Seven, Unleashed

My Dad, his girlfriend/common-law wife/mother of his son, and their 14 year-old son are on their way down for a visit. They are driving down from B.C., taking their time. They should be here by Friday. I am really looking forward to seeing my Dad and even M., although she is far too indulgent with her child and can be annoying, but I could totally do without my half-brother.

I know that's terrible. Here's the thing. He's 14. He's brooding, selfish, arrogant and spoiled. He treats his parents like shit. Everything sucks. Everything is boring. "Whatever" is his standard reply to almost every question, and all he wants to do is play violent video games on the computer. (He's not touching our computer, BTW, they've had theirs "mysteriously stop working" way too many times.) Sounds like your typical 14 year-old boy, right?

But, there are two others factors at play for me:

#1. He has the same first name as the child that my husband gave up for adoption. Just hearing it said makes me sad.

#2. He looks freakishly like my brother at that age. My brother that molested me. My brother who was killed in a car accident in April. My brother who at age 14 was molesting the 7 year-old me.

I hope my inner child doesn't just lose it on his ass.