My Uncle was an eccentric man to say the least, not that I cared. He took me in, though for the first few weeks I lived there I never left my room. Unless of course I was starving and even then it wasn't until I was positive he was asleep. I was sure he was going to be like my father and see me as just the freak that Mom begged for him to look after.
So I didn't bother with him and for the most part he took no interest in me. We were two strangers living in a shared space. Aside from a rare hello, no words were said between us. That changed though a month or so later. It was my birthday but, like every other day I hid until around eleven when I felt it was safe to leave my room. I was starving and as quiet as I could be, snuck down to the kitchen to grab something quick from the refrigerator. He always kept soda on one side of the fridge and beer on the other, with a plate of what ever left over he made for dinner in the middle.
Normally it would have been dark with only a small rocket shaped night light giving the large room any kind of light. Yet that night there on the table was this little round cake with seventeen candles shining brightly. I didn't even turn on the light as I stared in awe at the blue iced cake with little green men dancing around it until I heard a voice behind me. "So you gonna make a wish or are yah gonna stare at it like it's a motherfucking lava lamp?" My uncle said as he turned on the lights.
I jumped a few feet in the air as I spun around to meet his gentle grey eyes. "Sorry uh...thanks for the cake." I muttered unsure what else I was suppose to say as I looked him over. It was the first time I noticed how much shorter he was compared to me and his hair matched his hair color.
"Fuck kid it was nothing but, like I said you just gonna stare at it?"
I shook my head as a wide grin appeared on his old face. He was so proud of his little edible creation that I swear he had the giddy of a five year old showing off his first sand castle. So, knowing I couldn't break his heart, not that I wanted to anyway I blew out the candles as he slapped my back. "Happy Birthday, kid."
"Thanks..." I gave a weak smile but even I had to let out a loud laugh when I cut it open. "It's fucking green."
"Radioactive green." He corrected in a matter of fact way. "It's made the best kind of heroes after all and the most demented creatures hell bend on the destruction of Earth that man kind's ever known." I blinked looking for any signs that he was kidding only to find none that was until he continued. "What? Fuck boy you've never heard of sarcasm?" I watched as the deep wrinkles in the corner of his eyes softened while he chuckled. "You take life to fucking serious, probably got that shit from that sperm donor. Anyway boy, eat your cake and have a good night."
It was a strange comment but I ignored it. "You're not gonna have, you know a piece? It's a bit too big for me to eat alone." Sure I had spent the month alone in my room hiding from the whole fucking world but, it was an opening to spend time with someone else.
My uncle shook his head as he walked to the doorway. "Sorry boy I have a long ass day tomorrow, then again you do too." He stopped looking over his shoulder at me. "You're going to start doing your motherfucking school work and your ass has a moth of work to catch up on." His eyes narrowed. "Cause if you thought you'd just come here and not do a god damn thing you were mistaken."
I only knew one other person that swore as much as he did and I wondered if my mother knew beforehand what she was getting me into. Or what her brother thought of my father, if she did I doubt she would have sent me but then again I'll never know.
"I've been doing it." I lied. "So do you talk to Grandma like this or am I special?"
He looked me up and down. "One, no you haven't and two who the fuck do you think taught me to speak?" I wasn't sure if he was joking but I didn't have another chance to ask as he turned back around. "Goodnight." With that he was gone and I was left alone in the kitchen with my cake and what I would find a few minutes later...my birthday present.
He wasn't perfect but, as I sat down at the table with my 'radioactive' cake and new game I knew he cared more in that moment than my father did in seventeen years.
"Happy birthday Mattie.'" I whispered looking out the window to see something that made my heart swell. There above me was the Northern lights dancing in the clear night sky, it was miles wide and were my favorite colors. Knowing it was my brother I opened the screen door and snapped my fingers sending a spark skywards, it exploded into a blue bolt of energy that scattered off into a dozen directions. I knew he would eventually see it and know I was thinking of him too, wishing him a happy birthday no matter how many miles where between us.
It was an amazing sight to see both lighting up the sky, mixing into one spectacular sight that melted into an image of a dying star. That was until I over loaded the state electric grid and everything went dark for the next week. Uncle Toni probably would to kill me , if he wasn't laughing so much.
