Used to daydream in that small town [View all]

[MissB]

I don't remember when I first met him. He was always there. Growing up in the Dukes of Hazard era, he and his older brother were the real-life Dukes in our small rural town - red necks in a fast car, always just.this.side of the law.

Things got weird in middle school. I must've been in 5th grade, he was in 8th. I asked his friends if he liked me; he probably found that odd at best. I wasn't asking because I thought he was cute or anything like that - we were suddenly step-siblings and I just wanted to know if we were going to get along okay. And by suddenly, I mean that one of my teachers told me my dad had married his mom (dad was on the school board). None of us kids knew.

It was quite the shock to the system. My mother always made sure we experienced big city cultural events even though we lived in a very rural area. I don't think he could even spell 'refinement'. That isn't to be mean or say he was stupid - he just had better things to do with his days than school.

College wasn't in his future. His older brother went into the service. The tale of the older brother ended when the older brother OD'd. The circumstances were sordid and not worth writing about. I think a bit of him died with his older brother, as he never really found his way. He married, had a kid, divorced, survived.

He OD'd this weekend, leaving behind a teenager, friends and family. And a very sad step sister. That side of my family has suffered so many losses that I just don't know what to say to my stepmom.