Memory 001

I have a brother who was known as Monster due to his real name: Monzur, sounding almost exactly the same. A bizarre name but having a father who was whimsical with naming I too shared a weird name that was created due to the shape of my hair.

Monster and Cloud those were the names you would often hear when people talk about us.

In all honesty, my brother never did like being called Monster, but when we were nine years old he started to take a liking to it.

Later when I got older I had asked why he started to like his silly nickname, to my surprise he was shocked to even hear me asked that question.

He had always thought out of everyone in the world I would be the one who knew the answer to that question, but lo and behold I was the most clueless of them all. I was so dense I didn’t even realize it was because of me that made my brother like the nickname he used to despise.

When I heard that, I was first taken back at the revelation but shortly after I was more curious as to what I had done to actually change his mind.

With a slight grin on his face, he told me the words I spoke to him with a teasing tone.

“I think the name Monster suits you. Although you have a terrifying name you are actually a really kind person. When anyone gets to know the real you, it makes one really think about what a monster is.”

Oh, the embarrassment.

When I heard him say those words I couldn’t help but cringe at my past self for being too emotional with my words.

However, it really was just like me to say something like that, especially back then when mutants like Monster were stereotyped as a danger to the human race.

Memory 002

The very first time I met Monster I wasn’t quite sure how I should interact with him.

If you’ve ever watched those dramas or read any of those books about having a new step-sibling you would always see the hostility that resulted in the change of environment.

There would always be that common trope where the true son/daughter starts bullying the step-sibling and making them feel like an outcast in the family. There were also often times where the new step-sibling, who looked nice on the outside, was actually a master schemer making the real son/daughter look like the naughty kid in front of their own parents.

I had often wondered what would actually happen if my relation with Monster actually started like that but in the end, I’m quite glad I didn’t have to endure such drama.

If I could describe my first impression of my brother then I would say that Monster was… unique.

Most mutants were hot-headed and love to show off their enhanced strength or unusual trait that made them feel like a special snowflake. However, Monster didn’t do any of that.

Apart from his dark green skin and sharp teeth, he was considered to be normal. The only thing that could be considered special would be how he sees the world.

Monster could be described as a genuinely kind person. Though he was not talented at anything, he tries his utmost to help others out when needed.

Yeah he wasn’t the best at solving problems, he wasn’t all that intelligent and he wasn’t physically strong, but he knew people. He knew how to interact and how to connect with other people.

The greatest weapon you could ever hold is the power to understand.

When I had arrived at my new home Monster wasn’t weary nor was he shy when he faced me. He understood that we were going to start living together, he understood that I was nervous, and he understood that there was insecurity from me since I was of a different race.

It takes bravery to be the one to start a relationship and it takes huge courage for one to accept another as a family.

Most people wouldn’t ever think about this since the family they had from birth came naturally to them. They didn’t need to think about being accepted and so they go about their days as if it was normal to live with the people they had seen since day one.

For Monster who had openly accepted me as part of the family the moment he saw me, I could only respect him for that.

The awkward smile he gave out with his sharp teeth, the spiky hair which he tried hard to put down as to not to intimidate me and the embarrassing hug he gave me, all of those made me feel welcomed.

Not long ago I tried asking Monster what was on his mind during our first meeting and all he said to me was, “I wasn’t really thinking, I just felt glad to have a brother.”

He might have thought that his actions were trivial that day, but to me, it meant the whole world.

Memory 003

In the middle of the night when I had a moment to look back towards my childhood I realized how contrasting me and Monster was.

If one were to look at us base on our appearance, the contrast could already be seen. I was a human and he was a mutant, he had spiky hair and I had fluffy cloud-like hair, he had smiles on his face and I always had a frown.

Whenever we went out to play outside- Mrs. Perez, our mother, would always laugh at us whenever she saw us side by side together. She had often told us, “We were like day and night.”

The differences weren’t only seen through the eyes of our parents. In the neighborhood, we were quite famous. For the people who knew us quite well, they would always often tease us of our polar personality.

From what I understood I was quite malicious when I was young. I would often pick fights and was quite short-tempered when dealing with others.

On the other hand, Monster was carefree and tolerant with other people. He would always put an effort in helping out those in need and was the go-to-man when anyone needed to consult something.

People often complain that I was more of a mutant and Monster was more of a human due to how we act. The first complaint I accepted but the latter I did not.

I knew that they only compared Monster to a human in order to insult him for being too kind and acting weak compared to how normal mutants should be.

For those types of comments, I would often beat up the one saying it. I tend to get angry at anyone who tries to insult my family and in all seriousness maybe that’s why I was quite malicious when we were young.

One time when I had enough of the ridicule I remembered complaining about the situation to Monster but when he heard the complaint all he did was laugh.

He had told me he liked the comparison. Puzzled I couldn’t help but asked why and as if he was waiting for my question he gave me his views on it.

“Cloud, doesn’t it make you feel like mutants and humans are the same?”

When I thought hard about it I began to agree with his words. If a human could show so many similarities to a mutant and mutant can be seen as a human then was there even a need to see things so differently?

Memory 004

At the start of middle school, I was considered one of the people who you should do best to ignore.

First of all, it was because the middle school I went to had more mutants than humans as students.

Second of all, out of all the humans, I was the one who didn’t act meek and instead was one who liked to pick fights. I was wild back then trying to fit in with the mutants who didn’t seem to accept me, I wanted to prove that I was of equal to them.

Well because of my wild actions Monster was usually the one who had to help me out of trouble. It was to the point where sometimes people started to pick on him just because I was his brother.

Being a hot-blooded person I was furious when that happened and a fight broke out between me and the kid who had bad-mouthed Monster. However, being prepared for my retaliation he had already gathered his gang in order to teach me a lesson. It was five to one and because of that, I wasn’t able to fight back at all.

Somehow or another Monster had heard of this and wanted revenge.

Monster hated to fight. He was that type of guy who was friendly to his surrounding and was that type of person who easily draws others to him. When he wanted to take revenge many couldn’t sit still because they knew that Monster wasn’t that great of a fighter and so a lot of his friend, he had helped along the way, decided to help out and went with him on his quest of revenge.

I still remembered the look of fear in the scum’s face when his group of five looked towards Monster and his group of thirty all with an intimidating look on their face as if they were prepared to tear them limb from limb.

It didn’t result in a fight but I believed the five took the warning close to their heart as they never bothered me and Monster ever again.

When I told this story to Monster he would often complain about how I exaggerated how popular he was but in all honesty in my eyes that was how it was seen. With a snap of a finger, friends would come flooding in to help him in his times of need.

Since my brother never seemed to agree with my opinion, I could only conclude it as the illness of ‘popular people being unable to tell that they are popular.’

Memory 005

When I was young and still new to the Perez family I often had nightmares that made me twist and turn in my sleep. It was always something that had me feeling a sense of despair but strangely enough, I would never cry from it.

Now I don’t really remember them much but if I tried hard enough to think about how I felt that time it would be something along the lines of loneliness.

It was at the time where I felt huge insecurity in my future, I would often think I shouldn’t have been born. Though the Perez family, who took me in, showered me with kindness I couldn’t get rid of that ill feeling of hopelessness in my mind.

One time when I woke up from my nightmare, I saw Monster holding my hands at the side of my bed crying his eyes out. At that time I didn’t know why but because of that I felt a sense of belonging as I believed that someone out there would shoulder the burden of life I had on my back.

When I got older I asked Monster if he remembered that memory, and to my surprise he did. Knowing he remembered I teased him on how embarrassing he was as he had cried that day.

I thought he would retort by teasing me with one of my embarrassing moments, but surprisingly he didn’t do any of that and instead told me, “If I hadn’t cried for you that day then who would?”

After I heard his words, you could say there was another chapter added to my embarrassing moments, as i had cried a little bit.