I have a cousin who has become quite a sensation in high school football this past year. He was even featured in Sports Illustrated not too long ago. He's my cousin by marriage, but I love him and his younger brother like they were blood relatives and then some. They are good kids and have a mother sent from Hell to make their lives miserable. The two are 15 and 17 respectively and are both now in high school playing on the same team. My older cousin's a senior this year and it's becoming a big deal who he will sign with for college. He's been courted by everyone and I think in total he received nearly 30 offers from schools, if not more. His mother is a total hardass about everything. She had her idea about what school she wanted him to go to and he has his own ideas, thank goodness. Well, the deadline for the one she wanted passed and he didn't accept. So the cellphone is gone, his truck is taken away, and she has now said that he can use her car as long as he is back by certain hour and if not, then she'll call the police to say that he has stolen her car. We know there is at least one instance of physical abuse because the entire football team was standing nearby when she slapped him across the face for one reason or another. He may have made a smart comment but she probably deserved it. Even though my uncle was paying child support, she refused to let him have contact with his children and threatened the life out of everyone when she found out that he was doing it anyway. He and my aunt were invited to a parent's meeting at a football camp he was attending the University of Arkansas by the principal of his high school and so they went and she wasn't there. When she found out they went, she called my aunt, my uncle at work, the principal, the head coach of the high school, and the head coach of the UofA and CUSSED them all out about it. It wouldn't bother me so much except that she called my aunt a "mama wannabe." My aunt has had cancer for a number of years (at least 12, I think) and has been unable and will never be able to have children because of it. She was pregnant once, but miscarried because she was simply too ill and I can tell you that she wanted to have that baby very much and couldn't. This is why I am convinced this woman is evil. She has taken steps to deliberately destroy the spirit of her own children and has said quite possibly the worst things you could ever say to another human being. On a more pleasane note, we have offered him a place to stay he needs it. His brother has already found an escape, but he's suffering the most pressure and has bitten nails almost completely off. We have two empty beds at our house since my sister left, so my grandfather told him that he was more than welcome to come and it didn't matter when it was whether it be 3 pm or 3 am, our door is always open. Hopefully knowing he has a loving place to go will help him not worry too much because he still needs to concentrate on getting decent grades in high school this next year on top of all the pressure about doing well at football.
Yeah, so there's my beef for the year. He managed to visit with my aunt and uncle this afternoon and I had to work, so I was a bit pissed about it because unless he comes to visit me at the store, I probably won't get to see him or his brother in the flesh for at least another 2 months and the last time I saw him was Thanksgiving. I miss them both!
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