Alex was one of my best friends. But I never really got to spend much time at his house. Considering how long our friendship had lasted, I expected that my other friends and I might be invited for a night. Despite our constant offerings, he was always more content to be at our places than have us over. Eventually, he gave us a reason. Four sisters, multiple pets, and a mom that constantly drove him crazy and made him do pretty much all the work and cleaning.

Generally, we left it alone and were glad to steal Alex when we could. However, there was always more work to be done than seemed possible. I always wondered what the true cause was. Just as we seemed to get him away, he would be ordered back to do more chores by his mom. Knowledge of the true situation became clearer over time.

Leaving Alex's mom and moving far to start a new family, his dad had created a rupture in the status quo. Middle child though he was, man of the house had been Alex's role from about 10 years old, he just didn't like to talk about it. New situations created turmoil near everyday as he tried to play dad, son, big and little brother, and friend all at the same time.

Other needs than housework soon came forward. Particularly, those of the financial sort: Alex was the youngest of our friends to get a job. Quite low-paying, the local theater hired him as general staff. Regal, it was not, but it did help slightly with the bills. Soccer practice was often missed in favor of work.

Tyler, his father, as mentioned, had left and it caused a lot of damage. Unequivocally, Alex would always be Alex in our circle of friends, though his legal name was Tyler as well. Xeroxes of his birth certificate or transcripts would be the only evidence of this. Years passed and Alex eventually got out of the house and married but he never forgave Tyler, nearly choosing not to attend his funeral. Zepplin played as he drove to the funeral site only to appease his mom and sisters.