Sam Evans comes from a devoutly Catholic family, his father Richard is a highly successful investor and day trader, mother Vicki a trophy, a stay at home mom that has a business that she runs out of the house, very lucratively, she will tell you. They were high school sweethearts where they both were Homecoming King and Queen, incredibly popular. Dad was a jock football star that parlayed that high school success into a full ride scholarship to play at UCLA, mom punched her ticket playing volleyball where she ultimately became a first team All American setter. They were married during their senior year in college, and mom bore the first of five children two years later.
Stephanie Evans was an incredibly gorgeous little girl, and began getting modeling jobs at the age of two, which became TV commercials, then spots on various serial prime time shows. Vicki couldn't stop bragging when Stephanie did a racy Maxim layout, saying that her daughter was 'an actress with a bullet'. She recently landed a co-starring role in a movie that is to begin filming shortly that has a star studded cast, her BIG BREAK. Rick is three years younger, 23, and cut from the same mold as Richard, a high school jock that was a second round pick of the Atlanta Braves. Unfortunately, he was a 3rd baseman, and with a guy like Chipper Jones in the fold, you don't get the call to the "Dance". He was on playoff rosters, seeing some action in the Bigs, but not to his liking. Rick decided to leave baseball behind and enrolled at his parents' alma mater, where he will assume the starting quarterback position this year on the football team.
Younger sister to Sam, by 16 months, Taylor, is a spitting image of Vicki, long, blonde and leggy, she just took Homecoming Queen, is dating the star receiver of the football team, and a budding model in her own right. Finally, the baby of the family is 14 year old Tommy, a burgeoning baseball star who had lead his Little League team deep into the Little League World Series playoffs for the second year in a row as a fireball throwing pitcher.
Then there is Sam.
Sam could have been switched at birth; he was so vastly different from his parents and siblings. Had it not been that he looked exactly like his father in the face, he was sure that they would have taken him back! Whereas both older men are well over six feet tall and heavily muscled, and Tommy was heading there, Sam stood at five nine, skinny as a rail. He was sickly as a child, so he never played any organized sports, gravely disappointing his father. He was so sick one year that he had to repeat a grade, which allowed Taylor to catch up, much to his and her chagrin.
Sam was the forgotten child, the one that didn't get to do much, nor did he ask, he knew what the outcome would be, Taylor would unmercifully make fun of him, mom would pretend that he was not there, and dad would poke so many holes in his ideas, that Sam would more often than not just bury himself in his room, crying himself to sleep. It got to be so bad that he would rarely if ever leave his room, his sanctuary so to speak, for fear that his father would say something demeaning, or his sister would verbally accost him. God forbid if she had any of her silver spoon friends over, or her jack wagon boyfriend, then it became a nightmare. It was like he was a pariah in his own home. Rick was his only salvation. Rick would encourage him in his pursuits, especially his love of music. Sam loved the guitar principally, but could play drums, bass, and keyboards, even sing. Whenever Rick was over, he would bring up what Sam was doing musically, above everyone else trying to find out about him, which usually led to Taylor saying that he sucked or their father telling Sam to get a grip on reality and ditch his fantasies of being in a rock band.
Sam wiped at the mirror above the sink, clearing a spot through the fogged over mirror, and looked hard at himself; his eyes red and brimming with tears once again. He sighed.
"Typical evening." He muttered to himself.
Dad had just yelled at him for not making anything of himself; Taylor, who was having another slumber party, verbally ripped at him, in front of everyone, parents and her friends while mom just glanced sideways at the situation, trying not to be noticed as she read one of her romance novels.
He toweled off, looking at his body. The unruly hair that was a bit on the long side, bony, almost concave chest, skinny arms, and ribs that were clearly visible beneath his skin.
"BAH!" He screamed at his reflection, yanking on his sweats and a t-shirt and heading to his room.
"Quiet, you fucking weirdo!" Taylor mocked him as he strode past her room, the three other girls with her giggling like school girls.
Sam shut the door behind him and grabbed his escape from reality, his 1964 Trini Lopez Gibson guitar that Rick gave him as a birthday present last year, and began working out a new song for him and his band.
He was lost in his thoughts when a knock came at his door.
"Sam, may I come in?"
"Sure, Tommy, what's up?"
"I just wanted to hear you play."
Sam grinned at him, happy that Tommy took interest in him. Sam helped his little brother through some frets.
"See!" Sam exclaimed, ruffling Tommy's hair as the little boy beamed from ear to ear. "You just played music!"
Tommy and Sam messed around on the guitar for some time before Sam noticed Tommy was silent.
"I don't like how they talk to you." Tommy almost whispered. "I want to yell at them."
"Don't worry, little brother, I can handle it. Now, you better get to bed."
"Are you coming to my game tomorrow, Sam?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Mrs. Benavides lived down the street from Sam, had for as long as he could remember. She lived alone, having been a widow for several years, her husband dying of a brain tumor quite suddenly.
Sam would always spend as much time with her as possible, even before her husband's death, helping the both of them out around the house, and even more so now. He did her lawn care, cleaned her pool, and did other odds and ends, in turn, they both would listen to him dream out loud, so to speak. Talk about his love for music and his aspirations of selling out arenas with his blistering guitar.
He was just finishing up cutting her grass when she called him inside.
"It's hot out there, young man," She beckoned to him, "have some tea with me."
