Sunday, May 10, 2015

Rough Draft

Cale Houghton
Rough Draft 5/10

Yard Sale:
A few hours earlier, I had been screaming at my parents, yelling “You can’t take it away! I hate you! YOU CAN’T TAKE IT AWAY!” This was 5 year old logic of course. They could, and they did, take away my train table, and the box of toys I had kept next to my bed.
Now I sat in my driveway, hating my parents, hating New York. Tears streamed down my face, because I was only 5 and didn’t know about self control yet. Most of the toys in the box had been sold, and another little boy was standing in my backyard at his dads ankles, about to buy my Thomas the Tank Engine train table. His dad talked to my dad, I saw him hand him some money, and my dad nodded and smiled.
I ran up to my mom. “Don’t let him take it away!” I wailed.
“I’m sorry honey, but we all have to make sacrifices here, so we can get to New York,” she said.
“I don’t want to move. I hate moving!”
“C’mon, let's get inside,” she said, while picking me up. While she carried me inside, I caught a glimpse of the man loading my train table onto his pickup, his son grinning. It’s all their fault I thought to myself.

Finding Out:
I sat in my kitchen, having dinner with my mom and my brother. My brother was telling her about how his day in 2nd grade had gone. I was silent. I still am silent when I eat with my parents, there’s nothing to talk about I guess. Anyway, while we ate dinner, my dad came in the front door, closing it with a slam. He walked through the foyer and into the kitchen, greeting my mom and us. After taking off his jacket, he pulled up a chair and ate dinner with us. My silence continued.
About midway through dinner, he whispered something in my moms ear and she nodded.
He spoke up to me and my brother, telling us, “Your mother and I have some big news,” or something diplomatic like that. “My job is moving to New York, and we decided that we want to go with it.” For a few seconds, I was confused about what that meant.
I caught on though, when my mom said, “And were selling the house, unfortunately, so that we can afford an apartment in New York.” My brother acted surprised, and started asking questions about when we would go, did we know when we were going to move.
I can’t say that it hadn’t been hinted at. My dad had been taking week-long business trips to New York for a while, and my mom had dropped little hints, like telling us we might be spending more time in New York. I hadn’t caught on though. I guess even after hearing this though, I still didn’t believe it. I imagined that in a few days, my parents would tell me to unpack anything I had packed, to take the toys in the box out, and to tell my friends I didn’t have to leave after all. I imagined this because I knew that they would never make the decision to leave Arlington without me, because they respected my opinion.

How to Talk to Your Parents
If they start giving you advice or instructions, just agree to it, even if you really don't agree with it or you know that you won't follow their instructions.
If they won't stop giving you instructions just stare at their nose and nod, while trying to remember what I need to know for the next latin test.
You should make eye contact with them, even though you don't really care about what they are saying, and don't yawn or sigh unless you want to piss them off. Also, don't go on your phone while they are talking, no matter how little you care. They’ll just take it.
If you have to ask for something, make sure you have done most of the regular chores, and anything your parents have been nagging you about. You know they will ask about that when you want something, so just be prepared and do it before hand. Also, try to make what you are asking for related to school, even if you didn't think it was related to school. It will help your chances a lot. If you are asking for something over the weekend, make sure you are not in your pajamas, and haven't been on your phone all day.
If you actually want to make a conversation, then talk about your grades and the lack of trouble you have been in. That’s all they really care about.
If they start yelling at you, don’t say anything you would regret saying later. But call them out on bullshit they give you, so they don’t think they can walk all over you. If they are yelling at you about the instructions they gave but you didn't follow, take the same steps you did when they were giving the advice and repeat. Don't worry about it - what ever they are trying to advise or instruct you to do they will eventually forget about.

New York, Nine Years Later
“Cale, pass the salt please,” my dad says.
I look up, mumble a complaint, and pass it to him. That lazy-ass could have gotten it himself, but he just wanted me to pick my head up off the table. The reason my head was on the table was because they had dragged me to some Italian restaurant when I had been trying to finish some assignment. And I knew that they would complain about how late I stay up later. After passing the salt, I put my head back on the table.
“You know, you should be a lot more grateful about getting to go to nice restaurants,” my dad says.
I look around.
“I didn’t ask to come here,” I said.
“It’s called spending time with your family,” he responded. “I’m sure you would never ask to do it, but some of us like being around each other.
“Whatever,” I said, letting it go. This happened almost every time I went anywhere with them. Sometimes I let it go, sometimes I didn’t. My head dropped again. They made conversation with my brother, talking with him about colleges, and where he wanted to apply. It did sound like they liked talking to each other.

Later though, when we got out of the restaurant, my mom said to me, “The way you acted in there was really embarrassing,  you know.”
“Oh did I embarrass you?” I responded. “Get over it.” And as we walked home, I stayed as far behind them as possible, telling myself I didn’t give a shit about them.

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