Visible Monsters

Andrew and I walk along the beach in the morning. A new ritual of ours. We avoid the beach-goers as much as possible, leaving our shoes in Andrew's car and walking barefoot through the hot sand. "We're visiting my aunt today," I say, pushing up my sunglasses. Andrew stops walking:

"'We'?"

I nod. He smiles. To be honest, Aunt Iliana has been dying to meet him. Arin and Daphne have been feeding her stories about him, and now she has very high expectations of Andrew. I just wonder what, or who, she'll bring up while we're there.

We eventually stroll back to Andrew's car. Now he's excited. Andrew's a scary driver sometimes. He texts when driving, and he can drive with his knees too. But sometimes when we're having an interesting conversation, he'll drive about ninety miles per hour. Sometimes I wonder how he plays piano and sings at the same time.

But then again, I can't drive to save my life. When I went driving with Uncle Paul years ago, I had hit about five or more mailboxes in the first half hour. That's why Daphne always drove me to theatre practices and productions. She's a good driver. Her parents also bought her a Lexus for her sixteenth birthday. She's been cruising around in it ever since.

We enter a quaint neighborhood, and myuncle and aunt's house has the dark red shutters. Andrew pulls up into the driveway, even though he protests as he does so. Aunt Iliana doesn't mind. She loves having visitors.

We walk up to the door, but my aunt is already standing in the doorway. "Tawny!" She pulls me into a hug. "How are you?" I mutter something into her cream-colored sweater, and she looks up at Andrew. "Well, you must be Andrew. Come on in, you two."

In we go, entering the house. Aunt Iliana has already set up some chairs out on the deck. We step back outside, now basking in the sun. Again. "I'm going to cut right to the chase," my aunt says once we sit down. "I want you to visit your parents. Go on a road trip. I know you're on your Christmas break right now. You could really use this to your advantage."

"I think not." I stand up. "Drew, we're leaving."

He stays seated. "I think you should hear her out." He looks at me with hisincredible blue eyes. "Please, Tawny. Sit back down." I still stand, my arms now crossed.

"Andrew can meet your parents, Tawny. Don't you want him to meet your family?" Aunt Iliana knows how to make me feel guilty. She knows how to get what she wants. "I know you think of your uncle and me as your family, but honey, you can't hide the truth forever. Sometimes, you just have to take the bull by the horns." Aunt Iliana is good with expressions.

"I definitely do not want him to meet my family. I never want to see my god-awful parents ever again. I hope their trailer house bursts into flames." I don't like the idea of driving ten or more hours somewhere and looking for the people who ruined my life thus far. They wait for me to call, so they can harass me. Because that's what I want from my parents: Day to day harassment.

Aunt Iliana sighs. "Tawn, there's something you don't know."

I glare at her. "What's that? Are there more secrets you're hiding from me? My parents know where I live? They know I'm currently slacking off and not studying my ass off? They know about Andrew here?"

She shakes her head. "It's none of those."

"Then what is it?"

"You have a sister." Aunt Iliana closes her eyes. "And your mother's pregnant again."

Haven't these people heard of the invention called the condom? Or birth control? Or maybe even abortion? They truly are white trash morons.

"...So I have two siblings?" She nods. I'm disgusted. What do I do? I can't bring them here; I have college. I can't take care of these children. Aunt Iliana is struggling to pay for my college tuition, because she won't let granddad pay for it. Granddad is too old to have two children running around his house. Uncle Paul is still hooked up to hundreds of tubes and is never going to wake up. Putting them into an orphanage is like telling them to commit crime.

I grab Andrew's hand. "If we don't leave now, we won't be there by tomorrow morning."