AUNT CINDY

"MY baby girl arrives today. I absolutely missed her." Henry muses.

"Speaking of arrivals, Aunt Cindy texted me today," Greg interjects. "She said to tell y'all that she will arrive three days before Gavin's wedding."

"What for?" Henry frowns.

"To help with preparations, I guess." Greg shrugs.

"She has friends that live close. She can stay in their houses." Henry grunts.

"Henry, come on. She's your sister. You have to forgive her for good." Shannel retorts.

"I wonder what type of sister says such obnoxious statements to her brother. Oh, I know. A bitter sister." Henry reinstates.

"For which she's contrite. She has apologized one too many times. You need to get past that." Shannel scolds.

"Shannel, I'd swallow the pill except the pill is stuck in my throat." Henry insists.

"Dad, geez." Gavin intercedes. "It was three years ago. The pill is supposed to be excreted by now."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you." Henry maintains.

"Dad, are you mad because she blurted those statements or you are angry because those statements are true?" Gavin queries.

"It wasn't in her place to say such."

"It was in whose place to say such? You know she was plainly speaking facts. You and mum knew what you were venturing into but you still went ahead. Granny attested that she inquired about mum's and your genotypes before your wedding but you shrugged off the question. You were completely aware of the act you were carrying out. The only thing Aunt Cindy did was remind you of the truth. The deed's been done." Gavin articulates.

Henry sighs. "Perhaps you are right. It's all good. I will bury the hatchet. You guys can let me rest now."

"Ah. At last." Shannel responds.

"I'm going for a walk." Gavin announces.

Walking down the street, Gavin races his mind back to when his father had an altercation with his sister, whom is their aunt.

*****

It was at granny's ninetieth birthday. They had organized a small party for granny. Several relatives had gathered from far and wide.

Aunt Cindy is Henry's sister. She's the two-years-older sibling that's always felt overlooked by their mum. It was no secret that Henry was their grandma's favourite. Yet, it was ironic—that Aunt Cindy always felt cheated—because Aunt Cindy clearly favoured her father more than her mother. Before grandpa's death about a decade ago, Aunt Cindy attended to his requests before she even considered grandma's. It was rather unfortunate than grandad didn't pamper her the same way grandma pampered Henry. Henry was always a mummy's boy from birth.

The party was fun. Everybody enjoyed. The next morning, they had all gotten busy cleaning the house and discussing the previous day's event.

"That party was such a hit." Aunt Cindy mused.

"Except for the part when I couldn't offer my friends the bottles of champagne I specifically bought for them." Henry cranked.

"My friends came earlier than your friends. I decided to give them the bottles of champagne as souvenir." Aunt Cindy retorted.

"You should have asked for my permission. I bought them for my friends. I asked you if you wanted me to buy some for your friends too but you declined. You didn't have to disrespect me that way."

"My friends are your friends too. It was mere champagne. Take it easy."

"If it was mere champagne, you should have bought yours. You are uncouth."

"What else would you have me say? The party is over." Aunt Cindy scoffed.

"I wonder why you have to be so irrational and illogical sometimes. You can't even admit your own faults." Henry sneered.

"You are calling me illogical? You want to talk about logic? All that logic you've got, where's it gotten you, huh? Two SS children! You knew damn well you and Shannel are of the genotype AS but you still proceeded with the wedding. You'd call that logical? I remember, vividly, mummy questioned you about that genotype issue when you engaged Shannel. Mummy had suspected but you shrugged her off. And mum, being the prejudiced person that she is, allowed you get off. Now, see what's happened," Aunt Cindy used her index and middle fingers on both hands to illustrate quotation marks in the air. "Logic lord."

Henry's face was red with rage. "I didn't know you are so happy about my downfall. Congratulations, I must say. Let me also remind you that the sole child you have is an infamous stoner. Try paddling your own canoe."

"It's only a downfall if you didn't see it coming. Yours was planned. In your right state of mind for crying out loud! As for my child, I will put her in a rehabilitation center. Her problem can be cured, unlike your kids' health."

"Of course. Except she absconds from rehab. You have put her in five rehabs now and she's not spent a month in any. Neither is she progressing. I know you are bitter because I have more children than you. We all know how much you longed for a second child until your menopause hit."

"Don't ever, for a minute, think that you are better than me. Technically, we have the same number of children— one healthy child. Your first and last children are always in and out of the hospital. That makes Gem your only reliable child, so, you are down to my level."

"Don't compare my responsible daughter to that addict of yours. Don't you dare!"

"Both of you, stop this madness!" Granny had intervened, crying. "You are siblings. How could you utter such obnoxious comments towards each other? We are supposed to still be celebrating my birthday. Why are you making me sad a day after my birthday? What did I do to deserve this?" Granny continued sobbing.

"I'm sorry, mummy. I didn't mean to disrupt your happiness." Aunt Cindy apologized.

"Mummy, I can never intentionally hurt you. You know that. I'm so sorry." Henry had followed suit.

The rest of that day had been rough. Granny had spent hours trying to restore peace between both of them. The rest of the relatives had all walked on eggshells throughout the day. Nobody wanted to be tangled in the duel.

*****

Aunt Cindy has apologized for several months. Although, Henry tolerated her because granny had pleaded that they don't keep grudges, they knew Henry never forgave her. Henry resents her and he is secretly malicious towards her.

Aunt Cindy's daughter—only child—Vera, was also there during the altercation. Perhaps, she was embarrassed. She had gone to register herself in a rehabilitation center after the altercation. She completed her program and came out pristine. She has been clean ever since. Maybe the altercation was a win for Aunt Cindy. Vera is doing really well now.

Unacceptable that Aunt Cindy said atrocious statements that day, Gavin was never angry at her. He felt she was right. His parents had delved into their marriage fully aware of the consequences. They had hoped things wouldn't take the wrong turn. They had him and they were distraught. They tried a second time and to their euphoria, Gem was AA. They thought to try one last time, hoping it would be AS or AA, but Greg had come posing another SS chaos. They would have tried having a fourth child but the trio had been born through Caesarean section. It is extremely fatal to undergo Caesarean section more than three times. That was why Henry and Shannel quit childbearing.

Gavin loves how his parents love themselves. He loves their intimacy, compatibility and resilience. He hopes he has with Naomi, perpetually, what his parents have. But he also wishes their love doesn't have to cost him and his brother so much pain. Their health decline has affected every part of their lives — academics, romance, sports, career. It is lucid that a part of his parents also regret having sickle-cell diseased children but their regret(s) can't curb the pain Gavin and Greg go through. Gavin and Greg have to helplessly endure this burden till their own death, simply owing to the fact that their parents were too selfishly in love to consider the consequences.

He shakes his head. He can't hate his parents even if he tries. He will fight his SCD until the wheels fall off. He heads back home.