Untold Stories

After finishing my workout at the Gold’s Gym in Scottsdale I drove home, still experiencing the endorphins spreading through my body. It was one of the three hundred days of sunshine Arizona encounters a year. As I neared my home I noticed several cop cars driving in the other directions, it was a little bit out of the ordinary, however not enough to raise any suspicion. When I turned at my light I noticed our local NBC, CBS, and ABC news station, as well as a helicopter leaving the area. At this point my only thoughts are confusion and curiosity. Once I pulled into my cul-de-sac I saw dozens of police cars, two ambulances, and a fire truck. This is a nice neighborhood, this isn’t supposed to be happening here, at least that was my first thought. Then I noticed crime scene tape surrounding my house. My garage door was open, there were two police officers inside. Still, my mind couldn’t comprehend what it was seeing; I was trying to make sense of something that made no sense. The police officer stopped me, and asked who I was, I told him I lived in that house. He nodded his head, and lifted the crime scene tape to let my car through. With the fear of hearing his answer, I asked, did something happen at my house. He said no. I could finally breathe. However I was still confused why there were cops in my garage, and crime scene tape on the outside of my house. Once I pulled closer to my garage I saw several strangers sitting in folding chairs. A detective approached me and said, “Hello, I think I spoke to your wife already inside…” to which I immediately interrupted, “That’s gross, that’s my mom”. He then explained there was a hostage situation with one of my neighbors, and they were using my house as an evacuation site for the rest. The neighbor apparently had an medical condition and threatened to throw his daughter off a balcony, and once the he was convinced to set her down, he was shot and air lifted to a hospital. Just the sight of dozens of cops and crime scene tape around my house without knowing the situation was enough to give me the biggest scare of my life. Just the idea of something happening to my family so unexpectedly gave helplessness a whole new level.

The only person more stubborn than me, is my brother. So when he is says he is ok, he convinces himself he is ok. Midway through med school my brother had began to experience some pain in his neck, and he immediately dismissed it. Ironically, he was becoming a doctor so he should have known better. However the difficulty and competitiveness of med school discouraged to miss his classes to address this issue until he had no choice. The pain in his neck had begun to grow in a lump, and then a bigger a lump, and then a bigger lump. While in an elevator at Midwestern Medical school my brother collapsed and was sent to a hospital. There the doctors said he had a growth in his thyroid and it needed to be removed immediately through surgery. It was a relatively safe surgery, however there was about a five percent chance my brother would loose his voice, resulting in the end of his dreams of becoming a surgeon. Thankfully the surgery was a success, and he was out of the hospital in a couple days and back inside his medical books. Although the doctor said it was just a growth, my brother still insisted to have a biopsy. About a week later my brother came up to me and told me they found cancer inside the growth and they would have to flush his body with radiation. He sounded so incredibly calm and worriless that his demeanor was enough to diminish my nerves. Three years later my brother is fine, with by far the cutest two year old son you will ever see and another on the way. He is currently surgery resident at Maryland University in Baltimore.

Growing up I had to deal with a lot of arguing between both my parents. In fact those are the only memories I have when I think of us as a family. I’d really don’t think it bothered me growing up because I was so used to it. There were times were 911 was called, but no one was arrested. However this is one specific moment growing up that will never leave my memories. I was eight years old and my mother was reading a book to me in my room. My parents were having another on going argument at the time. Mid way through the story my father walked in holding an eight inch butcher knife. My mom didn’t budge, either did I. I was only eight I had no idea what was going on, and really didn’t react at all. He grabbed my moms hand and then took the flat sides of knife and rubbed each side on the top her hand. I can’t remember what he said, but I know my mom didn’t say anything. He then left, and my mom finished the story. I don’t know what happened after, I don’t think anything did. My parents are still married today and the arguing is no where near what it used to be. It seems an argument breaks out biannually, one threatens to leave the country, then other says go ahead. Two days pass, cooler heads prevail and things are fine. I respect neither of my parents because I think they are both childish and frankly deserve each other. All I know is my marriage will be nothing like theirs.

The Real Happy Meal

Eleven years before I was born, my brother was. Reza was like a second father to me, in fact if my real dad was anymore of a douche bag I would've emancipated myself and made him my legal guardian. However my dad was able to cap off his douchness at the amount I was able to tolerate, so emancipation wasn't necessary. My brother has been the biggest influence in my life, from my studies, to my discipline. If I was to step ot of line, not only did he have an asswhooping ready for me, he also had an assignment. I might have been the only eight year old to almost read an entire encyclopedia set. His unique way of punishment taught me responisibility and shaped me into the person I am today. I can remember of one specific moment in my life where the true essence of my brother is present.
I sat in my chair anxiously looking at the school clock waiting for the minute hand to tick so I can be released from this child prison. I finally heard the bell and ran my six year old legs through the hallways weaving through people like a car through traffic. I desperately waited to see my mom so she can take me to the comforts of my of my Super Nintendo and Lazy Boy. To my surprise I saw my brother loitering near his car. As I approached him he told me the bad news, that I had to see the dentist. He smirked as he saw my smile gradually turn into a frown. Silence filled the car on the way to the dentist's office, I thought he was about to say something, but it turned out only to be a sneeze. As we drove I get more nervous and the tension is growing faster than bacteria on day old raw meat. Suddenly I saw him pull into a shopping center no where near the dentist’s office. My brother looks at me asks, “You hungry?”. The dark cloud over me was overpowered by the sunshine glimmering off the McDonald's arches.
From that moment on I knew every ass beating I took, every encyclopedia article I read, yes even the one on South African Crickets, was worth having a big brother. Sometimes I do need to remind him I'm an adult now, well at least legally, but in the end, I wouldn't change a thing about him.

Fate

For almost three years I was at the mercy of a five foot, one hundred and four pound woman. Her porcelain skin perfectly complemented her blonde hair and green eyes. She wore her sundresses almost as beautifully as she wore her smile. Her name was Polly, my name is Ali, her boyfriend's name was Mike.
Throughout my senior year in high school Polly and I had become better friends, and our friendship grew exponentially as college began. She moved to Texas and I decided attend Arizona State, however my feeling for her only grew stronger with each weekly phone call. Oh, and Mike, yea he also stayed in Arizona. They had been together for almost three years in what seemed to be a relationship that would never end.
In the first semester of my sophomore year at Arizona State I received a phone call from Polly, she was in tears, and I loved the sound of it. For the next two hours she explained how she broke up with Mike and how she finally realized how awful he was for her. My voice was sympathetic, my thoughts were "cha ching!"
That November she told me she was heading back in town for Thanksgiving break. I was in my car when I decided to give her a ring that weekend. I picked up my cell phone and held down the "4" key, she was speed dial four behind two of my best friends. After a few rings it went straight to her voice mail, I was not expecting this. The message I meant to say, that was in my brain as I heard her voice mail, that was about to come out of my mouth in a sarcastic manner was, "you not picking up your phone is putting a stranglehold on our friendship". Now I will repeat, this was what my brain and my mouth had agreed upon before that little beep started her voice mail. Keep in mind that I have yet to express to Polly my true feelings about her. What came out of my mouth instead I can not exactly explain. Beep..."Hey Polly, you not picking up your phone is putting a stranglehold on our marriage...". At this point I had one of those pull the phone away from your face and scream fuck as loud as possible moments. However this was not an option, I was a leaving a message and could not just start breathing heavy into the phone, so I had to think of something quick. I followed that brilliant comment, with an equally an brilliant one, "oh, where did that come from? Well, give me a call back when you get this." And she did give me a call back, immediately after I hung up the phone, so I knew she had not listened to the message yet. I started to coach myself a little before I picked up the phone, "Ok Ali, use your English major skills to tell her not to check her messages without actually telling her not to check her messages,." After we exchange hellos the first thing I say is, "hey, whatever you do, don't check that message I just left you, there's no reason to, your talking to me now, lets just cut out the middle man." She suspiciously said ok and we set up a later date to get dinner.
That dinner was the last time we spoke to each other for over a year. I recently saw her again where I planned to explain everything to her. However after seeing her I realized that my feelings for her were no longer there. We made simple chit chat for an hour, said our goodbyes, and will most likely never see or talk to each other ever again.