Birthday
Happy birthday, Patrick. I’m sorry that Mikhail isn’t going to let you enjoy your birthday this year. And, I’m sure last year was a trial, too. We can’t imagine what he is telling you, but you tell us some of his lies sometimes. It can’t be easy to live here with us when he is constantly telling you how awful we are. That we are lying about everything.
We’ve heard Mikhail say that the food in the freezer is delivered by others. I suppose that is better than thinking that it is poisoned or radioactive. He told us that the food isn’t something mom orders or picks up at the grocery store. Instead, how it appears is a mystery, like how the money showed up in your bank account before you lost your wallet and we closed it. Somehow prayer or magic made these things happen. Not the people who love you.
We wanted to have something special for you to eat for your birthday. That is something that you still seem to enjoy. Your favorites have been Thai and Indian and we wanted to spoil you. So, when mom asked what you’d like we were both surprised that you wanted nothing.
We were even more surprised when you told us that it was too soon anyway. That your birthday was still a month away. That today was April 30th. (Patrick/Mikhail’s birthday is on Saturday, June 1.)
I checked the AC and it indeed had been set to show the date as April 30th. We can’t be sure but suspect that you set it manually yourself. I reconfigured it to sync with the server. I bet I’ll be doing that again.
When you grabbed dinner tonight, I mentioned that I’d fixed the date configuration in the AC and you said “Nope it’s April 30th.” I pointed to the newspaper from Sunday on the kitchen table and its date being May 26. That we were forcing you to stay and we are gaslighting you. We aren’t. We just want to celebrate your birthday. To have a positive day. One that we enjoy together.
But we can’t. Not yet. Mikhail won’t let us. He’s convinced that we need to live apart. So, this coming week, I’m sure that you’ll spend your time in your room talking to your spirits, while your mother and I wait for Patrick to return to celebrate his birthday. Someday.