The Black Sheep

My family is very concerned with what the neighbors will think, more so then even most families are. So much as a bad test score when I was younger was a great shame that should never be spoken of. It isn’t just my parents that are like that, it’s the whole extended family, at least what I know of them. I mean I’m talking about a family that nearly disowned me when they caught my girlfriend and me in the back of my car one night.

However even in a family like this one there is a black sheep and that would by my cousin Jack. He’s my father’s nephew, the son of my uncle, and there are a lot of arguments about how he ended up the way that he is. I know that my uncle and aunt hate each other and only stay married because of the shame that would be connected with admitting that they hate each other enough to get a divorce. Growing up in a house like that can’t be good for you.

The point of the matter is that growing up all I knew was that my cousin Jack was in prison, and I had no idea why. It wasn’t something that was talked about, and no one ever mentioned his name. Even after I was an adult I still was never told what it was that Cousin Jack had done, and I was too much of a coward to ask. I have worked very hard to keep in my families good graces and keep up the family name. Most of my life has been dictated by what they want me to do; I’m not going to risk their favor by asking after a disgraced cousin I never met. It took me a couple of years to get out of the red after that incident with my girlfriend. It was to my great surprise therefore that I got a phone call one day and heard an unfamiliar male voice on the other end.

“Is this Hunter?” asked the voice. It sounded uncomfortable and unsure of what reaction it was going to get.

“Yes, who is this?” I asked.

“We’re cousins but we haven’t met, this is Jack,” said the voice, sounding even more uncomfortable. I wasn’t even sure how to answer that, what did you say to a man who you had never met and only vaguely had heard of as being the disgrace of the family?

“Uncle Mike’s son?” I asked, weakly.

“Yeah, that’s right. Listen, I know this is asking a lot of someone I’ve never met but could I stay at your place for a couple of nights. I’m out of prison now and I’ve got nowhere to go. Mom and Dad disowned me when I was sentenced.”

“Did you ask Father?” I asked. I wasn’t willing to say yes or no right off, I mean he was a person who was asking me for help, I couldn’t ignore him. On the other hand he was a criminal whose crime I didn’t know, asking to stay in my house.

“Your dad told me that I would set foot in his house over his dead body, but your mother is a little nicer and gave me your number before your father hung up on me,” Jack explained. Well at least I knew how he had gotten my number. I also had a more important piece of information; even though he was a criminal my mother had decided that he would be safe in my home. It might not make me popular with the rest of the family but if Jack was calling me for a place to go he must really be desperate, I did feel sorry for him.

“Yeah, sure, you can stay at my place. Where are you? Do you need me to pick you up?” I asked him.

“You’re serious?” asked a doubtful voice over the phone. It was obvious he hadn’t really expected me to agree as desperate as he was.

To be continued...