CHAPTER 5

       ‘Come on, Anna! Suck it up!’ she thought. ‘It’s just another Saturday like all the other Saturdays... The good thing is you’re not going to be alone this time.’

“I have to get through this day and be there on time,” Annalise whispered, taking a quick glance at her wristwatch.

“Don’t you worry,” the cab driver replied. “I’ll get you to your destination in no time.”

“I hope so, for both our sakes,” Annalise told him smiling. “Otherwise, you will be the one explaining to my mother the reason for my arriving late.”

“Piece of cake!” the man exclaimed.

“Don’t bet on it! My mother is an iron lady. Even Lucifer would be afraid to face her when she’s pissed off.”

          Annalise was a bit anxious about that particular day. It was her mother’s birthday. And since she had no wish to be alone with her mother, as always on Saturdays, Annalise ‘summoned’ for the event the most important men in her life: her two siblings, Brandon and Jeremy.

          She even asked her ex-boyfriend to be there, ‘for moral support’, but unfortunately, John had a game in Atlanta on Sunday, so he was not going to join them this time. Too bad he won’t be there. Annalise really needed all the support she could get.

“Breathe… You’re not going to be alone with her,” Annalise said slowly.

          Still, Annalise hated those mother-daughter Saturday lunches. Martha Walsh was always acting like she was a member of the Spanish Inquisition. Always asking questions, always judging Annalise’s life choices.

          These lunches started right after Brandon went to college. It was a sweet ritual her father created to keep the family close, to keep the line of communication between the members of the family open. To spend quality time together.  

          But when Joseph Walsh died, having her brothers home both at the same time, became extremely rare. In the present days, the only one still ‘on call’ was Annalise, since she was the one living in Los Angeles and the only one amongst the Walsh siblings ‘incapable of taking care of herself’, in her mother’s opinion.

          The Saturday lunch spent in her mother’s company, without her brothers’ support, was for Annalise a cruel and unnecessary punishment. It was ALWAYS the perfect occasion for Martha Walsh to once again point out to Annalise how important getting married, having children, staying home, and taking care of the house and everything else was for a woman, instead of working twenty hours a day and then come back to an empty house. 

“‘After what happened in San Francisco, you should quit with this sick environment, Anna. Maybe San Francisco was a sign that you should not work at all,’” her mother had said the last time they saw each other. “‘You should find a man ready to support you. Someone like John… You should create a home, a safe haven for a fragile woman like yourself. A family will support you, not harm you.’”

“‘Really? A fragile woman like me? Wow… I feel so empowered right now,’” Annalise had replied bitterly. “‘For the record, mother, sometimes a member of the family can harm way worse than a stranger.’”

          So, just to avoid a new conflict, Annalise asked her brothers to do everything possible and be present for this special occasion. In their mother’s eyes, the precious Walsh boys were absolutely perfect.

          ‘They can never do wrong,’ Martha had said once.       

          Brandon was the eldest sibling. He was now living in San Jose together with Alicia, his fiancée. He worked in Silicon Valley as a software engineer for “Inova Tech.”, a small but very ambitious software company.

          As for Jeremy, a few years after he finished law school in New York, he moved to Washington DC and started working as chief of staff for Clara Powell, an important politician and social activist. It was a job Jeremy loved in spite of the tight schedule and lack of personal time.

          As for John, her ex… Well, he was an ‘honorary’ Walsh. Always has been. Annalise met John in high school, during their freshman year, after he came to Anaheim, to stay with his grandmother after his parents died in a car crash.

          Soon after, they became the best of friends. Since he was an exceptional soccer player, John joined the high school team and that decision signed his life forever. He was now the captain of “L.A. Cali FC”, the only soccer team in MLS history to win the championship ten times in a row.

          (Major League Soccer - men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the US Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the USA).

          Their relationship went from friendship to something more during Annalise’s first year in San Francisco. But after a couple of dates, they both understood that their love was the brother-sister type and decided to end this ‘love fiasco’.

          Needless to say, how saddened her mother felt because of their decision to stop dating. Martha always thought of them as the perfect couple. She even started planning their wedding right after their first date. Well, one more disappointment her mother added to her list.

“We are here, Miss. Right on time,” the cab driver said proudly.

          The car entered her mother’s driveway and Annalise breathed a sigh of relief. Since the man kept his word, she paid the fair, leaving him a generous tip. Annalise then took the gift bag and the flowers she bought for her mother, and got off.

          She saw Brandon’s car and smiled. Thank God, one of the boys was already there, which meant Martha was in a good mood.

          But where was Jeremy?

          Behind her, someone honked the horn and startled her. Annalise turned and a smile appeared on her lips when she saw who the noisy driver was.

“Hi there, Princess Ann! Are those roses for me?” Jeremy asked her while he was climbing out from behind the wheel of his rented car.

“You wish!” she exclaimed.

          Jeremy laughed and opened his arms expecting an embrace from his little sister. She placed the little bag and the flowers on the hood of Brandon’s car.

“Jer, I’ve missed you so much,” Annalise said fiercely. “For a second I thought you won’t be here.”

“And leave you alone in front of the most lethal firing squad on Earth named Martha Walsh? Not in a million years, Princess Ann!”

“I’m no princess!” she said in a trembling voice. “I’m just your grateful baby sister.”

          Annalise ran towards him. Jeremy grinned just before Annalise launched herself into his open arms. She hit his chest and as she’d known he would, Jeremy caught her and whirled her around. Just like he had done millions of times since Annalise had been old enough to walk and run… Like he had done every year since.

“You, sweet girl,” Jeremy added.

          They kept on laughing happily. Brother and sister were finally together after so many months.

“Thank God you’re here. Now that Mom has you and Brandon under her magnifying glass, she will stop attacking me with a thousand questions. I will be spared… just for today.”

          He placed her feet on the ground but kept her encased in his embrace.

“I will do my best to keep you out of her line of fire, but you know Martha… So, don’t breathe funny, or laugh too loud, or talk too much. Understood?”

“I’ll do my best,” she replied.

          Annalise looked up at Jeremy’s face. She cared for Brandon too, but her relationship with Jeremy was different. Since Annalise was born a year and a half after Jeremy, their bond was extremely strong. She always emulated her sibling.

          But while Jeremy was being praised by their mother, Annalise would get scolded. Still, even if Jeremy was their mother’s favorite, there was no bad blood between them. And day after day, year after year, they became quite inseparable.

          Jeremy was her shoulder to cry on when things at school and at home had gotten too rough. He was her confidant, her partner in crime, her conscience. Jeremy was not just her big brother. He was her best friend, her role model.  

          She could still remember the day Jeremy came home and told the family that he got accepted at Columbia Law School. That he was going to leave Los Angeles for New York.  

          The news crushed her, but Annalise kept smiling. Later, while alone in her room, she cried in silence for a while, then wrote in her diary:

          ‘My best friend in the whole world is about to go away. My brother got accepted into one of the most prestigious law schools in the country. And while I’m happy for him, while I’m proud of my brother, I’m also incredibly sad.

          Last year, I lost Dad and the pain of his loss had been excruciating. I promised myself I would never hurt like that again. Yet, here I am... Jeremy is leaving and I’m being left alone with Mom.   

          When Brandon went to MIT, his departure was tough to swallow, but it was bearable. I had Jeremy around, like a perfect cushion between me and Mom, defending me from all her scoldings, and her endless criticism.

          And now, he goes away too, leaving me alone with a woman who cannot stand my very presence, who doesn’t want to see me thriving, and having a career. All she keeps repeating is “finish school, get married, and have children”. What Mom doesn’t seem to grasp is that we’re way passed the fifties. That women can do it all.  

          But I can’t act like a selfish bitch. I cannot let my brother see me cry. I should be happy for Jeremy, I should support him, like the loving sister I am. Being a lawyer, protecting and defending people in need, has been his dream since forever, and the fact that Columbia Law School “demanded” his presence as their student, is a great step ahead for my brother. 

          Good luck, Jer! Columbia is lucky to have you!’

          And they were…

          Jeremy graduated ‘summa cum laude’ and he begin his career working for an important law firm in New York. A year later, while helping a friend, Jeremy chose a new path. He stopped practicing law, moved to Washington DC, and got into politics. And he was so good at it.  

“Hey, where are you right now?” Jeremy asked her.

“Sorry, I kinda took a walk on memory lane,” Annalise replied and smiled.

“I hope it was a nice one…” he added and hugged her once again.

“How come I never get hugs like that?” Brandon complained as he was walking out of the house, and taking a few steps towards his siblings.  

“Because you have Alicia willing to do it, buddy,” Jeremy replied smiling. “I cannot compete with her.”

“Yeah, she’s so much better than you,” Brandon said. “My fiancée is so soft and gorgeous while you are so ugly and hairy…”

“Look who’s talking… Mr. Ape Man!” Jeremy countered.

          They all started laughing, acting like kids again.