Family Reunion
One
"I'm tired of it, Joonas!" I huff in English as I see our brother, Tuukka, outside our house surrounded by more and more of his fans. "He gets all the glory while we sit back in the shadows of his spotlight. I hate it."
Me being upset at Tuukka is nothing new; I have been ever since he made the Boston Bruins as their backup goalie in 2007. That was four years ago, and ever since he won the Cup, his ego has been through the roof, "Lucky he'll be back to Boston for training camp in a few days," he replies, naturally reverting Finnish as he puts the rest of his bags by the door for the first day of his team's training camp in Ilves.
Shaking my head, I return to my room to pack.
-
"Eela?" Joonas calls into my room. I spin around quickly, but he's already in my room, gawking at the bags I packed. "Where are you going with all this stuff?" he asks in a mildly accented English.
"Leaving. Finland and Savonlinna clearly only want one of the Rask siblings and they've made their choice. I'm going to America," I reply in a lesser accent still taking clothes from my closet to suitcases I stole from my brothers.
"Eela, since when is it "Finland"? Suomi is home. Why would you leave? So, Tuukka is appreciated a little more now. He'll be gone next week for training camp," he reasons.
I shake my head, "Big deal- he'll be gone. His fans won't. He'll still be the only Rask Finland will care about. I'm better off leaving. Mom and Isä won't be back from dropping Tuukka off at the airport till an hour after the plane leaves. They'll be leaving the house three hours early. That's when I'm leaving."
"And how do you plan on getting there?" he questions, switching to Finnish.
"Plane, dumbass," I say, zipping up the last of my bags and putting it on the floor.
"At least tell me where you're going, Eela," he pleads still in Finnish.
I sigh. "DC," I say reluctantly in Finnish to appease Joonas.
"Let me drive you," he more tells me than asks. I nod.
-
"Are you sure about this, Eela?" he asks in Swedish to privatize our conversation.
"No, but I'm done with Tuukka being in the spotlight. We all deserve a little recognition for what we've done, but he took it all," I say, taking the ticket from the lady behind the counter as she tries to decipher our conversation. God, Finns are nosy.
"Call me when you land," he says when we approach the gate.
"You do realize that it'll be four in the morning here when I land right?" I ask and he laughs.
"Yeah, I'll be up anyway. Training camp, smartass," he replies.
I see the plane approach the tunnel out of the corner of my eye and turn to see Joonas smiling sadly, "I'll call you when I land and you can say how stupid I am then, okay?"
He nods and I hug him tightly, "Love you, Eela, be safe," I return the semtiment and let go, then hand my ticket to the lady at the podium and walk down the tunnel.
Me being upset at Tuukka is nothing new; I have been ever since he made the Boston Bruins as their backup goalie in 2007. That was four years ago, and ever since he won the Cup, his ego has been through the roof, "Lucky he'll be back to Boston for training camp in a few days," he replies, naturally reverting Finnish as he puts the rest of his bags by the door for the first day of his team's training camp in Ilves.
Shaking my head, I return to my room to pack.
-
"Eela?" Joonas calls into my room. I spin around quickly, but he's already in my room, gawking at the bags I packed. "Where are you going with all this stuff?" he asks in a mildly accented English.
"Leaving. Finland and Savonlinna clearly only want one of the Rask siblings and they've made their choice. I'm going to America," I reply in a lesser accent still taking clothes from my closet to suitcases I stole from my brothers.
"Eela, since when is it "Finland"? Suomi is home. Why would you leave? So, Tuukka is appreciated a little more now. He'll be gone next week for training camp," he reasons.
I shake my head, "Big deal- he'll be gone. His fans won't. He'll still be the only Rask Finland will care about. I'm better off leaving. Mom and Isä won't be back from dropping Tuukka off at the airport till an hour after the plane leaves. They'll be leaving the house three hours early. That's when I'm leaving."
"And how do you plan on getting there?" he questions, switching to Finnish.
"Plane, dumbass," I say, zipping up the last of my bags and putting it on the floor.
"At least tell me where you're going, Eela," he pleads still in Finnish.
I sigh. "DC," I say reluctantly in Finnish to appease Joonas.
"Let me drive you," he more tells me than asks. I nod.
-
"Are you sure about this, Eela?" he asks in Swedish to privatize our conversation.
"No, but I'm done with Tuukka being in the spotlight. We all deserve a little recognition for what we've done, but he took it all," I say, taking the ticket from the lady behind the counter as she tries to decipher our conversation. God, Finns are nosy.
"Call me when you land," he says when we approach the gate.
"You do realize that it'll be four in the morning here when I land right?" I ask and he laughs.
"Yeah, I'll be up anyway. Training camp, smartass," he replies.
I see the plane approach the tunnel out of the corner of my eye and turn to see Joonas smiling sadly, "I'll call you when I land and you can say how stupid I am then, okay?"
He nods and I hug him tightly, "Love you, Eela, be safe," I return the semtiment and let go, then hand my ticket to the lady at the podium and walk down the tunnel.