Matthew focused on the pattern of the tie dangling before him. He wanted to block out everything, especially the words of his Uncle Nick. It was his Fathers tie and Uncle Nick was wearing it. It was the tie that his Dad wore most Sundays and to school concerts. He was wearing it in their family portrait.

Uncle Nick, thirty years old and living in his older sister’s basement, had no job, car, or girlfriend. What he did have was the talent to push everyone to their last nerve. He also had the ability to make his sister forgive him.

Each time he kicked Uncle Nick out, his Dad would relent. Her parents had died when she was a teenager and Matthew could remember his Mom often saying the words ‘I feel like he’s my responsibility’. He heard them after Uncle Nick sold her jewelry. He heard them after he totaled Dad’s truck. He even heard them after he pushed his Mom and dislocated her shoulder. Now his Dad was dead, Uncle Nick would never have to be let back in. He would never leave.

The words finally came through. “You’re the man of the house now big guy. Now how about you make your Uncle a Rye and Coke?” He made a quick stop in the garage on the way. He thought he would try a new mix. ‘After all, I am the man of the house now.’ Matthew thought as he measured an ounce of antifreeze.