An End Note

I just came back from what can only be described as an experience of unimaginable horror.

It is so scary, I can hardly re tell it, but I feel I have to, for all of those who share my pain.

I just got back from a place I call "Fake City", where everyone acts as fake as possible in order to rush the event along.

My nephew Ricky decided to reserve a big room in the restaurant he works at and invite the family to come and witness him propose to his pregnant and about to give birth any day girlfriend, Ashley.

Ashley hates Ricky's mom, my mean, drunk sister that I have written about in previous posts. I hate her, too. Ricky is the only one of her four sons that speak to her. For this particular little night out to hell, my sister decides to invite her "roommate" James, who has his kids for the weekend. He also has no job, no car, no money, and no ambition. So, anyway....

Shawn and I arrive a little after nine and find Kathy (my mean drunk sister) and James sitting at the bar. We are shown into the room that Ricky and Ashley are supposed to be in, and sitting at the table with them, in the seats that we are supposed to sit in, are James' three kids, all under the age of ten. Ricky and Ashley are supervising them to make sure they eat all their dinner and not spill anything. I am incensed immediately but say nothing. My mean, drunk sister approaches me and asks me what my fucking problem is and then asks me if I need her to punch me. (I must have looked pissed off.) I ignore her and take my seat. She runs back off to her whisky, or beer, or whatever.

Shawn and I order dinner and eat. While we are eating, Ricky comes over and is kind of pissed off that he and Ashley got stuck watching James' kids while James and Kathy sit at the bar and drink. I agree that it is bullshit. Later on, when Ricky presents Ashley with the ring, Kathy squeals and yells some incoherent shit about, "Ashley's my baby," or some other such white trash shit. Meanwhile, Ashley is thanking everyone and smiling beautifully, but I can tell she's thinking, "JUST GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE." She is being as fake to my sister as my sister is being to her, but Kathy doesn't get it.

Ricky presents Ashley with a beautiful gourmet raspberry cake (pink, of course, her favorite color), and we all take a slice. (Shawn and I are on the other end of the room because James' kids continue to sit at the table with Ricky and Ashley for the duration of the night. This is due to the fact that James and Kathy are only taking short three minute breaks from pouring grain alcohol down their throats to run back into the room that is supposed to be reserved for a family dinner to make their little appearances. They are pretending to responsible adults.) Kathy comes into the room for one of her little appearances and hears Ricky and I talk about blowing people back with the airhorn. We're laughing, and then suddenly Kathy screams, "YEAH! WHY DON'T YOU FUCK WITH ME ONE MORE TIME!" and storms out of the room.

Everyone is flabbergasted. No one was speaking to her. She had nothing to do with the conversation. She is prone to these Tourette's like outbursts when drunk, and usually we just ignore them. (It is while having these sudden bursts of meanness that she calls me at 3 AM to tell me what a piece of shit I am.)

I grab my coat and declare that it is time for me and Shawn to leave. Ricky and Ashley are coming with us so they get ready, too. James comes in the room and asks Ricky about the bill. They talk for a minute and James leaves. Ricky looks pissed off, so I ask him what is up. He then proceeds to tell me that before they even came to the restaurant, he gave James $20 to feed his kids so he wouldn't look like an asshole in front of them. (James, as I said before, has no money and no job. He is perfectly capable of working, but doesn't.) James took the money without hesitation. Now he is telling Ricky he doesn't know what to do about the kid's bill. He has spent the $20 Ricky gave him on alcohol for him and Kathy. Ricky picks up the bill, and Kathy and James drive home, both of them drunk, with three small children in the car. I shudder to think about what those kids are exposed to daily.

That was the special night Ricky had planned. He ended up watching James' kids so him and Kathy could suck down alcohol faster than the speed of light on money that doesn't belong to them. So that is what I call Fake City. I hate being around my sister. She is truly the most negative, most fucked up person I know. I don't care if she IS an addict; there is no reason to treat people the way she does. But when I'm around her, I have to act nice because if I don't, she may fly into a rage and have a temper tantrum, which is like being caught in a whirling vortex of hate. Sometimes, I don't have to do anything to incite her rage; she will just blow up on me randomly, if she feels like it. Like my cousin Andyro says, "She's a walking train wreck."

I hope the rest of my weekend is better than this.