Sorry Not Sorry
As I parked in front of my aunt’s house, I sighed. This Thanksgiving was gonna suck.
At least, this year, with everybody talking about the election results, maybe I wouldn’t have to hear about how I wasn’t married yet.
Avery was waiting for me at the door, as if she’d been watching through the window. “Heya, sis!” I said loudly. “How’s college?” Then, in a softer voice, I asked her, “So, how bad are they?”
“Medium,” she whispered back. “The uncles aren’t saying much, but Todd is on a rampage.” I rolled my eyes as I shut the door behind me.
As if on cue, my cousin Todd appeared, wearing a “Benton for Governor” baseball cap.
“Hi, cuz!” he shouted, grinning at me. “Where’s your boyfriend José? Oh, wait. Benton deported him!” He cackled with laughter.
My eyes narrowed. “It’s Diego, and we broke up months ago. Don’t you read Facebook?”
“Girl, I blocked you! I don’t need to see you whining to your commie friends about how we have a real governor now.”
I shook my head. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Sorry, snowflake, did I trigger you?” The cackling continued.
I saw my sister slink off toward the kitchen. She was never one for confrontation. She takes after Mom that way. As the family loudmouth, I’ve never understood that.
“Diego’s an American citizen anyway, Todd. He was born in the same hospital as you!”
“Fake news!” Todd crowed. “Finally I’ll be able to get a job after Benton kicks out all the illegals.”
“Dude, immigrants aren’t the reason you can’t get a job. Have fun with that after Big Business Benton outsources the rest of the jobs to China.”
“Todd!” said Todd’s mother, my aunt Marianne, emerging from the kitchen. “Can Darby at least get inside the house before you start your nonsense?” She hugged me. “Hi, sweetie.”
Turning my back on Todd, I strolled toward the kitchen to help with the food.
An hour later, the turkey was in the oven, and the other dishes were prepped. Mom, our aunts, and some of our cousins were sitting around discussing mortgage interest rates. In the living room, our uncles were flipping between the football game and the conservative news channel.
Avery and I escaped to my car, turned the key one notch to listen to the radio, and opened the sunroof. Stuffing my sweatshirt into the center console, I lay back across both front seats with my feet sticking out the window. Avery did the same in the back seat, feet out the opposite side. I watched two blue jays arguing in the tree above.
“So when did Todd become an asshole?” I wondered.
“I don’t know. He was a sweet kid,” Avery said. “Remember how he used to love feeding the birds out back of our house?”
I laughed. “Yeah. And when he got older he’d chase them off.”
“It’s his dad’s influence,” Avery said. “Aunt Marianne voted for Harris. She told me.”
“Can you imagine being married to Uncle Phil and hearing that shit all the time?”
Avery giggled. “No. I bet she tunes it out. Like when he rants about sports.”
I snorted. “I’d rather talk about sports. I don’t know how you can hear that crap and not say anything.”
“We’re family, ya know? Todd’s not going anywhere,” Avery said. “Why start a fight that nobody can win?”
I sighed. Maybe she was right. Probably my aunt didn’t want us all at war on a holiday.
Turns out, a lot of things can change in a year.
It was Thanksgiving again. In the kitchen, Mom stood peeling potatoes. She glanced up as Todd walked in to grab a beer from the fridge. Setting down her knife, she reached for the TV remote.
On the screen, Governor Benton appeared, hands cuffed behind his back, escorted by two police officers. “Hundreds gathered outside the courthouse yesterday as Governor John Benton’s trial concluded,” said the news anchor. “On Monday, he’ll begin his 15-year prison sentence for corruption, extortion, and obstruction of justice.”
Todd scowled as he rifled through the junk drawer for a bottle opener.
Don’t say it, Darby, I told myself. Rise above. Let it go.
They I heard my sister's voice.
“It’s okay, Todd,” she said. “Benton is an autumn. He’ll look great in orange!”
Gales of laughter erupted from my mom, aunt, and cousins. Grinning, I grabbed Avery in a headlock and knuckled her hair.
Writing Prompts:
- photo
- emotion: schadenfreude
Loved the interaction between the two sisters who had their way of navigating family dynamics. The bit at the end made me lover Avery all the more, hah. Poor Todd. I do hope he finds a nice hobby and a job. Maybe some weed to unwind him a bit.
ReplyDeleteI love Darby--you gave her such a strong voice. And that Todd. I just want to throat punch him.
ReplyDeleteSomething to think about: the next year Thanksgiving felt a little jarring to me. You might want to consider a scene break indicator to give more clarity to the time jump.
I loved that both sisters approached the situation differently the second time around. Great job building a complex and believable family!
I agree with the previous comments. Strong character building and the story felt finished because they had noticeably changed. The year fast-forward was a little abrupt. I also wanted to read Darby confronting Todd. She talks a lot about how she's the loudmouth, but the reader never sees that side of her in this story.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you made Todd so unlikeable that we, like the family, got that relief of experiencing schadenfreude the following Thanksgiving (though I did also feel bad for Todd for some reason-- His annoying comments are easily/rightly dismissed as dumb rantings, but he had the entire family laughing at him, which he can't brush off as easily. Though I think that was intentional on your part, since you gave some sympathetic backstory for Todd!). I liked the layers and contradictions, and you used the prompts well. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete