Hello Rueben

Rueben Pov

It was a cold January morning, and even though nothing had happened yet, I felt like something was going to happen, it was like a gut feeling that I couldn’t shake off, (I learned to trust my gut when it came to Mum and Dad’s on again off again marriage, and honestly them both in general).

Mum then called us all for a family meeting, so my twin Violet and I brought our younger sister Katie and our younger brothers Teddy and Georgie to the living room, I wanted to puke right there and then, as Mum calling a family meeting was never a good thing, as that always meant bad news, (though it did mean that my gut instinct was correct).

“So I’ve called you all into the living room today because I have some news-”

“What’s the bad news Mum?”

Teddy just had to jump in there and spit it out didn’t he?, though the kid was just saying what I was thinking so I couldn’t stay too mad at him for it, plus it did mean that we weren’t there for an hour waiting for Mum to stop crying before we knew what was going on, (yes that has actually happened before).

“Why do you think it’s bad news?”

“Family meetings usually indicate that it’s bad news, plus your twiddling your thumbs and you only do that when you’re nervous about something”

“I didn’t know that I was being psychoanalysed here”

“I’m surprised you know what psychoanalysed means-”

“Can we just get whatever the news is please?”

I just wanted to know what the fuck was actually going on, so I did cut Teddy’s sentence off, not because I disagreed with him, (because he had a point here), but because I knew that Mum was about to go on a tangent about disrespecting children.

“Ok, so you’re all moving out, I can’t deal with raising you anymore”

And then all of us started yelling, it was a fucking mess, (well of course it was a fucking mess, but honestly it was probably better off that we didn’t live with her), we weren’t yelling because we didn’t want to live elsewhere, but because it just came out of her mouth so casually, like it wasn’t this life changing decision.

“Can you lot stop yelling, I get that you all are shocked, but I have it sorted this time, Teddy, Katie and Georgie are going to Nana’s, Violets going to your Aunt Isabella and Rueben is going to your Uncle Mateo”

“Do they know that we’re living with them?”

“Do you have to know all the details Rueben?”

“Ok so they don’t know, I’ll think of a backup plan”

So we all started packing our shit, and I started to feel physically sick at the thoughts of trying to find somewhere to live if Uncle Mateo said no, but I was also trying not to show that to my younger siblings as I didn’t need them worried as shit about this either.

“Rueben”

“Yeah Ted”

“Will we still see each other often?”

“Probably not mate, Uncle Mateo is in Manchester, Nana’s down the road”

“Debra probably did that on purpose, especially with Violet going to Aunt Isabella”

“Yes and no, last time we lived with Nana, Nana and Violet got into an argument about Violet doing something ungodly, and Violet rightfully said that Nana was a fucking hypocrite who lived off her dead husband’s drug money, we moved back in with good old Debs the next day”

“Holy shit”

Anyway we left the house, and for me I never returned to it, and I never will, yes I inherited my Dad’s fucking stubbornness, no you couldn’t pay me to go back, it was kind of the end of my ‘childhood’ as I knew it, (but honestly it was better off that way).

I get to Manchester with the address in hand, and I was lost for a good 4 hours after I landed in Manchester, (it’s easy to get lost in a city that I had never been in), but eventually I find the right house, so all I had to do was knock on the door, but I lingered for at least a couple of minutes, as I just couldn’t face doing it, as I didn’t have a back up plan, I did eventually knock on the door.

“Who’s ther- Rueben, is that you?”

“She didn’t tell you then?”

“Tell me what?”

“I’m supposed to be moving in with you, but I’m not surprised she didn’t tell you”

“How come you’re supposed to move in with us?”

“She couldn’t cope with us anymore”

“What about your Nana?”

“She’s not really an option for Violet and I, didn’t like that we pointed out that she was a hypocrite”

“Come in, we’ll sort you out properly in the morning”