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Show house/ 377 "Brian, how can you say that?" "I've always felt left out of things. My brothers and sisters belong in the family. I don't. I was the mistake my mother couldn't cover up - and I think she's always hated me for it." I wanted to say something to keep him from speaking, but I didn't know what to say. What kind of man is this? I wondered. What am I getting myself into? "You know what my favorite fairy tale was? Hansel and Gretel. It was like this dream I used to have that my family was leaving without me. I would run after the car, screaming." "And then what?" I was remembering my own childhood dream, of being stuck on the front porch with the door locked and wolves behind me. "Either they didn't hear me or they wouldn't stop. I would keep running until I fell down. And then the car would disappear. And I would be alone." "Oh, Brian." My heart swelled with pity. her anger "Ever since she threw my father out, she's taken A out on me. She and my aunt would watch me play and they'd say, 'Just like his dad. He's gonna be just like his dad.'" My head buzzed with a hundred different thoughts, too jumbled to follow through. My father's pronouncement of me had come true. Perhaps Brian's mother's words would also come true. "And will you be...just like your dad?" Brian shook his head vehemently. "When I think about him, my chest gets so tight I can't breathe. I have no desire to emulate him. I think I hate him." "Brian, no! You can't afford to hate your parents! |