One Crazy Thursday

Hiya, lovely peeps.

Let me set the scene.

My mother, Ma, has three siblings. Relevant to today’s story are her two brothers. Her older brother, Uncle 1, and her younger brother, Uncle 2, live in the same building, on two different stories. Uncle 2 lives with their mother, Nani, downstairs, and Uncle 1 lives with his wife and daughter, Cousin, upstairs. The two stories are two separate households - legally, financially and family-wise.

Throughout my childhood, I often went to their place and had sleepovers. Those were always upstairs with Cousin, who’s the same age as me. I only come downstairs for the occasional trip to see Nani.

Recently, I got fired from my job. HR ended my year-long contract after a meagre two months, citing unsatisfactory and inconsistent performance. My parents and I had made the decision to not tell anyone else in the family, especially my mother’s side, as they can be very nosy and judgmental.

Now that I’ve set the scene, let me tell you what happened.

I had a sleepover this Wednesday, April 14th. My Cousin and I were having fun in her room when Nani wanted to see us. We took our stuff, grabbed our phones and headed downstairs. We were doing our thing on the couch, when, out of nowhere, Uncle 2 barged in the living room and asked a very sensitive and private question.

“Why were you fired from your job?”

I froze. Immediately, my mind went, How does he know? Nani must’ve told him. But she wouldn’t know unless... Ma told her. The sting of betrayal cut deep. I didn’t much time to dwell on it, though, as Uncle 2 is standing, expecting an answer. I ignored him, focusing on my Cousin. He’s the last person I want to talk to about this - he’s a 40-year-old unemployed manchild who depends on his mother’s elderly pensions to live. He then sat down opposite me and stared at me, expecting me to answer. I felt massively uncomfortable and kept on ignoring him. After a few seconds, he left.

Cousin then excuses herself for the bathroom. I took advantage of the time alone to make a call to Ma. “Why did break my trust by telling Nani?” “Why did choose today, of all days, to do that?” “Why didn’t you inform me that you had spilled the beans?” I then told her about my encounter with her brother. She got mad at Nani and then hung up. Seconds later, I hear Nani’s landline ring and I can hear Ma admonishing her for her stupid actions. Uncle 2 was in the room and heard everything.

And he exploded.

Not even five minutes after Ma made her call, Uncle 2 barged into the living room and started yelling at me. He screamed, he cussed at me, got in my face, threw up his fist threateningly. I wanted to run, but he was blocking the only way out. So I shrunk in the couch, ignoring him and feeling deeply unsafe. And then the impossible happened.

He snatched my phone from where it was laying on the couch and smashed it on the ground.

Survival instinct kicked in. I bolted from my seat, grabbed my phone and ran upstairs for dear life. When I got there, I collapsed my my Cousin’s bed, shaking like a leaf and unable to form a coherent sentence. Never-ending tears fell down and my breathing became ragged. I’m pretty sure I had a panic attack. Cousin and her parents were deeply concerned, but before any of them had a chance to comfort me, the next impossible thing happened.

Uncle 2, not quite satisfied with his outburst, decided to follow me upstairs.

He came all the way to Cousin’s room and yelled and cussed at me some more. Uncle 1, who didn’t have any context, told him to leave. When that didn’t work, he and his wife physically pushed him away. He eventually left. I didn’t go downstairs for the rest of my stay.

My panic soon subsided and I was able to check my phone for damage. It was working just fine - it was receiving and making calls, camera was okay, it wasn’t freezing - the glass wasn’t cracked. I wrote it off as the case being strong and protective. I didn’t tell my parents what had happened; I was waiting to tell them in person when they picked me up the next day.

The rest of my sleepover went by relatively uneventful. The next day, on Friday the 15th, I went home. And then I told them the full story. Pa was incensed, Ma was furious and my little brother was enraged. I was very mad at my mother - for her breaking of my trust, the complete disregard for my feelings and private information, her awful, awful timing and the fact that her actions have put me in actual danger. Pa also made the executive decision not to go to Nani’s for Eid. My brother was mad on my behalf and I felt oddly happy that he was so quick to jump to my defense. My Pa also double checked my phone for damage.

And lo and behold, I was wrong. It was damaged. Badly so.

One long, deep crack on the inner metal casing at the edge of the phone, a dent right below the pop-up camera and a series of small cracks in the same place. The hit was so strong that the phone snapped a picture on its own. The metal lining of a phone is insanely hard, so imagine the force Uncle 2 must’ve hit it with to crack it.

The phone was an early birthday gift for my 18 years. I received it June 2021. It has seen me through so much in the last three years. I have grown attached to it. I hate changing phones often, as I find change disturbing. Beyond that, the price of the phone is $300. I’m starting college this August, I have driving lessons to pay for, my Ma has a surgery this June. We can’t afford a new phone. Ma is gonna do her best to get the money from Uncle 2, but there’s no guarantee.

I honestly don’t know what I’m gonna do. My phone is working for now, but the crack will allow dust, water and other micro-particles to seep through. I’m mad at that fucking piece of shit for what he’s done and at the same time, I’m utterly terrified of him. I won’t be showing my face to Nani’s place for a long, long time. This will be my second Eid without seeing my mother’s family (the first being 2020). I can’t go there, but I’m also bummed that I’m not.

So, yeah. My psyche is ruined, my phone is ruined and my Eid is ruined.

Sigh.

Help me.