I was pretty pissed to be spending the first summer out of college in a house full of strangers. Driving my old Tercel down the road, I had a hard time appreciating the magnitude of how awkward that day was going to be. Here I was, a promising young architect about to set out on his own. And yet, was I starting my internship and getting good experience? No, I was visiting my family.
That felt so weird to say...family. As far as I'd ever known, family consisted of a dad who drank himself stupid after Mom left, and an idiot sister who blew guys that bought her nice purses. But this was apparently my real family. After a biology assignment for a class in school, I realized there was no way for me to have brown eyes with my parents both having blue eyes. The ensuing interrogation yielded a startling realization: I was adopted.
I was shaken from my thoughts as my GPS flashed to indicate I had arrived at my destination. I pulled up the gravel road and groaned at what I saw. A battered shanty of a house sat lazily on a hill at the end of the driveway. It looked like something out of a horror film, complete with peeling paint and a screen door that groaned in the breeze. Despite my adopted family's problems, we had always been well off due to my father's restaurant chain. This was a nightmare though. Not only would I have to put off starting my career and getting out on my own, I'd have to spend a whole summer in this godforsaken shack.
I'd sent a letter to the McCoy's, letting them know that I was their biological son and that I wanted to meet them. I received a letter that same week saying that I'd be invited "with open arms," but not much else. My Dad decided it'd be best for me to meet them by living with them for the summer. It was only a shallow ploy to keep himself from paying for my summer place while I looked for a real job. I still didn't know anything about the family, and had no idea what to expect.
I parked the car and cautiously worked my way to the front door, surveying the property. Up close, even more of an eyesore. Each board on the staircase and porch squealed under my feet despite my small frame. Rust encroached on every inch of metal exposed to the harsh elements, indicating that whoever lived here clearly didn't care about the way it looked. As I gently knocked on the door, I saw someone approaching.
"You must be Jimmy," questioned the lady with a suspicious voice. As she neared me, I could see her stern facial features. "I'm Barbara McCoy, your mother." She opened the door and offered her hand for me to shake, but didn't smile. Her cold nature was exaggerated by her plain, white tanktop and muscular arms. Clearly she had been working hard on something, as her hair was a mess and her skin was glistening with sweat.
"Sure am," I replied as I took her hand, "nice to meet you...Mom." I smiled and looked only to see her completely unphased. Suddenly I felt as though I was intruding, and was nervous about spending an entire summer here. Barbara gestured me to come inside, and I obliged after putting my duffel down and closing the door behind me. As I was walking through the house, I noticed how Barbara's tanktop showed off her curves. She had a bit of a mean face, and I got the sense that she was a total bitch. And while she wasn't the prettiest woman, she had a nice chest whose cleavage was peaking out from underneath the tanktop. I found myself gazing too long, mentally rebuking myself for checking out my own mother.
"I bet you're curious about this whole...situation," Barbara started as she pulled out a chair for me to sit. "Let me put on a pot of tea and I'll tell you the whole story." She sure did. Long story short, Barbara and my biological father were young and she got pregnant. They weren't able to raise me themselves, so I was put up for adoption. It was an understandable story, and as I sipped on my tea I was ready to accept that I was just born out of unfortunate circumstances.
Then I saw someone coming down the stairs. Thin as a twig, and built nothing like her mother, this bubbly young girl bounded towards us with a huge smile. "Hey there, bro!" she squealed with a playful punch to my arm. As I would learn, this was Vicky, one of my sisters. Vicky had a very pretty face, almost pixie-like. I wouldn't be surprised if SHE were adopted, based on how different she looked from Barbara. Gone were the curvy hips and luscious breasts. The long dark hair was replaced with blonde, jagged cuts that went just above the shoulder. "I hear you just graduated too?" questioned Vicky. She sure didn't look like a college graduate, and my confused face betrayed me. "Oh, well I just graduated high school," she giggled. I tried to congratulate her, only to find out that she had no college plans. In fact, she only seemed excited to be out of high school because now that she was 18 she could by her own cigarettes.
"Vicky, will you take Jimmy upstairs and show him where to unpack his things?" Barbara was already clearing the dishes. "I need to get back to the water-heater downstairs."
Vicky finished her glass of milk and started heading towards the staircase. I ran to the door to grab my duffel and catch up with her. "So...what do you guys do around here?" I asked, trying to make conversation with my new sister.
"Oh, well Mom came into a bit of money when Dad left. It's enough for us to live modestly, and Mom moonlighting it really helps." I was confused by her mentioning of our father leaving, and also wanted to ask her how she came to be. She couldn't be but a few years younger than me, and didn't really fit into Barbara's story. Something was awry. Vicky gestured to the left, allowing me to walk ahead of her. "Oh, it's the second door, sorry," she mentioned as I tried a room. "That's Bella's room. She's your other sister, but she's on vacation right now."
That raised even further questions. She showed me my new room, which was spacious enough and surprisingly elegant. "This room's beautiful. I didn't expect it after..." I started to trail off, not wanting to offend my sister with my opinion of the house's exterior.
"Haha don't worry," she said as she unzipped my duffel. "Mom's so busy with work that she can barely keep the inside of the house nice. And we're so far out here that it's not even worth it to have someone come decorate the outside." My face went white as I realized what I packed at the top of my bag and Vicky reached in. "Condoms, huh?"
Well this was embarrassing. All I knew was that I was going to the backwoods, and that in the event that I did meet a girl at a bar or something, I wouldn't be able to stop at a 24-hour pharmacy to pick up the needed supplies. "I...wasn't sure if...and..." I began to get flustered.
