It Was Worth the Wait
This is a repost of an old story. Many thanks to my editor and proof-reader for their assistance, I hope you enjoy the story.
Being the middle child is a real pain in the arse, you tend to get the blame for everything. My older brother or younger sister only had to mention my name and that was it, Dad was ready to punish me for something I hadn't done. Over time it got so bad I used to go out during the school holidays, just to avoid getting the blame. After all, if I am not there I can't possibly have done whatever it was, right? Well so I thought, but this was clearly not the case.
I hated my older brother for all the trouble he caused, I didn't blame my sister as she was younger and didn't really understand what was going on. To her, me getting told off was fun. She only ever spoke up after my brother blamed me for whatever I was supposed to have done wrong. As she got older my sister stopped backing my brother, which got her told off on several occasions.
Eventually it got so bad my parents packed me off to my aunt and uncle every school holiday. I didn't mind that as my uncle Clive had a workshop where he restored classic cars. My first summer with them I helped him with some work on an old MG TD, it looked great when it was finally finished. My uncle always took a load of pictures of any cars he restored to show me then next time I visited.
This was the norm for about 4 years. On the last summer break I stayed with my aunt and uncle, we never heard from my parents all summer. My aunt Julia called my Mum, after a long and somewhat heated conversation she hung up and shook her head at the phone. As she sat down she looked at me, I thought I could see her eyes well up with tears.
"What's wrong Aunt Julia?"
"Let me call your uncle in and we can talk."She replied.
Uncle Clive walked in and sat down, "Right what's up?" he asked.
Aunt Julia sighed then proceeded to talk. "I have just spoken to Susan, she told me that she and Brian don't want Colin at home anymore. They asked if he could stay here with us."
I just stared at my aunt in silence.
"Are you bloody serious?" My uncle asked.
"Yes I am, she told me they don't want him back home as he causes too much trouble."
"That's bollocks!" Uncle Clive exclaimed. "That shit head of an older brother is the real trouble maker, we all know it."
"I'm sorry Colin, I really am." Aunt Julia said as a tear ran down her cheek.
"Well I am not seeing him out on the bloody streets, he can stay here with us. That's if he wants to of course," My uncle added.
"If it's okay with you both I would like to stay here, I'll get a job and pay you." I replied.
"You've got a job Colin. You can work with me, I need the help and you need the work. Problem solved."
The following weekend I drove down with my uncle and collected the rest of my stuff from home. Mum and Dad didn't say much, my brother and sister were nowhere to be seen. While we were away my aunt sorted out the larger of the two spare rooms for me to stay in, the bathroom was right next door. As they had an en-suite it would mostly be for my use.
For the first few months I used to lay in bed and think of how I would get even with my brother, I saw this as all being his fault. I wasn't so pissed off at my sister, she just went along with him for the quiet life. I soon put them behind me and settled into my new home. I worked alongside my uncle and found I was a natural at working on cars. I also signed up for the local rugby team, I did okay for a few seasons until my knee got injured. The doctor said if I carried on playing I could end up crippled. That was the end of my rugby playing days.
With no rugby I had a fair bit of free time and started going out and dating girls, none of them lasted too long as I didn't want to get tied down. The longest relationship I had was with a girl called Donna. I was upset when she broke it off, mostly because she reminded me a lot of my sister Karen.
On my 21
st
birthday I got a card and a £50 gift voucher from my sister. Nobody else bothered, it didn't surprise me to be honest. Clive and Julia took me out for a meal on Friday night, when we arrived back home there was a large sheet draped over something out on the patio.
"Go ahead Colin, uncover your present." Clive said, smiling at me.
I pulled the sheet off and underneath it was a full set of mechanics tools in two chests and a roller cabinet. I was over the moon, I had always wanted my own tools. I hugged them both and said thank you, this was the best birthday ever as far as I was concerned.
"You'll need those tools soon as I am taking on more work Colin, we need to tidy up the workshop and build a storage shed on the side for some of the stuff. I am letting you work on the cars by yourself now, you know enough and don't need me watching you all the time." Clive explained.
"Really, you mean it?" I asked.
"Yes really, you can have one side of the workshop and I'll have the other. That way we can get more work done, as you have your own tools we won't have to wait for the other person to finish using a spanner or whatever we need."
"Colin, we are so proud of you, especially the good man you have grown up to be." Julia added and sniffed as she wiped her eyes.
"Thank you both for trusting me and taking me in. I dread to think where I would have ended up, if it wasn't for both of you."
"For what it's worth Colin we always knew you would do well, and that your brother was the problem at home. It's a shame your folks never saw it that way, but that's their loss and our gain." Clive confessed.
"You two have been more like parents to me than they ever were. I am so glad you let me stay here, it is everything I could possibly want." I had a tear in my eye.
"I think this calls for a drink." Clive announced as we headed back indoors.
We sat in the lounge and toasted my birthday with a brandy, after some light hearted chat all three of us headed off to bed.
The following morning over breakfast Clive and I were discussing moving the workshop around when the postman delivered the mail, my aunt let us carry on talking as she picked the mail up from the doormat. We were still talking as Julia opened the mail.
"Well there's a surprise!" She exclaimed.
"What is?" Clive asked as we both looked at her waiting for the answer.
"It would appear your brother is getting married in two months, oh hang on there must be something wrong this invite is for Clive and myself." Julia said as she checked the rest of the mail.
Not finding an invite for me Julia phoned my mum to ask what was going on.
"I'm sorry Susan, but that's really unfair."
"I'll talk to Clive and let you know, goodbye." She hung up the phone.
"It seems there is no invite for Colin, Ben doesn't want him there." Julia stated with some disgust in her voice.
"Don't worry about it, I'm not bothered either way." I said, trying to calm Julia down.
"No Colin I am sorry but this is not right."
"Well if Colin isn't going then neither am I." Clive added.
After a short discussion it was agreed that Julia would go, only because she was Mum's sister. Clive and I would stay at home. Julia called my mum and said she would be there but only for the service, then she was coming home. We never heard what Mum asked her but we definitely heard Julia's reply.
"Sorry Susan, but Clive won't be coming unless Colin gets an invite. I am going to the church service and coming back home. You have bought this on yourselves, so don't blame us or Colin. I'll see you on the day goodbye." The phone got slammed down.
Clive and myself decided to get out of the way and let Julia calm down, we made a start tidying up and moving the workshop around to accommodate an extra car.
The day of the wedding arrived as Julia got ready to leave. I asked her not to worry and cause trouble on my behalf. I wasn't bothered at all, Clive advised her to take no shit from them and come home if needs be. Later that afternoon as we watched the television Clive's mobile rang.
"Hi love, how's it going?" He asked.
"Okay then we will see you in a short while, drive safely. Bye, bye for now."
"Julia is on her way home, Colin. I don't know the details but she had a blazing row with your parents, she walked away as soon as the service was over." Clive said. "Come on then, we might as well get started on dinner if she's on her way home."
We didn't claim to be brilliant cooks, between us we managed and dinner was almost ready when Julia walked indoors.
"This is a nice surprise," she said as she admired our efforts. "Let's eat and then I will tell you what happened earlier."
I cleared the table after we had eaten saying I would wash up after Julia told us what happened.
"When I arrived at the church I saw your brother going inside and the first people I spoke to were Susan and Brian. They were both annoyed that Clive wasn't there, I told them why, it didn't go down well. Your Dad said you were still causing trouble even though you weren't there. After listening to them blame you for just about everything, I couldn't take it anymore and I let them have the truth. I told them that in all the time you have been here we have never had any trouble with you, and that you've grown into a fine young man that we are proud of. Your dad asked what you were doing for work and I told him you worked with Clive. When he called you a grease monkey, I just lost it and called him a prick!"
At this point Clive and myself were laughing so much Julia had to stop talking, we calmed down and she resumed the explanation.
"I also told them both that as far as I was concerned your brother Ben was the main problem, as he always blamed you and they believed every word he said. Susan denied this and I called her a liar. Just then your sister arrived and I said hello to her and she asked how you were doing. She apologised for not keeping in touch, I got the impression it was pressure from Brian that is to blame. When your mum came back to talk to me she said we should get used to Colin not getting an invite as he was trouble, always was and always will be. I lost my cool and told her to fuck off and not contact me again until she woke up and realised that Ben wasn't perfect, that was when I called you and said I was coming home, I didn't stay for the service."
"I'll be damned if I know what is wrong with those two, they are his parents for Christ sake and they appear to have disowned the lad." Clive exclaimed.
"It doesn't bother me." I told them. "I am happier here than I ever was at home, I regard you two as my parents, not them." I stood up and went to make a start washing the dishes, "Did you get to see the bride?" I asked.
"Yes I did. She is very pretty and seems nice enough, god knows what she sees in Ben." Julia replied.
We all laughed, then Clive and Julia went through to the lounge as I washed up. I could hear them talking but not clear enough to understand, I did wonder if they were talking about me. I realised if that was the case they would say something soon enough. From that night on nothing was said about my family again, the only contact I had was a birthday and Christmas card from my sister Karen. We spoke a few times on the phone.
Five years later.
Clive and I were working one day when Julia called us both into the house. She was clearly upset.
"I have some bad news. I just spoke to Karen and she told me that Brian and Susan are both dead, she said something about a boating accident while they were on holiday."
Clive hugged Julia as she started crying.
"I'm sorry I wouldn't have wished this on them." I said as I sat down.
"Karen asked that we all go to the funeral and given the situation I think we should attend. She wants to talk to you, Colin."
