A new encounter with a family member, straight this time.
I was sitting in the back of our van, my brother was next to me while my mom drove. We had just finished shopping and was on our way home. Being a male I guess, my brother despised shopping, especially when it was with us. We had probably spent no longer than three hours but already he was doing his usual 'quiet' treatment. My brother is definitely the type of person to ignore you when he's upset or mad, he doesn't get aggressive and rarely do I get to see him angry. I knew he was mad with us for taking so long by the way he stared blankly out the window ignoring my words. Usually we talked a lot so the silent treatment was a dead give away. I tried my best starting a conversation with him but all I got were some nods and a few 'Mhmmm.'
About two minutes in the trip home I remembered my mom asking him a question. He gave her nod but obviously my mom didn't see it because she was driving and had her eyes on the road. Unfortunately my mom assumed he had ignored her and snapped. She was fed up with him and his attitude. Within seconds, my mom began yelling at him about always ignoring her.
'You have a mouth so use it!' she lectured him. My brother didn't raise his voice back but he was definitely talking back to her in a stern voice with a slight hint of annoyance. Of course my mom didn't like that either and the yelling continued. They were now fighting about why my brother was so grumpy.
'Why are you so grouchy!? It was just a few hours! We didn't just shop for ourselves you know!? You're lucky I paid for you! Some kids don't have parents as lucky as you that will pay for their clothes! Etc...' she yelled on about. My brother who was really annoyed at my mom replied back with 'I have other things to do! I have a life! I was tired and you dragged me along anyways! Etc...' Obviously the fight was getting nowhere. I knew that sooner or later my brother would shut up again and my mom would stop yelling until we got home.
That's exactly what happened next except for one thing. Without even realizing it I had become involved in their confrontation. As I silently listened to their argument, my mom began to bring me into the problem as well. Like most parents, when they're angry and yelling, they'll start by yelling at one of their child but it'll ultimately end up being a lecture to all their children as well. One moment your mom might be yelling at your brother about wasting food and the next thing you know she'll be preaching to the whole family about how ungrateful everyone is. That's exactly what happened here. At first it was subtle. Then it became blatantly clear she was blaming me for this as well.
'You should yell at your sister too! She wanted to go shopping!' This was false by the way, I wanted to go but I was in no rush to go, my mom clearly wanted to go more. I tried correcting my mom but that only made it worse which led to a whole rant on my spending habit. Before I knew it, I was siding with my brother trying to defend myself. I'm not exactly sure what my brother said next but the yelling finally stopped after that. My brother thought he got the last laugh but as it turned out he didn't. Apparently my mom and him were supposed to sleep together that night but with my mom in such a frustrated mood, that clearly wasn't happening anymore.
'Since you want to play this "game" you can forget about tonight and ask your sister for help instead' she informed him.
'I am not going to deal with your crappy attitude right now so you can keep doing what you're doing and be like that' she finally gave up and stopped talking to us. I gave my brother a sigh of relief with a slight grin; glad that my mom had stopped yelling. Expecting my brother to feel a sense of relief like I was, I tried giving him a high five but he left me hanging. Slouching back in his seat, I could tell he was still pissed and in addition, slightly upset.
'What's wrong? She stopped yelling' I asked. Met with silence again. Assuming he was also mad at me too, I shrugged it off and let him be. Now although my mom had canceled whatever they were going to do together that night, he wasn't going to let that stop him from satisfying his needs. Just like my mom suggested, he went and asked me for assistance a few minutes later.
'Hey Lucy, are you busy tonight?' he asked me out of the blue. Not actually expecting him to ask me for help, I shot him a surprised look.
'Need something?' I played dumb despite knowing what he was going to ask.
'Do you want to sleep together tonight since "MOM" bailed out on me' he told me loud enough for our
mom to hear.
'What time?' I asked.
'Whenever you want' he replied casually.
'Well I can't. I'm going out tonight' I broke the news to him. He gave me this bewildered look and rolled his eyes.
'Why did you ask what time then?' In truth, I just liked to tease him.
'I forgot I was busy' I lied with a huge smile on my face.
'How about you ask 'Little B' (our sister's nickname) instead?' I suggested. My brother already thought of that of course but just like me, she was out with her friends today. It felt disappointing to know I was his last pick, not that I even gave a shit.
'Fuck' he silently cursed.
'Relax. Mom can't stay mad at you forever and if you want I can help you tomorrow morning' I offered. He nodded his head but I could tell he wanted it badly tonight.
'What time will you be home?' he asked on. Honestly I didn't really know. If I was staying out late, I was most likely going to be sleeping over at my friends house.
'Midnight?' I replied uncertainly.
'That's too late. Can you try coming home earlier?' I could try but I doubted I would come home earlier than that. It was summer and our break was almost over. I intended to spend those last few weeks enjoying myself.
'Probably not' I told him; not wanting to give him false hope. He gave out a defeating sigh and grunted. It was obvious that he badly wanted to sleep with someone tonight.