4 years. the Xbox 360 was announced in May of 2005, and I was damn sure I wanted it. Knowing my mom, asking wouldn't work. She doesn't believe in video games. And god knows we couldn't afford it at the time. So I waited. And waited. All my friends got one. All my cousins got one. And I kept getting laughed at for toting a Playstation 2. And so it continued. Until May of 2009. i found out I was getting a job, and I KNEW I as gonna get it now. I spent months, playing around with budgets, and time frames, on how long it would take for me to earn enough to purchase the following:
- Xbox 360 Pro
- Xbox Live Gold
- GTA IV
- Play and Charge controller kit
- Midnight Club LA
- 4,000 points.
- and maybe one more game under 30$.
When I got my first paycheck, my mom convinced me to sign the checks and give them to her. She said she would put them in an account. I made sure, and I asked several times, if, when I needed it, I could have my money withdrawn, and we could go Gamestop and I would buy all the crap I've been pining after for years. Two weeks ago I had $241. I got my paycheck this week and that paycheck was for $262. $503 total. If I sold my ps2 and all my old gear, my total would be around $550. I was esctatic. I messaged my mom and my uncle, and here's the message:
"Just got my check: $262!! Be ready to go to Gamestop on Saturday!!" I got a "talk to you later" response from both. Since that day, every time I mentioned it, they would say "we'll talk." So I waited, until Friday night when we were all driving home late at night from Washington DC. I asked, "Hey mom, so tommorow we go to the bank, and then to Gamestop, so is that the order we're going in? and what time are we going?" She looks at my uncle and says, "Can you explain all this to him?" And he has me repeat what I said, me still not catching on. The is the conversation in its entirety.
"I said, hey, how bout we go to the bank and GS tomorrow. What time do you wanna go?"
"We aren't going anywhere until I see your report from summer school."
*pause.
"You can't do that. You already said if my grades in that were bad, I couldn't have unlimited text messaging, and instead I'd have the least amount!"
"You can't have everything you want."
Then my mom came into the conversation:
"I'm not giving you another chance to get an F in something. how are you going to find time to play? Who's gonna water the grass? You don't water or cut the grass anymore! Zead (neighbor) cuts the front!"
"You haven't had video games for the last two years! And you had one F the first, and 2 the second! If I give you video games, what's gonna happen to your grades?"
I was quiet this whole time, while every fault, and shortcoming pertaining to me are brought forward. When I respond, I get mocked by my mom. She makes fun of my voice and repeats what I say. So for the first time, i didn't talk back. And there I sat in the back seat, cause i didn't want to be with her, biting the inside of my mouth so hard it bled, and my nails drawing blood from my palms as well. She also told me that I couldn't take the money I had in my account until I was 18. I'll admit. The pain inside my mouth and on my hands, and the stinging remarks made by my mom bought tears. I didn't sob. But I sat there, frowning, with my door locked until 3:30. I felt like screaming. Who the f*** was my uncle to tell me what I could and couldn't do? He's forgetting; he's no my father. My mom might have accepted and welcomed him, with the same for my sister. But I hadn't. I acknowledged everything he'd done for us. Helping us financially and emotionally for nearly a decade. Truth be told, he's not even related to us. My mom accepted him as her "brother." I won't pretend like I forgot what I caught him and my mom doing when I was 7.
I haven't been this upset for months. All for a 360? Perhaps. Also for being lied to. For being dictated by someone who had no right to dictate me. Call me an obsessed fanboy. Go ahead. I shut myself up for 4 years. Not any longer.