My Dear Cousin - Phone Call

23^rd May 2021

My Dear Cousin,

In yesterday’s letter I told you that my family had given me a basket of cookies as an olive branch. Rather a way to say, how about we just forget all the harm we did you and move on. As I said, when I showed no interest in these they found their way to the trash, and I’m not the one who put them there.

 I overheard (Pickle) on the phone with the aunt that made those cookies and heard her say “Is he still mad?” Given the fact that I was expected to pay two hundred thousand dollars for a car that they sold for four hundred bucks they probably would have asked for one of my kidneys in a week.

If they tried to make amends it would have cost them money. I would have expected my family to give me money for college as they did for my (Pickle) and (Pony Girl). I would have expected compensation for my pain.

Honestly, I think what they wanted was for me to spend the rest of my life looking after (Pickle) and they wanted to give me nothing for it. I was in school for the arts and there is no limit to how much I could have made but no likelihood of me making money. It was a gamble but so is most of life.

Further, the old man made it clear that he didn’t want three children, and I think he resented having to look after me. If he could have he’d have kicked me out when I was eighteen. The only reason he didn’t is that it’s my house I live in. He said as much back when I was in high school.

Then, they’ve been trying to take that away from me for years now. I don’t know why those folks were so dominated by greed. I had to live to make them happy, and I was never expected to be happy on my own.

Some would say that my family owed me nothing. Just because my siblings got something did not mean that I had to get the same. That could be true, but why should I suffer for those who don’t care about me?

Best, 

 

Richard Leland Neal

 

 

 

My Dear Cousin - The Third Olive Branch

22^nd May 2021

My Dear Cousin,

I have now told you of the first two of three gifts that my family gave me as peace offerings after they told me to leave and never return. The first and second were checks for two hundred and one hundred dollars respectively. The last gift they gave me was a basket of cookies.

To be fair, no one gave this to me. It showed up on Christmas in my home with a tag that said “Richard”, and I paid it no mind. I figured that (Pickle) would eat it sooner or later. Whenever there is something sweet in the house he tends to eat it in short order.

I also mentioned to myself that I’m not the only Richard in the world, and that they could have been for someone else. A few days past and they were in the trash. I figured that it was for the best. If (Pickle) wouldn’t eat them they must have been some bad cookies.

It’s crazy to say, but the family did kind of say a few times that they wanted me dead, and I didn’t think it was all that safe to eat anything they gave me. They had harassed me to the point where I was ready to die to get them to stop, and then they just wanted to pretend it never happened.

If they were ever to be a part of my life again they needed to make it clear that they understood that trying to force me to do things against my will simply wasn’t right. The situation called for honesty, but if they were honest they would have lost any control they had.

As it was, they thought giving me a beat up old car gave them leverage over me. What I had suffered demanded compensation, and there was no way I was getting that. When you need something people can force you to do a great many horrible things. I learned that working in security.

I had seen these people bring my home and my life to ruin. Now I was to forget all about it over some cookies. They say that the people you love the most are the people who can hurt you the most. It’s so very true.

Best,

 

Richard Leland Neal