6 (Somewhere near Finchley Road)

Férias, criatividade nula.


Ok, now, why do people have to celebrate birthdays? I don’t like birthdays, I just like my own, you know, when I’m aloud to do whatever I want to do and people give me presents and stuff. I don’t know why they give me presents anyway, cause sometimes I can be so annoying that I don’t understand why I have friends at all.
Alice is not even my friend, she is Tom’s friend or, even better, she is Tom’s ex-girlfriend. I barely know three of the guests and these three people are my brother, my sister and a Tom’s ex-classmate from college. I’m just eating a cold piece of a terrible pizza and everybody around me is pretty talkative and happy. And they speak so loudly that everybody in the place is looking at us. I don’t like to be observed, it’s not my thing… But it seems to me that this weird group that I’m in right now is pretty much the exact opposite of me.
Happy people, always happy, happy all the time! Ugh! I’d give anything to be at home, eating croissants and stuff. My mobile rang just in the right time, and I had to leave to answer it.
- Hi honey, how’ve you been?
Yes, my crazy, depressed and melodramatic brother James, he ran away twelve years ago, because he had a huge fight with Dad. I am the only one he gets in touch with through all this years, and even then, he calls me just one time, every year, from a phone box, and when we found his number on the yellow pages, we tried to call but no one answered. Yes, pretty weird story, my brother is a total weirdo. But I kind of understand him, I mean, I would have probably done the same if I were him.

- Ah, you know, getting through. And you?
- I’m handling it all very well, I mean, today we went to the cemetery…
Okay, now, it’s been three years already!!! He should get over it, for god’s sake!! He still talks about the same stuff. Before his wife had died he called just to say hello and to ask about Tom or me, he doesn’t like Jade either, I think a very small amount of people like Jade, you see, she is totally mental.
- Okay, good. Hang in there, James. And how is the work going?
- You know, sometimes I still can’t believe this, she was such an amazing woman, you know… I miss her so badly, it’s pretty sad…
- Ok, I agree.
He is not capable to talk about anything besides sadness… I’m pretty sure he is depressive. I don’t like him very much, you see… he left when I was fifteen and I we didn’t know each other very well, cause he was always weird and very quiet, but I kind of admire him, after all. And in the end, he decided to hang up. I used to worry about him, but not anymore. Let’s face it, he is a bloke who decided to be miserable, so let him be. I’m miserable too, but I have to admit that his reasons are more, how can I say, meaningful.