I'm not even sure where to begin with this story about my life. I guess I should start at the point things went from normal to just plain crazy! It began the night of my 18th birthday. Well maybe crazy isn't the correct word to use to describe my family, but abnormal wouldn't be too far of a stretch compared to most folks.
It all started when I was a senior in high school. School was about to get out for the summer and I was going to graduate at last! My 18th birthday was coming up just on May 20th and graduation was on the 25th. I sort of had mixed emotions about graduating and going to college the following year.
I mean, school was all I'd known for so long that it was scary thinking about how I'd probably never see the kids I'd grown up with again. I had a lot of friends and several steady boyfriends since I was fifteen or sixteen. I guess none of those boys meant more to me than occasional sex, and someone to hang out with.
None of them seemed to be the right guy for me, or one I couldn't live without. It was okay with me... just being a teenager who experimented like most kids. I went to parties and got drunk, fooled around in bed when the mood struck me and for the most part enjoyed doing what I liked to do.
I was used to guys hitting on me because they'd been doing that since I was thirteen. I didn't consider myself to be all that, but guys seemed to think I was. They were always trying to get me in bed, and sometimes I let them if I happened to be horny or they seemed cute enough.
Back then I only weighed 112, had good sized boobs for my age (34C), and I was really thin which made them look even bigger on me. I liked how flat my tummy was, and I didn't eat much to keep it that way. I liked my butt the best, because it was nice and round and I loved it when guys would whistle at me in the halls at school.
I guess the worst looking thing was my hair, it was totally straight so I kept it in a ponytail most of the time to keep it out of my face. When I had my glasses on I looked like some kind of librarian on the outside but I sure wasn't on the inside! I liked to party as hard as my wild girlfriends did. At least I only had to wear my glasses to read with; otherwise I would have begged mom and dad for some Lasik surgery to fix them.
So anyway back to what happened.
My 18th birthday was on a Friday night and I'd asked around trying to find a party to go to. But for some reason there wasn't anything planned because all my friends seemed to be doing stuff with their parents or had other things going on. In fact mom and dad and my brother Ben wanted to throw me a little party at home.
I was pretty happy about that but really wanted to celebrate with some booze and party hard. I just couldn't find anyone to do it with. It was frustrating but there wasn't much I could do about it.
After supper that night my brother showed up for our little party. Ben was twenty one and going to college at the time. I didn't see him that often and was happy that he made it over for my little party. After dinner mom and dad brought out the cake and they sang Happy Birthday for me. It was sweet and I got what I wanted for presents. Money and gift cards so I could go buy new clothes and whatever else that my strike my fancy at the mall.
Once we all finished the little party I wanted to get out of the house and go see if I could find any of my friends at the local hangouts. I hadn't called everybody I knew so maybe there was a party going on I didn't know about. Mom and dad were pretty cool as long as I stayed out of trouble with the law.
I didn't have a curfew and there'd been a few times I'd called mom and told her I'd be home the next day. She knew that I was staying with a boy but she didn't give me a hard time about it as long as I let them know I was okay and when I'd be home.
"Mom I think I'm going out tonight." I told her as my brother was saying goodbye to her because dad had already gone upstairs.
"Okay Kris," she replied and then gave my brother a hug and kiss.
Looking back now I should have realized something was strange because the hug seemed a bit too friendly and they kissed on the lips. That was something I'd never seen mom do before... but at the time I sort of blew it off.
I followed Ben out the door and mom hollered after me, "Call if you plan on staying out all night Kris!"
"Sure Mom, see you later." I told her and shut the door.
I walked down the sidewalk with Ben and he put his arm around my shoulder, "Happy Birthday Sis."
"Thanks for the gift card!" I told him.
When we got to our cars he stopped, "So you going out partying to celebrate?" He grinned.
"Yeah, if I can find one?"
My brother was almost as tall as my dad. Ben was six feet compared to my five foot six and I had to look up at him.
"If you get bored you can stop by my place for a beer," Ben told me, "I don't have anything going on tonight."
My brother had a one bedroom apartment by the local college he stayed in. I'd been there once or twice before to say hi, but the place wasn't really big enough to have a party in.
"Sure, I might do that!" I told him, "I feel like getting drunk tonight."
"Just be careful Kris," He warned, "Cops and getting killed isn't the way to celebrate a birthday."
I gave him a hug, and thanked him again and got in my car and headed for the local 7-Eleven where the kids usually hung out.
I spent the next hour hanging out in the parking lot waiting for somebody I knew to show up but they never did. I did see a few kids but I didn't know them that well and they sort of had their own little group that hung out. I checked on another spot with no luck either, and decided to take my brother up on that drink.
Ben and I had been really close at one time but since he'd gone to college we hardly ever saw each other. He was doing his thing and I did mine. I thought it would be a nice to get reacquainted again. I parked on the street in front of his building and ran up to the third floor where he lived and knocked on the door.
Ben opened the door wearing big baggy gym shorts and a tank top, "Hey Kris!" he said and let me in, "No luck with the party I guess."
"Naw, I guess everyone is out of town or something." I told him and he closed the door behind me.
Ben walked to the little kitchen and got two beers out. He opened them and gave one to me, "Happy 18!" he said. We toasted our beer bottles and I drank half of it down.
Damn it tasted good and cold as Ben started laughing, "I see you are in the mood to get drunk!"
"You bet...you won't tell mom will you?"
"Would I do that?" He laughed, "Besides she knows what goes on at your age anyway."
My brother's little apartment was pretty Spartan like you would expect with no woman around. It was pretty messy but for a guy it could have been worse. He even had a bench press set up in the living room next to the wall. Ben had always been the jock kind of guy, but without the attitude.
Ben worked out and played all the sports he could. I remember girls always chasing him when he was still in school because he was pretty good looking. They always seemed like bimbos to me but I never told him that. I guess he'd figured it out on his own or didn't care that much, because he never brought any girls home to meet my mom and dad.
I sat on the tiny sofa and drank two beers while Ben and talked about old times. I'd forgotten how much I loved my brother and it wasn't long until I was laughing at the crazy things he remembered. Ben could always make me laugh and it felt really good to be spending some time with him.
"So you find a guy you want to run off with yet?" He asked me.
"I don't think that's going to happen!" I replied.
"Why did you turn gay or something?"
"NO, did you?" I replied, "I don't see a bunch of bra's hanging in your bathroom."
"There under the bed." Ben laughed, "I always keep trophies of my conquest...might be some panties too!"
"Don't make me prove you a liar!" I told him, "I'll go look."
He looked at me, "Okay, you go look but if I'm right you have to take your underwear off and leave them under my pillow!"
I burst out laughing, "Why what are you going to do with them?"
"Maybe I want to put them on after you leave!"
"That's sick!" I told him, "I forgot what a perve you are!"
"Well everyone needs a hobby girl!"
I got up to get another beer and Ben followed me. I was opening the beer when he said, "Hey grab me one too!"
Ben started looking through the cupboards above the stove, "I've been saving this... but your birthday sounds like right the time."
"What?" I asked as he dug through piles of crap.