Becca sat in her room, staring at herself in the mirror. She started putting in her earrings, then put on her lipstick, and then did her eyeliner the way she liked. She played with her hair a bit, curling the tips a little, and then stood up and went to her closet. Becca pulled out a cute dress with some stockings, and a pair of black flats with small wedge heels, and got dressed. As she stood admiring herself in the mirror, she heard the knock on her bedroom door, and saw her mother enter in the mirror.
"Oh, you look lovely," her mother said, smiling, "I'm just letting you know that everyone is almost here, and that I'm making snacks if you want to come down and help me." "Sure, in a minute," Becca said, as their mother exited. She let out a single, long sigh. Finally, all these years living a life she knew was wrong, finally all these years she never felt good in her own skin, no, now she was free. For once in her life, Becca felt good about herself. She looked at the label she'd put on the mirror at the top when she'd needed to test a label maker for her father a few years ago for christmas. Becca walked to her desk, pulled out a sharpie and exed out the name on it, replacing it with her own. Yes. *** "Who arbitrarily decided that eggs were a breakfast food?" Anna asked, as she and Ashley were sitting in traffic, on their way to the Fuller household. She folded back the page of her magazine and pointed at it, saying, "See, right here, these people talk about eggs as if you can only eat them at breakfast. Who decided that what came out of a chickens ass could only go into our mouths at a certain time of day?" "I don't know that anyone really decided it. Probably the Egg Lobbyists though, honestly. Trying to force eggs on people, or something. No doubt a conspiracy of masterful proportions," Ashley replied. "You know, if you aren't going to take this conversation seriously, you can just not respond." "Take it ser...Anna, you are complaining about people eating eggs at breakfast. I'm not sure how else one could take this conversation other than ludicrously!" Ashley said, laughing, "For god sakes, if you want eggs for dinner, just make some fucking eggs. It's not like the Breakfast Council is going to barge in and arrest you for gross misuse of breakfast food, charge you with Grand Theft Breakfast and throw you in Breakfast Prison." "That sounds delicious, actually," Anna said, "I kinda wanna go to breakfast prison now." Just then there was a knock on the window at the right light, and Ashley rolled it down to reveal Jason on his bike, with someone holding him around the waist. He waved at them, and they waved back. "Watcha got there, a crash test dummy?" Ashley asked, leaning out her window, when the person behind Jason took their helmet off and revealed an absolutely gorgeous brunette, her hair also dreaded, with a nose ring and freckles scattered across her face. She smiled and waved at Ashley. "Ash, this is Amie, we've been seeing eachother since Africa," Jason said, "She's coming to game night." "...what." The light turned green and Jason sped off as Amie put her helmet back on. Ashley and Anna sat in the car for a second, and didn't say a word or glance at one another. Finally, after a few seconds, the car behind them honked, scaring them and forcing Ashley to start driving. *** "You're letting this family fall the fuck apart," Ernie said, pacing back and forth in the living room while Betty got the UNO cards out of the closet and sat down on the couch, sipping her wine as he continued, "My brother worked hard to build this and you're letting them be whatever the hell they want, with no direction or purpose!" "They're adults, Ernie, they can be whatever they want. It isn't my job to tell them what to do. I think my child are all perfectly fine people," Betty said, "They're all happy, which is more than I can say about the two of us." "I'm glad Jason's bettering himself, he was always a bit uptight, which he probably got from his father, but christ, you're letting this goddamn PC bullshit infiltrate and destroy your family! We grew up without political correctness and we turned out just fine!" "Did we? Cause we seem pretty miserable," Betty said, finishing her wine and wiping her mouth on her sleeve. "...Betty, you have a son upstairs who likes to wear dresses. Now, in my day, we just had cross dressers, and that was that, they did it mostly in private and that was it. Sometimes you never even found out until long after they were dead. Now you got em trying to actually assimilate themselves with women, calling themselves women, and-" "Ernie," Betty said, sighing, running a hand through her hair as she looked up at him from the couch and smiled, "Shut the fuck up. For once in your life, just shut the fuck up." Betty got up and headed in the kitchen, leaving Ernie there alone. He threw his arms up in the air, annoyed. "The whole goddamned world is going crazy!" he shouted. *** Ashley and Anna had parked across the street and were now crossing towards the driveway of the Fuller household, where Jason and Amie were climbing off the bike. Amie pulled her helmet off and tossed her hair a little, best she could, before kissing Jason, the two of them laughing. "She's obnoxiously attractive," Anna said, "Like, I wanna punch her in the face for being so hot." "I know, it's bullshit," Ashley said, "Why're all the granola girls so damn good looking and also so damn pretentious and self important." "Sounds like you have some history with granola girls," Anna said, holding Ashleys hand. "I dated one before I came out publicly," Ashley said, "She was just...so fucking hot, but she had the most backwards ideals, and thought my life equaled that of a chickens. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for animal rights, but guess what, a chicken can't drive a car, it can't do taxes, it can't help the economy or run a country, so it's not really the same sort of life." "Hey ladies," Jason said, "Amie, this is my sister Ashley and her girlfriend Anna." "You're pregnant!" Amie said, almost squealing, clapping, "Oh god, that's so exciting! It makes me so happy to see a family being created, you know, it seems like so many people these days don't want to have kids, which is fine, that's their right and their decision, but still, I love kids." "...yeah," Ashley and Anna said in unison. "Amie's a tattoo artist, she gave me a great tattoo," Jason said, kissing her on the cheek. "Don't embarrass me," Amie said, blushing. "She's great, she's going to be even more popular once she opens her own studio," Jason said, "Amie, why don't you go inside, we'll be right there." Amie turned and headed inside, while Jason looked at the girls, both of whom weren't sure if they were supposed to laugh and cry. "So, did she give you a tattoo?" Ashley asked. "Yeah," Jason said meekly, looking away from them. "Let's see it," Ashley said, smirking, as Jason reluctantly pulled up his sleeve and revealed on his upper arm a tattoo. Ashley and Anna leaned in to look at it, both making quizzical, perplexed faces, looking back and forth from the tattoo to one another. "It's...uh...what the hell is it?" Anna asked. "Is it supposed to be a horse? It kinda looks like a horse," Ashley said, "But like, a horse with downs syndrome." "Awww, you got a disabled horse tattoo!" Anna said, "That's so progressive of you, Jason! Are you advocating for horse rights now?" "...look, it's not great, okay, but she's doing what she likes, and that's more than most people," Jason said, "And for the record, it's a horse head with its mane blowing in the wind in an open wheat field, and he's a triumph, okay?" "Tell that to Mr. Special Ed there," Ashley said, both she and Anna nearly doubling over with laughter. "Alright, Sundew and I don't have to take this," Jason said, pulling his sleeve back down, the girls almost on their knees in the driveway now, rolling with laughter while Jason turned and headed inside. He could hear them from behind. "He named it Sundew!" Ashley howled. Inside, Jason found Betty and Amie in the kitchen, talking at the sink. Jason took a seat at the island and watched his mom and his new girlfriend laughing and talking, and despite the embarrassment from his tattoo, he did feel happy to have her. Jason really felt like he had something good here with Amie. "Jason, you didn't tell me that your mom was so beautiful!" Amie said, "And so funny!" "She's speaking too highly of me, I'm not beautiful, I'm stunning maybe, but not outright beautiful," Betty said, making them all laugh. Just then, Jason heard something come in from the back door of the kitchen, and saw someone standing there, in a dress, with their hair curled, looking wonderful. Jason knew immediately, but he was still shocked to see it. He slowly slid off the stool from the island and walked over to them, where they stood, nervously wringing their hands. As Jason approached them, they didn't look at him until he put his hands on their shoulders. Finally, they looked up and their eyes locked with Jasons, the two still silent, and finally Jason just hugged them as tight as they could. They hugged Jason back, and after a few moments both started nearly crying. "Becca?" Betty asked, "Do you want a snack?" "That'd be nice," Becca said, walking back to the island with Jason, taking their seat beside him. "You look great," Jason said, before turning to Amie, "Amie, this is my other sister, Rebecca." "It's nice to meet you," Amie said, "Your hair is great." "YOUR hair is great," Becca replied, the both of them chuckling. Just then Ashley and Anna came into the kitchen, still catching their breath from laughing so hard, before stopping and seeing Becca. Anna just smiled and stood upright, but Ashley walked up to the island, standing across from them, staring at them. "...you're out," Ashley said, and Becca nodded. Ashley grinned and gave her sister a hug. "Alright, let's get this game started!" Betty said, "I've got the UNO cards right out here." The family and Amie followed Betty into the living room, where Ernie was nowhere to be found. As they all took their seats, Betty started dealing cards to Jason, Becca, Ashley and then Ernie walked in. "Hey, Uno!" he said, sitting down, "Now this is a game I like. Your father always wanted to just play board games, never anything else. No cards. Cards are a game, right?" "Cards are indeed a form of gameplay, yes," Jason said. Betty dealt Ernie some cards, while Amie and Anna sat alone behind everyone and watched. Amie looked at Anna and smiled. "So you and Ashley have been together for how long?" Amie asked. "A little over 6 months I guess," Anna said, "You and Jason met in Africa?" "Yeah!" Amie said, laughing, "How wild is that? We met at the hotel and realized we lived in the same neighborhood and everything! I take it you don't see Jason much?" "Not since we split up." "...you two...were together?" "Ya see this?" Anna asked, pointing at her pregnant tummy, and then whispering with a smile, "It's his." "Goddamned color coordinated piece of shit," Ernie mumbled as Becca used a skip card on him. He groaned as Ashley started to take her turn, while Jason eyed Ernie, almost like he was waiting for him to slip up and say something. That's when he noticed he could hear whispering behind him, and craned his neck behind his shoulder to see Anna and Amie engaging in a seemingly serious discussion. Jason started to feel a bit worried, but in a few seconds, they were both smiling and laughing again, and he felt at ease. "Alright, now I got it, throwin' down a reverse," Ernie said. "You would," Ashley said snarkily, which caught his attention. "What?" "You would throw down a reverse. You want everything to go backwards, back to when america was great and you were on top of the world," Ashley said. Ernie started to turn red, clenching his teeth. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could stand to take. "You're the ones who're skipping me, I gotta play something!" "We're skipping you because your time is over," Becca said sternly. "You're just like your goddamned father, everything's a fuckin metaphor!" Ernie shouted, "Guess what, they're not a way to evaluate your life, or make decisions or phrase a statement! They're FUCKING BOARD GAMES! They are cardboard and plastic and paper and they'll be tomorrows trash!" Ernie then stood up, grabbed the cards and threw them into the air before grabbing his coat and heading out the front door, slamming it shut. "...you notice how we don't get play anything and enjoy it anymore?" Ashley asked, making Betty sigh. "I know we need him to leave," Betty said, "He's not good, and he's making us all anxious and irritated, but he is your fathers brother." "So what!" Becca shouted, "Who cares?! If someone is a bad person, it doesn't matter their relationship to you, you don't deserve to waste your time on people who aren't going to respect you in any way, shape or form, family, friend or otherwise!" "Rebecca," Betty called after them as they headed up the stairs to their bedroom. Betty sighed again and finished her glass of wine, putting it down hard on the table before looking at the others, "Is that how you all feel? Ernie is the closest thing I have to your father at this point and-" "No he isn't, we are, we're his children!" Ashley said. "...I guess I'm the odd one out," Betty said, standing up, before adding, "Uno" and headed upstairs as well. *** Laying in bed at home, Anna felt annoyed while she tried to read. Ashley was typing away on her laptop beside her, trying to get some design work finished when Anna finally put her book down and looked at her. "You know, I once told your mother that I felt honored and lucky to have your family to be a part of because mine was so broken and screwed up, and now I'm starting to wonder if she really understands that," Anna said. "Ernie is kinda right. Dad used board games as metaphors, and they're no real way to run your life. There's no lesson to be taken from them, but what Ernie doesn't understand is that those board games bring us together, teach us to work together as a team, and he's there trying to tear us apart. We've all worked so hard to become better, especially since dad died, and board game opinion or not, he doesn't get to ruin that." "You're right," Anna said, "I just hope Betty realizes how toxic he is soon." They both nodded and went back to their respective hobbies before Anna snickered and muttered, "Sundew" and they both broke out laughing again.
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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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