All About Me by Joanna Mazurkiewicz Page A

brother was still alive, she ’ d go into a meltdown if she read any bad news. It was hard to calm her down and Christian, as usual, bailed out.
    “ I couldn ’ t sleep, ” I tell her, rubbing my eyes and stepping up to the espresso machine.
    “ I ’ m waiting for you to tell me what is going on. Why are you here and why is India not with you? ”
    Questions. So many fucking questions, so early in the morning.
    “ It ’ s none of your business, mother. Things between us are complicated at present. I ’ m here for Christian ’ s car. That bastard never deserved it anyway. ”
    “ He is dead, Oliver. The least you can do is to respect him by not talking about him that way, ” she says with that odd tone, like she regrets something.
    Pure rage boils inside my veins, and my heart starts to pump more blood to my body. If she only knew what kind of son she brought up. And she called herself a good mother?
    “ Christian was like a leech. He hurt people, and you always treated him like a fucking prince, ” I blurt out, losing it. I take the cup of coffee and my hands are already shaking.
    She brings her hands to her face, standing up. God, she is pathetic, pretending to be so shocked by my words. My father was the same, brushing all the problems away like they never existed. To hell with that perfect family.
    “ Oh my God, Oliver, India told you, ” she says, almost whispering. I look at her tired eyes and white face. Her voice echoes in my head … India told you, told you, told …
    Shock moves over my body and my mouth drops open as I stare at her in disbelief. She must be fucking kidding me.
    “ Hold on, hold on a minute. You fucking knew? ” I ask, shouting, not caring for the world that Jacob is upstairs.
    The tears in her eyes are only the confirmation of what I suspect has happened here. I clench my fists, straining my shoulders. Every muscle in my body turns into stone. This can ’ t be happening.
    “ Oliver, I only just found out. A few months ago she came to me. We were always close. She helped me get back on my medication. ”
    This is bullshit, all a lot of crap. How come India told my own mother and she never shared this with me? Maybe that was the only way she coped with the pain, but fuck, no! I would have been there for her.
    I run my hands over my face, trying to breathe, but there doesn ’ t seem to be much oxygen in this room.
    “ So now you know what kind of monster you brought up. For fuck ’ s sake, mother! You should have told me the moment you knew. ”
    “ I promised her that I wouldn ’ t. ”
    “ It doesn ’ t matter. I ’ m your family and you should have tried to tell me many times. I was here with her for the funeral, and all that time you kept it quiet. ”
    “ I had to. I know it ’ s probably difficult for you to understand this, but she confided in me. ”
    “ I can ’ t believe this shit! ” I shout.
    “ You ’ re angry and you feel betrayed, but please put yourself in my position. What would you have done? ” she continues to brag, approaching me. “ India helped me a lot and I know that you two had your moments, but she loves you. What Christian did to her, oh God, it ’ s beyond imagination, but she managed to pull through. She matured and changed. ”
    “ If you expect me to forget about all your insults and drama, then you ’ re wrong. I ’ m taking that dead prick ’ s car and the rest of the stuff. ”  
    “ Oliver, we should talk about this first. I ’ m not objecting to you taking his stuff, but so many things happened. Please let ’ s talk. People make mistakes. ”
    I ’ m not listening to her anymore, but I have to agree with that statement. People do make mistakes. India won ’ t forgive me because of everything that happened between us, because of my inability to grow. I can ’ t even think straight when my mother stares at me like that. She doesn ’ t go after me when I slam the door. Everyone wants some redemption at some point. My