Anthony: A Fictional Narrative

Jian laid back on his beach chair, allowing the soothing sloshing of the sea to relax him. Sure there were other sounds as well: the loud music blasting from the stereo and the chatter from the men's chatter around him, but Jian had long since learned to separate sounds having lived in a house of nine from an early age. The past three days had been eventful, but manageable and not as frightening as he had initially led himself to believe. Darren, Ben, and Cyrus seemed to have at least settled some of their differences. It wasn't a perfect situation, but it wasn't the worst either. After the phone incident, Jian had called Anthony who had seemed somewhat reluctant to come over for some reason and instead got Min and Lin to deliver Ben's phone
backup data. Suffice it to say, his baby sisters blew in like the twin twisters that they were peddling their... merchandise and trying to swindle Cyrus on some sort of misguided vengeance plot on behalf of 'their adorable Benny Boo Boo'. Jian practically had to wrestle them away and give them a stern lecture before they could do even more damage to the situation.

Jian had initially wanted to ask his sisters if they knew what was going on with Anthony, but since he was already nineteen and Jian was supposed to be on vacation, he decided to let it go.
Anthony had to grow up some time. Jian couldn't always be there to protect him and tell him what to do after all. It was a mantra he often repeated to himself whenever one of the people he loved got themselves into trouble. Jian's first instinct was always to shield them from the world, but that wasn't always what was the best thing to do, for the other person and for himself. He definitely didn't want to become a helicopter parent. He had seen enough of those types interning at a children's hospital.

What had his Auntie A said again? 'It's time to let them grow up on their own. Live for yourself now.' Live for himself? Jian hadn't had the heart to tell her that he didn't exactly know how to do that if he were being honest. He just didn't know what to do with himself when there was no one who needed him, but he was old enough to realize saying so would only make his family worry more for his well-being, so he had kept quiet and nodded his head
obediently.

So far... Mama Ji had tried to be... well... a bit less mothering, but no matter how much he tried to ignore the little nagging voice in his head he found himself taking care of the others and even worrying about some of the bae. He couldn't help but think Ashley, the young bae who had been assigned to him, had been hurt by what Jian had said about not wanting to be a client. He didn't know why, but his mama senses were tingling he just had a strange feeling he hadn't approached the situation in the right way. Ashley had seemed pretty enthusiastic the next time they had spoken, so Jian wasn't entirely sure as to how to broach the topic for fear of committing some sort of faux pas once again.

And then there was Cyrus. He didn't know exactly how to feel about the man. He was a troublemaker and seemed to have no qualms in wasting money (although now he wasn't sure if he had acted the way he did just to push his buttons), but he had replaced Ben's phone and seemed to be genuinely apologetic. Well, as long as the next few weeks continued more peacefully, Jian would take what he could get.

He was also coming to love the house.
The kitchen was a dream come true. The appliances all stainless steel and pristine. And the laundry room! He had been too focused on cleaning the last time to notice much initially, but once he had taken a few minutes to gaze upon the huge, expansive caverns of the washer and dryers, Jian had nearly wept tears of joy. So many options... and they could fit so many loads! He almost hugged those gloriously made machines, but stopped himself since he didn't want to appear insane in front of strangers. Nonetheless.... he wanted them. So... so badly.

Jian quickly learned he loved being near the sea. When he was growing up, he had been far from the ocean and never wasted time going to the beach aside from short outings, but now that his room faced the shimmering stretch of blue and he was only an open window away from falling asleep to the sound of waves lapping against the sands and the smell of ocean air, Jian was a goner. If ever he one day accumulated enough money to purchase a house, he wanted to be by the
sea.

Jian sighed pleasantly to himself as a warm breeze caressed his skin. He was mildly embarrassed by the new wardrobe his family had chosen for him. He had spent a while trying to ignore just how much the articles of clothing may have cost, since all the tags had been taken off. Knowing his family, Auntie J had probably already incinerated the receipts so Jian couldn't see if he could return them. At least it all seemed to be more comfortable than they looked, albeit slightly more revealing and form fitting than what he was used to. Currently, Jian was wearing a pair of navy cargo shorts that hung a little lower on his hips than he would have liked and a thin white shirt that seemed to be missing some buttons near the top since he couldn't button the thing all the way up to his neck. He was a little afraid of getting stains on it, so he took care not to dirty it too much when he set up the campfire with Darren. However, it had been included in the pile that was labelled 'beach clothes' so Jian took the risk and wore it anyways. It was a very nice material though. Airy and soft on his skin that was perfect for the warm evening.

Jian felt his eyes begin to close. Maybe just a little nap... he thought as he let himself drift off. Only a little nap...

A few minutes later, Jian rolled over in his sleep and curled up against his chair with a soft smile on his face.