Happy Birthday?

"Mom!" Lolly Racket's shrill, grating voice pierced the silence at 6:45 in the morning. "Shark's hogging the bathroom again!"

"Stop it, Shark," their mother said from downstairs. The tone of her voice clearly indicated she was a mix of tired and bored. Sometimes Silver wished she never had children, if she even remembered she had them.

Hear that, Shark?" Lolly shouted through the door, "Mom said to come out!" There was no answer. "Come on, loser!" The teen girl kicked the door, clearly losing patience. "We're gonna be late for school!"

"Not going," she heard her brother mutter through the ornate cherry wood door.

"What?"

"I said I'm not going to school, bitch! I don't feel good! Now quit hassling me!" At this point, Lolly turned heel and skittered down the stairs.

"Moooom, Shark won't get ready for school, and then he called me a mean name!" Her voice disappeared away from the door, leaving Shark alone in the bathroom.

Shark curled up on the cold tile floor. The bright morning sun warmed his naked body, but he barely registered the sensation. In fact, he shivered.

Come to think of it, he hadn't really noticed much of anything since yesterday. He did take note of his grandmother wandering around the house and muttering to herself. She'd been doing that all night.

Then there was his grandfather and uncle, getting into the inevitable shouting match. Strangely, no sign of his father.

But then, after what happened, Shark deemed it best he not talk to him right now.

All the teen boy wanted for his birthday was a nice little get-together. One day where his family could get along, if only for a little while. He wanted to order a pizza, a couple 2-liters of soda, maybe ice cream cake. Shark knew he was getting too old for such childish wishes, but he always enjoyed having them on his special day.

It was all he asked for, but it was apparently too much to ask. For instead of delicious treats and family unity, Shark was exposed to horrors that could only be called unspeakable.