「故事·听力」I Have A Brother I Didn't Know About
I Have A Brother I Didn't Know About
Hi, this is Valerie, and she’s always dreamed of having a brother or a sister. And one day her wish came true...but not in the way she wanted or expected it to. Her family had always been a happy one – her beautiful mom, who was always busy with some new hobby or interest, her calm and even sometimes overly conventional dad, and her! But then everything changed, and she learned that her dad wasn’t...that conventional. One day she got a message from some guy called Jason, who wrote to her saying, “I think I’m your brother.”
What??? Her BROTHER? Valerie answered, “No, I think you’re mistaken,” and that was the end of it...for the moment. Soon, she noticed her parents talking to each other with a lot of concern in their voices, and her mom getting very angry at her dad. Then, her parents told her what it was all about. Her mom said, “Sweetie, dad wants to tell you something.” Her dad continued: “Valerie, when I was young, I had a girlfriend, before your mother. And it turns out that she got pregnant and had a son, and I’m the father. I didn’t know anything about it until he texted me.” She was shocked. This boy, Jason, WAS actually her...older brother? It was clear just how hard her parents were taking this news. It turns out that Jason’s mother, her dad’s...ex-girlfriend, never wanted to bother him, especially when she found out that he had started dating her mom, but now she had health problems and she couldn’t work, and they desperately needed help. Her dad went to meet with Jason after a few days, and when it happened it was very weird for all of them, especially for her mom. In fact, afterwards Valerie’s dad returned WITH Jason. His mother was in the hospital and he needed a place to live. Her dad was a little lost and didn’t know what to do with Jason, and whether he ought to act like his father, while her mom was...a little bit jealous, it seems, even though she tried her hardest to be kind. And Valerie...didn’t know what to think, really. Jason was a weird guy. He was a little bit rude and had bad manners. He didn’t pay attention to her mom, was a little angry at her dad (though he understood that the situation wasn’t his fault), and he clearly didn’t like Valerie. And she didn't like him either, to be honest.
For the first few nights, he had to stay in her room. He looked over her things and said, “I never had this much stuff.” She didn’t know what to say. She felt simultaneously guilty and annoyed...it was really confusing. He touched everything, and she said, “Hey, can you...not touch my things?” and he looked at her and said “Why, do you think I'm going to steal them?” It was so awkward and weird. Thankfully, he moved into another room after a few days. Her dad would ask him to wash his dishes after eating or to help him in some other way, but he didn’t listen, which annoyed everyone, especially her mom, because her dad was using a big chunk of his money to help Jason and his mother. Honestly, everyone HATED Jason. Yes, they felt sorry for him, but still he annoyed them so much. Basically, her family’s lives were pretty chaotic during this period. One day, Valerie accidentally broke a vase that her mom had made. Usually her mom kept her cool whatever happened, but because she had been so nervous and tired recently, she was really angry at her. Then Jason came in and said, “It wasn’t Valerie, it was me.” Her mom looked at Jason angrily, but didn’t say anything. She asked Jason later why he said it, and after thinking for a while, he said: “You’re my sister.” She couldn’t believe it. Yeah, he was weird and rude, but he had defended her for some reason. She said “Thank you,” and that was it. The days that followed were worse – they tried to hide it, but she could tell that her parents were arguing about Jason every day. One night, when her parents were asleep, she heard some noise. She checked and it was Jason, putting his shoes on. “Where are you going?” she asked. He looked at her and answered, “I don’t belong here.” She stare into his eyes while he was putting his jacket on, and saw who he really was. Not some rude, mean guy, but someone whose life had taken a horrible turn – his mom was sick, his father was...well, her father. Out of all of them, HE was the one having the hardest time. So she locked the door and said, “No, don’t leave.” He asked “Why?” and she responded: “You’re my brother.”