Growing Up with the Martinis

The Martini siblings were nothing remarkable. They were four skinny boys with bad haircuts. They had a rabbit and a cat. “They grew up in a tiny grey house perched near the foothills and the town they lived in was small and dusty during summer” (Clem 11) Throughout the years, Clem had expressed his impressions of how his brothers would turn out. He concluded that Liv, his second oldest brother was destined to become a paleontologist. Nic, the eldest leader had a way with plants, and Ben the smallest and the smartest would have a bright future with his good looks and popularity.  

However, things changed after Ben graduated from high school. He became anxious and refused to tell anyone about his problems. It was not until he came to Clem for help, explaining his circumstances “He had been approached, he told me, by someone from another world. A hand had reached across dimensions and deposited a thumbprint on the lens of his glasses” (Clem 21) It was the most illogical explanation but no help was made until Ben’s conditions spiraled into suicide. From then on, the family never spoke of Ben or his mental illness. “My family became nearly invisible in the community. My father spent his days in long solitary walks. My mother attended business conferences out of town. My brothers returned to their retrospective workplace and I immersed myself in theatre studies.” (Clem 49)   There was nothing left to talk about their lost brother, and the scar in the family never did heal.