Did You Get What You Deserve?

I walked down the street, smiling happily, when I heard yelling behind me.

“Alec! Alec! Wait up!”

I turned around to see my little sister, Linda, running towards me. I paused so she could catch up.

“Hey, Lindy-Lou.”

“Happy Birthday, Alec!”

“Thanks. Did Dad tell you we have to go via Mikey and Alicia’s to pick up Danielle?”

“No.”

“Oh, well, now you know.”

She tugged on my sleeve.

“Why do we have to pick up Dani?”

“Remember, there was a murder around that area last week. Mikey doesn’t want Dani out on her own.”

“Oh right...”

After a moment she tugged on my sleeve again.

“Alec, why do people kill other people?”

I shrugged.

“I dunno. I guess some people are just mean.”

She nodded.

“Alec?”

“Yeah?”

“I want a piggyback ride.”

“Oh do you now? Well, I think you should give me a piggyback ride cause it’s my birthday.”

She contemplated this seriously.

“Well, I could... But you’re probably too big.”

I laughed.

“I’m joking.”

I took off my bag and put it on backwards, so that my back was free.

“Hop on.”

She didn’t need telling twice. She jumped up and secured her arms around my neck. As I carried her towards Mikey and Alicia’s house, I thought.

My name is Alec. Well, Alecsandra really, but call me that and I’ll bash your face in. Seriously. No-one calls me Alecsandra. Not even my Mum. Teachers sometimes do, but only the new ones. They learn pretty quickly that no-one messes around with Alec Iero.
My name is also something that trips people up. When I say I’m Alec, they just blink at me. Then I explain that it’s short for Alecsandra, and they call me Alex.
Alecsandra Katherine Iero. What a mouthful. Obviously the Alecsandra is confusing, then there are the multiple spellings of Katherine, and then Iero. I’ve had people spell it Eyero, Aeiro, and various other ways. And people say it wrong too. Ee-air-oh is the most common. I get really pissed off.
Funnily enough, it’s the young teachers who get it right. Then they mob me. I rarely even walk past the staffroom now. My thirty-year-old teacher now wears a low-cut top just so she can display the tattoo she got when she was fifteen. She obviously thinks I’ll like her because she was practically in love with my dad when she was a teenager, but honestly it just pisses me off. Dad still comes to parent-teacher interviews, though. He’s good like that. Even though it’s been so many years since My Chemical Romance broke up, he still gets mobbed sometimes.

I came out of my reverie as we reached Mikey and Alicia’s. I put Linda down and rang the doorbell. The door opened and there was Mikey.

“Hey Alec! Happy Birthday!”

Linda flew past me and grabbed Mikey around the waist.

“Hi Mikey!”

“Heeey! How’s my little Lindy-Lou?”

He picked her up.

“Oof, god, you’re heavy. You’re getting big, Linda. Soon you’ll be almost as big as Alec.”

She looked around at me, eyes wide.

“Really?”

I laughed.

“Mikey, we’ve come to get Dani.”

“Oh, right.”

He set Linda back on her feet and turned around.

“Hey Danielle! Alec and Linda are here!”

Eight-year-old Danielle came into view, putting in her earrings.

“Hi guys! I’ll just grab my bag. Dad, James keeps trying to lock me in the hall cupboard.”

Mikey laughed.

“Don’t worry. If he manages to, just scream and I’ll come beat the crap out of him.”

Danielle rolled her eyes.

“Great words of comfort, Dad.”

She picked up her bag from beside the door and kissed Mikey on the cheek.

“Bye Dad.”

“Bye Dani.”

As she walked out, her twelve-year-old brother James appeared behind her.

“Aw man. Are you leaving already? I was hoping I would get to lock Dani in the cupboard!”

He pushed his glasses up his nose and grinned.

“Hey James. Well, see you at school.”

“No, wait. Lemme get my stuff, I’ll come with you.”

As he turned around, Dani and I exchanged shocked glances. James pretty much hated his sister, and couldn’t stand to be around her for long, although we all knew that was just an act. He was really very protective of her. He re-appeared at that moment with his bag.

“Okay, let’s go. Bye Dad.”

He followed us out the door and walked beside me all the way to school. When we reached the school gates, Dani and Linda went one way and James and I went the other.
As we got to my locker, he looked down at his feet and rubbed the back of his neck.

“So, uh, I guess I’ll see you at lunch.”

I smiled at him.

“Yeah. See you then.”

He grinned awkwardly and walked away.
That’s odd. I’ve never known him to be that nervous...