It's Not Just Us

It Can Be a Struggle

Living in a household of six people can be hard.  Annoying, even. Especially when you’re not even related to them. Hi, I’m Dawn Kelson. I used to be Dawn Morrell, but my mom went an fucked it up. See, I used to live in a nice, respectful, Christian household, with my mom, dad, and sister, Alana. When I was 7, my mom took off. No note, no explanation, nothing. She just packed up her things, took all the money, and left. That then led to my dad killing himself. Well, actually, him forcing me to kill him. He handed me a shotgun and told me that if I didn’t shoot him, something bad would hppen to Mommy. So I shot him. The gun the backfired and left me a nice big scar across my cheekbone. I think my dad wanted me to shoot him because he was scared or too weak to do it himself. Then again, I don’t know why he didn’t ask Alana, who was 4 years older. Though, Alana was a Daddy’s girl, and I was Mommy’s girl. So he probably knew that Alana wouldn’t shoot him to save Mom, but I would. I know now that Mom getting hurt to save Dad wouldn’t have been the worst thing, considering Mom never came back.

Bailey Kelson was my moms old friend- best friend, really. So when Mom left, Bailey decided to take us in as foster kids so that we wouldn’t be stuck with some drunk ass shitheads. After a year, Bailey got full custody of Alana and I, and legally adopted us. Unfortunately, a month or so after I turned 10, Bailey passed away froma heart attack that was said to be caused by stress. My oldest ssurrogate brother, Sean, then got full custody of us. It’s like a game of Dominos.

We live in a small, kind of beat-up house on the corner of Maple. It’s four bedrooms- Alana, Shayna, and I in one room, Andrew and Brandon in another, Newt in his own small room, and Sean in the master- two baths, and absolutely no yard. Each one of us have our own, weird, unique personality.

We’ll start with the youngest, Newt: 2 year old monster. He’s like some crazy, vicious bear. Shayna: 9 years old and the definiton of an angel. She’s trustworthy, funny, strong, but she can be broken very easily. Andrew: 13 year old dorky nerd. He’s funny, smart, and although he doesn’t show it, athletic. Brandon: 16 year old jock. He’s weird, reliable, rude, and basically a boy version of me. Alana: 19 year old bitchy lesbian. She’s rude, loyal, and you can definetly tell that she’s my sister. Sean: 23 year old loyal ass who will do anything for our family, and I mean anything. Mouth off to one of us? Sean will beat your ass. Then there’s me: a 15 year old jackass who will kill you if you look at me the wrong way. One thing that is weird about me- you will almost never see me without a beanie. I’m like Jughead Jones from Riverdale, just more perky. Everyone in our town calls us B.A.D.A.S.S- B: Brandon, A: Alana, D: Dawn, A: Andrew, S: Sean, S: Shayna. We all agreed that when Newt is 10, we’ll figure out a new name for us all. And let’s be honest, that nickname quite fits our family.

I’ve been living in this town for almost 9 years, and I’ve only made 3 friends- Brody, Simon, and Kelsey. Each one dumber than the characters that Jim Carrey plays. Simon Becker: nerdy, annoying, and falls in love way too easily. Kelsey Medez: loving, kind, and when she needs to be, psycho. Brody Bennet: athletic, rude, and quite sensitive.

Brody’s family is the closest to our family and me. I mean, they’re always over at our house. Brody has two brother- Richard and Alex. All of them are morons.

“Dawn, Brody’s here!” Sean call up from downstairs.

“Coming.” I jump down from my bunk bed.

“Ow!” Shayna yelps, as I accidentally step on her foot.

“Sorry.” I pick up a dirty shirt off of the floor and out it into the laundry basket. I see Andrew push Bandon against the wall, and they’re yelling at each other.

“Hey, you two.” I say, pulling Brandons ear and getting him off of Andrew. “What are you arguing about?”

“Andrew’s wearing my shirt,” Brandon says.