“Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones that would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what.”
The duality of family
The Family That Preys has a very personal connection to me. Actually, as I’m writing this “Behind-The-Pen” segment, I’ve come to realize that I have been venting about the mistreatment I’d endured by writing. Even worse, everything that you’ve read in that story is in direct correlation to how I was treated in my family. Well, I did dial it up to an eleven like I normally do but the base is still there. Here, let me show you.
For starters, all the family members in the story are representations of my cousins. Only a handful of them. I have to make that part clear because, out of all my cousins, I only still talk to a handful of them. You know…come to think of it, I can literally count them out on both hands. It’s sad but I had to put my happiness first and it was a lesson that became undeniably clear very early in my life.
See, the mother and father represented my cousin’s desire to make me feel inferior to them. They always wanted me to think that I was a nobody and shouldn’t exist. Even worse, they wouldn’t hide their dislike of me. I remember one of them flat out insulting me in front of her mother about anything she could think of. Because of that, my grandma had to step in, finally, and make them stop. Well, try to anyway. And, if I’m being honest, she didn’t do that much of a good job all things considered.
That leads me to the aunt and uncle characters. They represented my cousins’ attempt to change me into their image. It was their version of a “compromise”. If I became who they wanted me to be, they would leave me alone – maybe even like me. But I remember the grand advice my mother gave me at a young age. My uniqueness is a gift from God and I should never reject a gift from him. but this reminder and demonstration of iron will only cause me to become a bigger target for them.
I remember my cousins wanted me to flirt with girls, steal stuff, wear clothes that weren’t for me among other things. And every time I stood my ground about my individuality and morals, they would either lie one me or call me names. “Faggot” was their favorite name to call me because it always got a reaction out of me. I would tell on them – or get revenge – and they would only retaliate because their parents were never really on my side. Not at all but became their downfall when I suddenly reached my breaking point.
It was before I started my sophomore year in high school. Everybody in my family began to realize my uniqueness being an asset to everybody. But, unbeknown to all of them, I had had enough and began a fierce rebellion towards my cousins and their enablers. I was even willing to let one of them fail out as I refuse to tutor her despite their pleas and promises of payment. This was where I learned that I had people in my family who NEVER liked me. I saw that my cousins were entitled and cruel and had a vicious vindictive streak.
I embellished my grandma’s role, of course. I did most of the work. Detachment and shade-throwing until I got to college. From then on out, I never spoke to them, again. I even blocked them from all social media. I’m told to forgive and reach out to them but, given the ending of the story, you can guess what my reaction was.
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