C from Natives by Glen Waldron

It's not that funny. It's really not! You're in the main room of the house and everyone's there
having breakfast. Your father and your sisters. Everyone except your older brother Ali. And
because you can't find any trousers, then you've come to breakfast in your pants. Only the
pants you're wearing – the pants you're wearing are not really your best pants. Your blue
superhero underpants with the red and yellow 'S' on them. And maybe it's funny – the blue
pants with the 'S' on them – maybe it's a bit funny. But it's not that funny. It's not! And your
father and mother are laughing. And your face is going redder and redder when – when you
see this package on the table. This small flat package wrapped in coloured paper. And – and
you know it won't be what you hope it is. You know it's really not what you hope it is. But,
still, your heart is, like, jumping in your chest. And you make a deal. A deal with the Almighty.
If the small flat package wrapped in coloured paper is a copy of Hiro's Kingdom 5 then you'll
make your bed for a year. Or – or six months. Definitely for a month. If it's Hiro's Kingdom 5,
you'll definitely make your bed. Definitely for a week.
It's not Hiro's Kingdom 5. It's not even Hiro's Kingdom 4 or 3. Or – or Legend of Porto. It's
just a book! This really old, dusty book. And your father's saying how it's full of wisdom. And
how you'll read it and then become wise. And all this stuff about how it will make you a man,
how you'll read this and you'll finally stop being a little boy and become a man. And then one
of your sisters says 'But Baby Pumpkin already thinks he's Superman' and then they all start
laughing at you again. And then your father is laughing too. And maybe because you're
getting a bit annoyed. Maybe because you're getting a bit annoyed or maybe because it's
your fourteenth birthday and all you've been given is a dusty old book, then you turn and ask
him. Turn to your father and ask him this question. This really bad question. Ask him if your
brother has read the book and is that how he became a man? Ask him if your brother's now
the man of the family because he's the one that pays for all the food? And what does Ali do
anyway? What exactly does Ali do? And where does he go at night? Where does Ali –And –
and your father reaches across the table and hits you across the cheek. Hard. And – and
then no one's laughing. No one at the table is laughing at all.