BURN BABY BURN

Jake was sick and tired of hearing about everyone else in his family. Oh it was always he did this or she did this but it seemed like no matter how hard Jake tried it just didn’t matter. His parents would never acknowledge him. He had been going through this his entire life for some reason. He was the middle child but in his eyes he was the invisible child.
As the months went by Jake never quit trying. He figured that one of these days he would do something so good that someone would have to recognize him for it. Things seemed to be going backwards though. It seemed the harder he tried the more trouble he would get into. He cut the grass, cleaned the yard, picked all the leaves and trimmed the hedges. He got thirsty so he left the garbage bag out that was full of leaves. It had only been out for about 5 minutes while he got a drink but that just happened to be the time his old man drove up. His dad came totally unglued on him for leaving the bag out side. There wasn’t a word said about all the work he had got done in the yard. Jake learnt a long time ago that it was a waste of time to try and argue with his dad because there was no way he could win. He just put his drink down and went back to the yard to finish cleaning.
Another example was one that really hurt Jake. His brother and sister are both c students and for the most part Jake himself is a b student. Jake got an A on a very long essay that he wrote. The mark was actually 96 out of 100. He was so proud of this mark and was quite sure that his parents would finally be proud of him. But it really wasn’t a surprise when his dad asked him why he didn’t get 100 instead of 96. He was quick to tell Jake that the mistakes he made were really dumb. Jake just walked out of the front room. He couldn’t help but think that all this shit wasn’t just hurting him any more but instead it was really starting to piss him off. He was going to get through to his parents one way or another.
So as the weeks and months passed nothing changed. Whenever anything went right it was because of Jakes brother and sister but if anything went wrong it was somehow always his fault. He didn’t even have to be around when something happened. His parents would always find a way to blame it on him. How ever there was a bigger thing bothering Jake. He was worried about some of the thoughts that were going through his mind lately. They were not only scary thoughts but they were very evil thoughts about how he wanted to get back at the family
Any way as time went on things didn’t really get any better but they also didn’t get worse. Then the day came that would change Jakes life forever as well as his families. Jake was gone to his aunties and uncles for the weekend. He was actually having a lot of fun because they treated him more like a son then his parents ever did. He was out motor biking most of the afternoon. When he came in for supper his uncle told him he was supposed to call his dad. Jake didn’t want to make that call because he knew it could only mean one thing and that was that he was in shit for something. However he bit the bullet and made the call and of course it was what he expected.
His brother and sister were playing pool and one of the cues broke. So jakes dad called and asked him what he did to the cue before he left. Jake was sick of keeping his mouth shut. He was very respectable to his father when he told him he hadn’t played pool for at least 6 months so there was no possible way the cue breaking could have had anything to do with him. Well of course sticking up for himself proved very quickly to be the wrong thing to do. Jake should have known better but he just couldn’t take it any more. At the moment he hung up the phone he decided that things were going to change. If he was going to get blamed for things and he was innocent of doing them then why not start doing things. Something just cracked in his head because in an instant he went from a trying, caring boy to an evil down right messed up kid and it would be evident as soon as he got home. If the only way he could get attention was bad attention then so be it he was going to get the worst attention possible.
Sunday night when he got home he knew his dad was going to be all over him about the pool cue and sure as hell he was right. Jake was barely through the door and his dad was in his face. Jake took it for about 10 seconds before he looked at his dad and told him to shut up. Jake knew that his dad saw the evil in his eyes because for a moment you could see the terror on his face and it actually made Jake feel good as he pushed his way past his dad and headed up to his room. Jake knew it was too good to be true and sure as hell about 30 seconds later his dad came storming into his room. He didn’t even give Jake a chance this time but instead just started yelling. Jake kept his cool for as long as he could before all hell broke loose. The first thing he saw was a baseball trophy on his dresser. A trophy that only he cared about. Hell he was pretty sure that his family didn’t even know that he played baseball. Jake grabbed the trophy and swung as hard and fast as he could. There was silence. His dad lay on the floor in a pool of blood that was slowly getting bigger. Jake didn’t know if he was alive or not and he really didn’t care. He left his room and closed the door behind himself so nobody would discover his dad’s body anytime soon.
The rest of jakes family was down in the rumpus room watching movies and he wanted to keep it that way. Jake took about 30 seconds to find what he was looking for in the garage. 2 five gallon jerry cans full of fuel that was usually used for the boat but would be used for different purposes tonight. He walked around the house pouring the gas on the side of the house paying close attention to the doors and windows to make sure there would be lots of flames at any exit points. About ten minutes later Jake lit the match. Even he was surprised at how fast the house burst into flames. He remembers thinking about how cool it looked. He had to move back because the heat was getting to extreme.
Jake felt absolutely no remorse when he heard the members of his family inside screaming for their lives and felt even better once the yelling stopped. Now he knew it was finally over. He would never be wrongly blamed for anything any more. Now he just stood on the curb and waited for the fire truck and the police to arrive. While waiting Jake was absolutely sure of two things. He wouldn’t be wrongly accused for this because he did it and there was no denying it and secondly getting attention wouldn’t be a problem for a long time.