Today is Victor's Birthday….
He is three years old today. It's a year of another party. He stands as straight as he possibly can while his mother tugs and fusses at his suit. Victor has had enough. The collar is ruffled and tickles his chin. The jacket is itchy. It's his birthday. He's supposed to be having fun. And this is definitely not fun. He wants to run around outside. He wants to feel the warm sun on his back. He wants to play and get dirty! He may be just three today, but he knows what he wants. So he scrunches up his face and lets out a wail. He continues to wail as his mother sits back, surprised. "Why Victor! Don't cry! You're a big boy and besides, this is hardly like you. You never cry!" But he is beyond reasoning. He just wants to take it off. "Mommy, take it off!" He cries over and over again. Crystal purses her lips. She tells him that she can't take it off. He has to wear it. He's got to suck it up and act like a man. And for God's sake, stop crying! But he won't. He can't. Doesn't want to. He throws himself on the floor, forcing himself to stop hearing his mother's shouts and reprimanding words. And then he hears it. A ripping sound in his shoulder. The shirt with the horrid ruffled collar now has an open whole in the right shoulder. He sees shock register on his mother's face, and for some reason, the surprise of ripping the shirt causes him to let out another wail. His mother raises her hand, and suddenly, slaps him straight across his face. Victor falls backward. He doesn't cry anymore. He's too surprised. His mommy just hurt him. And it did hurt. He curls up and sniffles. That was mean. Mommy was mean. Now she yanks him up by his arm, takes out a tissue, and wipes his face so that there are no more tracks of tears. But it's not a moving gesture. Just a practical one. She doesn't want to see his face smudged and dirty.
Now the family stands at the door, greeting guests. Victor's hand is in his father's. A clean shirt with no rips in it is under the itchy jacket. But Victor knows better than to cry now. His mother greets a friend and her family, planting air kisses on all of their cheeks. She wears a bright smile on her face, as if nothing was wrong. After the last guest, Great Aunt Opal, walks through the door, Victor's family walks to the open living room. His mother is whirling around the room, making sure the appetizers being served on silver plates by the waiters are just right. Her coral colored dress is like a burst of color and Victor can't help but smile at it and be in awe. He has already forgotten the incident in the morning. It's hard for a toddler to hold a grudge. He sits next to his daddy, until he grabs Victor onto his lap. Victor giggles and rubs his daddy's beard. "You have something fuzzy on your face." He says matter-of-factly. His daddy lets out an enormous laugh. Victor doesn't know what's so funny, but he loves to see his daddy happy. But soon, another little boy has everyone's attention. Its Victor's cousin, Emory. Emory is just one year old, and now he's making his way across the room on his unsteady legs, much to the delight of every guest at the party. The room is filled with coos and sounds of awe.
"Look at how fast he's going!"
"He's so adorable."
"Oh, he is going to be such a fast, strong boy."
Victor sulks. This is his party, not Emory's. He is the one who should be getting this attention. Then, he feels the couch move next to him. Ruby is sitting next to him. At seven years old, she is older than Victor, and he believes that she knows all there is to know. She is also unimpressed by Emory's show. She turns to Victor. "Since he's my brother, I've seen him do that a lot." She huffs. "I don't see what's so special about walking. See I can walk across the room right now!" She gets up and does an exaggerated impression of her brother's toddling walk. Victor giggles and soon is joining her, falling over on his face and making "baby noises" until he and Ruby are both collapsing with laughter. And besides, Victor has everyone's attention again.