• I became who am today far earlier than is expected of the materialistic girls brought up in America. Being within the oblivion the nation and under the thumb of my older brother should have made me bolder, less aware, more shallow. But I have always been of an abnormally sober mind. Shyness, I suppose was the genesis of my reluctance to accept reality as supreme; I could always think of something better than what was before me, recognize the world for what it was. And my shyness must have originated from many factors.
    To begin with, I do not remember my mother or my father caring very much for me. As parents, it is insensible to think of them without the desire to love their children, but there would always be a coldness about them. There would always be a presumption that I had no need for any attention. How could it have been any other way? The majority of their time, they spent on business trips or vacations or vacations disguised as business trips. Mom’s persnickety sister, my Aunt Eve, looked after Kaleb and me for the most part; you might say we were raised by that horrid woman. When the parents were gone, we two were left under her “prudent solicitude,” as she had called it with that air characteristic of those who abuse fancy words. Fresh and terrible to my memory is the first time Kaleb ever stood up to her.
    I couldn’t have been over nine. It was over a table laid with vegetables, fruit, and ill-smelling bread (Eve wouldn’t let us eat meat because it was “laced with chemicals and ripped from unclean denizens.) Kaleb was stabbing at some pineapple grumpily and I was feeding the cat bits of lettuce when The Prudent Solicitor brought up the inevitable subject.
    “Good heavens, Julie! I was not oblivious to your lack of charm, but I did not imagine you would slouch so while dining. What a wonder it was to me when your parents, seemingly decent folks, did not enroll you in a private school. Your mother and I, we were sent to a magnificent boarding school of high reputation in France at your age where we learned the value of appropriate manners and everything else that should recommend a young woman to society. Perhaps if she was not out working her poor soul out to support you little brats and dumping her children on such a generous and beloved relative as me, she would see just how spoilt you two are and send you away as fast as you could say ill-mannered.”
    Kaleb looked up momentarily as if to warn her the lecture would not end well but thought better of it and glared at his plate.
    She bit savagely into an apple and let the juice slide down her chin.
    “Julie, you must accept that you were born a woman. You must become more graceful if you ever hope to attract a husband; for, what is a maiden without a husband but a wretched whore? Especially a child like you should strive to attain those qualities necessary to be a good contributor to society. Not to upset you, but you haven’t the looks like your brother or your mother to be worthy of any man.”
    At this point I was trying my best to detain tears that would eventually pour.
    “It had always been a wonder to me that so ugly a girl could spring from your mother. Her, the belle of Europe, and your father the wealthiest man in Europe at that!”
    The self-restraint that had bound Kaleb’s tongue snapped as he threw his fork down on his plate with a clatter. He stood up, fuming . His eyes narrowed as he glared at The Prudent Solicitor.
    The self-restraint that had bound Kaleb’s tongue snapped as he threw his fork down on his plate with a clatter. He stood up, fuming . His eyes narrowed as he glared at The Prudent Solicitor. At eleven, he was tall and sinewy, imposing when he needed to be.
    “Eve,” Kaleb snarled, “if I ever hear another speech like that, I will kill you. Her self-esteem is low enough without your lies. Do you understand me?”
    “I can’t imagine why you’d want to disguise the truth from her. Now, Sit down, Kaleb, and mind your own affairs and learn to deport yourself with less sensitivity- it‘s so unattractive in a young man.”
    “No”
    “What are you…”
    “Don’t please!” I cried. Never had I seen Kaleb so infuriated as he grabbed the wooden table and threw it onto Aunt Eve.
    CRASH
    In an instant everyone was shrieking: Aunt Eve, out of pain; Kaleb, out of rage; me, out of fear. Glass broke as it hit the floor, intensifying the pitch and cutting our aunt’s stunned face. Her attacker stood wearing a face as without emotion as the surface of ice, and I, the only innocent in that scene, was as shocked as The Prudent Solicitor that he would dare punish his elder, his caregiver. Something red trickled down the old woman’s face. It was probably blood, but it might have only been some of the juice from her fruit salad that had flown from the table, which was split completely in two. I sat motionless, fork still in hand, before a mess of irreparable dishes, splatters of food, and the bawling Prudent Solicitor.
    “Call an ambulance,” Kaleb finally said in a voice that contained more of nothing than anything.
    I scrambled to my feet and ran to the telephone.