Years Earlier
"You can't just ask him?" Ernie asked, "I'm desperate here, Jason, I need to talk to him." "He won't come out, I'm sorry," Jason said, "He just...he has no interest, I'm sorry. He's barely speaking to me because of this, because I defended you. Nobody wants anything to do with either one of us." "This is bullshit, you know? You don't just dump family because they think different from you! Family is family no matter what! Blood is thicker than thought!" Ernie said, slamming his fist on the slab. Both men sighed and Jason rubbed his eyes while Ernie scratched his head, "Alright, thanks for coming by Jason, you're a good kid." Ernie hung up the phone, Jason hung up on his side, and both stood up. A guard came to take Ernies arm and walk him back to his cell, as Jason put his hand on the plastic divider between them and watched his uncle be taken away once again, before throwing his jacket over his shoulder and heading home. *** "You got it!?" Annie asked excitedly, her voice shrill with happiness as she took the paper from Carls hands. The two were seated at the island in the kitchen while Ashley was preparing a snack; Betty was in the living room, taking the game out of the box and setting up. "Yeah," Carl said, blushing, "So, I need to go to the courthouse in a few weeks and start the paperwork to get my name legally changed." "Any ideas what you're going to pick?" Anna asked. "How about Xena?" Ashley asked, and they both looked at her, carrot stick hanging out her mouth and she shrugged, "What? She was a powerful, kick ass broad! Xena's a bitchin' name!" "Listen, if you want to pay Lucy Lawless royalty fees everytime you sign a check, be my guest, but I think I'm going to go with something a little more serious than Xena," Carl said, making Anna laugh. Ernie came in through the backdoor and opened the fridge, pulling out a beer. "Xena was a babe," he said, "Who's changing their name to Xena?" "Nobody is changing their name to Xena!" Carl said, annoyed, "And the next person who mentions the name Xena is getting kicked right in their Warrior Princess." "So what've you picked?" Anna asked, pushing her hair behind her ear, grinning. "I was thinking about Rebecca," Carl said, "I've always liked that name." "Rebecca is a pretty name," Anna said, as Ernie came to Ashleys side of the counter and started eating some of her carrot sticks, pointing at Carl with one of them. "Wait, you're changing your name to Rebecca?" he asked, "Huh. Alright. I mean, you could do worse I guess. You could be picking something outrageous like those other ones do. Why can't they just pick a normal name? Why's everything the gay community do gotta be so fuckin ridiculous and over the top?" "On behalf of the gay community, as a spokesperson, I must inform you that the reasoning is actually classified information, a vital part of the gay agenda, and thus isn't allowed to be told to the heterosexuals," Ashley said, making Anna and Carl laugh. "I don't know," Carl said, "I also like the name Phoebe, so we'll see which one eventually wins out. I'm just still sorta in shock that this is happening. I've spent so much time fantasizing about it throughout my life...I never thought it would become reality." "I used to fantasize about sleeping with Xena," Ernie said, taking a sip of beer as Ashley nudged him with her elbow. "Hey, me too!" she said, chuckling. Meanwhile, in the living room, Betty was sitting down and staring at the Jenga game she'd set up. She heard the front door open, heard some footsteps approach the room, and looked up to see Jason coming in, his jeans torn, his shirt covered in beads, his hair still in dreads. He didn't look anything like the son she used to know, but he did look happy, and that made her happy. He tossed his coat down on the couch and sat down next to her. "Watcha doin in here?" he asked. "...I have trouble going in the kitchen on family game night these days," she said softly, "It used to feel so safe. Now I feel like if I go in there..." "I get it, mom, you don't need to explain it," Jason said, hugging her gently, "But you know everyone else is fine, and nothing's going to happen." "Nobody saw that coming either," Betty said quietly, shutting Jason up, just as everyone else entered the room. Ernie patted Jasons shoulder as he walked past him. "Hey! I just finished fixing up my bike today, Jason! You wanna see it after the game?" he asked, Jason nodding in response, smiling politely. If he had to take one for the team and spend time with Ernie to keep him away from everyone else, he would do that. Everyone started to sit down, Anna being seated with Ashleys help, as Jason looked across the table at Ernie, who cracked his knuckles. "Who's my victim this week?" Ernie asked, grinning, "Wait, isn't this a multiple person game?" "Nobody's really good at it," Betty said, "So pick who you want to humiliate and get it over with." "I'll play you," Jason said, "I'll go up against Ernie." "There's my boy!" Ernie said, chortling as he assessed his first move, then continuing, "Hey Anna, how much longer til you pop that fuckin kid out of you?" "Should be anytime now," Anna said, "I'll be really happy to be rid of it too, cause goddammit I'm sick of carrying all this weight around. I miss being fashionable. There's been some strides in the market these last few years to make maternity clothes more fashionable, but it's never really caught on or worked that well." "I remember Betty lookin' pretty fashionable," Ernie said. "That's because Harold made sure I did," Betty said, "If it were up to me, I'd have just worn sweatpants and sweatshirts for 9 months. It's hell being pregnant and not being able to go clothes shopping with your friends, seeing them all in these cute clothes. I hated it." "Well, I guess for that to happen, I'd first have to have friends," Anna said. "Yeah, I just don't see that ever happening," Ashley said, both of them chuckling as she kissed Anna on the cheek. Ernie put his piece on the table as Jason started to take his turn. Ernie coughed and took a swig from his beer before wiping his mouth on his arm and starting to laugh. "I remember, there was this girl I dated once, she got married to this buddy of mine and got pregnant, ya know, they wanted a family and shit. So she gets pregnant and she tries to make this line of fashionable womans maternity clothes, but like, with the fashions that were popular at the time, right? So she made these giant ass sweatpants with glittery text on the ass that just said 'JUICY' on it. We laughed about that for weeks, goddamn." "You're really lucky, Anna," Carl said, filling out some paperwork while sitting by Jasons side, Betty on Jasons other side, "I mean," Carl continued, "god...I wish I could have kids like that. I'll never really know what it's like, you know? It really hurts." "Trust me," Anna said shifting, "If I could give this pregnancy to you, I would do so in a heartbeat, cause I'm tired of it." Carl chuckled, writing something else down and looking up afterwards, chewing on the end of their pen, "I mean, if only the future would get here already, right? And like, we could just put a working womb into transwomen, so those who wanted to give birth could, right? That's the fuckin' dream." Jason took their piece and put it on the table, making Ernie put their beer down and start taking their turn. "Well, it's gonna happen eventually, so I guess just, like, be happy that there will be women who will get to do that, instead of wishing for it?" Anna asked, shrugging, and Carl nodded. "I don't know, pregnancy's a hard topic for me, I'd rather not really talk about it," Carl said quietly. "How come nobody wants to talk about anything anymore?" Ernie asked, "For fuck sakes, like, there's college kids who won't read certain books just because they contain truths they don't want to acknowledge, ya know? Full grown fuckin adults, man, droppin' classes cause they just 'can't handle it' or it 'makes them feel bad', like, there's no such thing as protection in the world outside of college. You're gonna have to face that shit eventually." "Yeah, but there's nothing wrong with safeguarding yourself, either," Jason said, "I mean, especially if someone doesn't wanna think about something that makes them feel incredibly bad." "C'mon, Jason, I know you got the look down, but don't go all pussy on me now, son. You gotta admit it's a little ridiculous and over the top at this point, right? We're raising a society of adults who would rather skirt around something than discuss important topics! We only resolve things through discussion, you know? Not talking doesn't solve anything," Ernie said, "That's why the government shutdown happens every now and then, because one side just doesn't wanna fuckin' talk about anything. No discussion, just 'our way or the highway' sorta thing." "I don't really see the point in conversing with people who don't respect me," Carl said, turning everyones heads to look at them. They shrugged and leaned forward, putting their drink on the table, "Why the fuck should I put effort into talking to people who've made it extremely clear that they want people like me dead? Fuck them." "Well," Ernie said, "Maybe you could change their mind." "There's no changing some peoples minds," Jason said sternly, waiting for Ernie to make his move. Ernie put his beer down and cracked his knuckles, looking across the table at Jason. He ran his fingers over his facial hair and smirked. "You know, seems like somebody changed your mind, Jason," Ernie said, starting to take his turn. "I changed my mind," Jason said, leaning back, trying to relax, "I realized what a bad person I was becoming, that it was hurting those around me and I decided to change. Nobody except me changed anything about me. That isn't to say they didn't help, that they didn't point things out, but change only occurs once you yourself decide to stop being a piece of shit. Nobody can make you stop being a piece of shit, you gotta make that decision on your own." "Who's the piece of shit we're talkin' about here?" Ernie asked, his eyes narrowing, "Cause frankly son, I don't much care for your tone." "Good, it doesn't much care for you right now either," Jason replied. Nobody said a word, nobody even exhaled. This was both riveting and terrifying, everyone almost certain things were about to come to blows. On one hand, nobody could believe Jason was handling this so well, and on the other hand, nobody could believe Jason was the one in the right for once. "I think new and improved Jason 2.0 is right, in ways," Ashley said, "There's just no getting through to some people." "You wanna talk gettin' through to some people? How about the fact that my own brother didn't come see me in prison the entire goddamn time I was there? Now that's abandonment, man, that's not okay," Ernie said. "Maybe if you'd changed and been a better person, you wouldn't have been there in the first place," Jason said. "I'm two seconds from takin you outside, boy," Ernie snarled. "You think you can handle me? Bitch, I just hiked across mother fuckin' Africa for months, try it," Jason said, their faces almost touching. Ernie took his turn and dropped his wooden piece gently onto his pile, making Jason reach up for his own turn. "Contrary to what your daddy believed, life is not a fuckin board game," Ernie said, standing up, looking around at them all, "And sooner or later, you're all gonna have to realize that. There's no winning, there's no losing, there's no such thing as teamwork anymore. We as a society have completely abandoned working together and now we're all too busy drifting apart because nobody will talk to one another or work with one another, all because some people have different beliefs than others, and-" "I'm sorry," Ashley said, standing up, "But I refuse to consider someone telling me I'm going to go to hell for being in love a 'belief'. That's not an opinion. That's just cruel. There's no need to be cruel. I'm not gonna stand there and be insulted so they can feel better about their sad pathetic lives simply because they're mad I have love and they're stuck in a fuckin' awful marriage with kids they never wanted in the first place." "Sweetheart, you don't know-" "Don't tell me what I don't know and don't call me sweetheart you miserable relic," Ashley said, "You're so stuck in the past, Indiana Jones would track you down so he could give you to a museum." "I'm done, I'm not lettin' people hang up on me like this," Ernie said, "This is-" "You know why you're quitting? Because your belief system is as fragile as this Jenga Tower, and you know it, and you know that any second now, any day, it's all going to come crumbling the fuck down. Everything you believe in, everything you hold dear, everything you thought to be true...none of it is anymore," Jason said, standing up and facing him, "Nobody is taking your shit anymore, and that's what terrifies you. My father might've challenged me, he might thought different than me, he might've believed in things I didn't, but he respected me, and the one thing he didn't do was tell me that I'm wrong. That's all you and the people like you do. You tell everyone they're wrong. You talk so fuckin highly, so proudly, about wanting to generate open discussion, and yet you won't even hear another sides opinion. You wear your bigotry and your hate on your chest like a medal you earned, when all you've really earned is isolation, and one day you'll look around and you'll wonder 'where did everyone go? where is my family, my friends?' and then it'll hit you...they don't think differently than you do, they just think you're an asshole, and they're not going to sit around and be insulted by someone they thought loved them. But one day, one day soon, all of this you thought would last forever, this power, this privilege, it's all going to go away, and for once the people who say they believe in 'all men are created equal' are going to have to face actually being equal." Nobody said a thing. Ernie and Jason stared at one another for seconds on end, before Ernie picked up his jacket, his beer and kicked the Jenga Tower onto the ground, then turned and walked back out to the garage. Everyones eyes were on Jason, as he slowly exhaled, put his hands on his knees and sat back down on the couch. "Well," Anna said, "...same time next week?" *** Ashley and Anna had left, Carl had gone out and Betty was lying in her bed, reading a book when Jason entered. Betty looked up at her son, as he slowly walked in, hands in his pockets and took a seat on the end of the bed. He sighed and ran one hand over some dreads. "...I'm a bad person," he said. "Don't let the guilt get to you, they certainly don't," Betty said, "The fact you feel guilty alone means you're human enough to have feelings. Ernie would never feel guilty. He doesn't know how to feel." "How did someone like that end up brothers with someone like dad?" Jason asked, and Betty sat up, put her bookmark in her book and cupped her hands. "...back when I met your father, he told me that he had a brother. I never asked and he never elaborated. It just was a fact he told me, that he had a brother. When we were finally together, Ernie came over one weekend, and they hadn't seen one another in years. After listening to Ernie for about 45 minutes, Harold asked him to leave, and then felt bad for asking him to leave. Ernie said life isn't like a board game, that there's no winners or losers, but he sure acts like he's playing to win." "I don't know that I can do this," Jason said, weakly, starting to cry, "I don't..." "Do what?" "Be the person dad thought I could," he said, sobbing, as he crawled onto the bed next to his mother. Betty pulled her sons head onto her chest and gently stroked his hair. "Nobody says you have to live up to what your father expected of you, just what you expect of you," Betty said, "And for what it's worth, I'm so proud of you, Jason. I really, really am." And Jason Fuller cried like he was a 10 year old boy again, safe in his mothers bed, from the horrors of the world outside.
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Family Game Night follows the Fuller family, a (possibly too) tight knit family who meet every Thursday night to play board games...and air their dirty laundry. Archives
March 2019
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