting up a storm and finally blurted out, “No! Zürich is mine and she can't go to Texas with a bunch of inbred hicks!”
Yolanda turned to her daughter and said, “Now Taylor, sweetie, we've gone over this. Zürich isn't a pet and you don't own her. And Texas is a very nice state with lots of cattle and greenery to the east.”
Taylor slumped in her seat and gave Mom a dirty look. Mom ignored her, a worthy feat, and turned to my father.
“Michael, you're always complaining about her work-ethic so maybe this is just what she needs. My cousin works out there so it's not so bad,” Mom smiled, hoping to disarm him.
It didn't work. Dad frowned darker, said, “No,” and that was the end from him.
“You mean that drunk con Joe who wouldn't know work if it bit his ass?” Lance asked her, skepticism rich in his tone.
Mom frowned this time and said, her gentle voice sharp, “He's reformed and he's been sober for over two years now.”
She looked at me and smiled, “He has a son about your age and he's taken in his neighbor's daughter as well.” Most of the time her smile made me do whatever she wanted but this time I met it with a dark scowl, the mini-match of Dad's famous one according to the photo Phillip shot just then, and said, “No.”
Mom pouted and seemed to shrink into herself. She'd used the tactic often to get me to go to the mall with her so I was mostly immune to it and turned back to my meal. I wasn't able to eat however as the doorbell rang then.
Elga was starting to look sloshed so I excused myself and went to answer the door. I looked through the peep-hole and, seeing no pamphlets, name-tags, or gaudy colors, answered it.
Tawny was standing there and smiled at me. It wasn't the sunny, bright one she gave at the games though; she looked almost awkward to me. She shifted her weight and held up what looked like a twisted piece of brass with teethmarks.
“I'm sorry about this. My brother, you know Tommy, he thought it would be funny to take it and give it to our new dog,” And here she flinched, “After playing soccer with it.”
I stared at it and noticed some of the parts looked like they were part of my telescope. I looked up at her and practically felt the pity flowing off of her. I felt my chest get tight and my eyes burn some. I took it, mumbled something, and turned to go to my room.
The brass telescope was from Dad's side of the family, handed down from generation to generation for eighteen generations. I was supposed to give it to my children and keep it going and here I was standing with a cold lump of metal. I clenched my teeth and went up to my room, slamming my door.
I hated people. In the instant that I slammed my door, the little faith I'd held in the general populace to be kind people that had matured and grown up in the summer, the little bit of hope that they weren't cruel enough to go onto my property and destroy what was mine was crushed and I felt my chest cavity implode. My sight was less blurry already and I sat next to Samuel.
He looked at the telescope and then at me. He shook his head, said, “Asshole,” and didn't say anything else.
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