Brother is the protagonist

My family was dirt poor, like couldn't-afford-ramen poor. Mom and Dad just hung around the house all day, no jobs, no income. I overheard them talking once, "Just hold on, once Riley's born, everything will change."

Later, my little brother was born. They named him Riley. My deadbeat dad suddenly started a company and became a multi-millionaire overnight. My mom, who used to be a couch potato, transformed into this glamorous socialite everyone fawned over. I accidentally overheard them again, and I learned the truth: Riley was the main character, born to rule this world.

01

We were seriously broke. Sometimes we didn't know where our next meal was coming from. Mom and Dad were known around town as the local freeloaders, always bumming around, begging for handouts. I remember one winter, Mom dragged me to Mrs. Henderson’s next door, begging for some of her Christmas ham. Mrs. Henderson practically threw us off her porch. Mom cursed and grumbled the whole way home, “Today it's me begging you, but just wait until Riley's born, you'll all be begging me!”

It wasn’t the first time I’d heard this. Mom and Dad constantly chanted "Once Riley's born" like a mantra. Like the birth of Riley was some magical solution to our family's pathetic existence. Even as a kid, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. How could one more baby change everything when we were already so screwed up?

Turns out, they were right.

02

Dad said that on the day he married Mom, this wandering fortune teller showed up at the wedding. The guy was totally out there, rambling on and on. He said our world was like a book, and their second son, Riley, was destined to be the main character. He said once Riley was born, our crappy lives would turn around because the main character is always born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Dad bought it hook, line, and sinker. After they got married, they continued to leech off everyone, refusing to work.

I actually had an older sister, but after she was born, they decided another mouth to feed was too much, especially a girl. They abandoned her at the old Potter’s Field cemetery up on the hill. When I was born, they thought I was the "chosen one" the fortune teller talked about, so they weren’t completely terrible to me. But we were still dirt poor.

Everything changed when Mom got pregnant again. The day she found out, the town announced a massive redevelopment project. Our family had a lot of land, and suddenly, we were the richest folks in town. That's when it clicked for Dad – the baby Mom was carrying was the "main character" they'd been waiting for.

To test his theory, the day he got the redevelopment money, Dad took a big chunk of it to the casino. A week later, he came home in a brand new Cadillac. He practically swept Mom off her feet, barely showing belly and all.

"Honey! This kid is our savior, our lucky charm! He's my daddy!!!"

Mom, beaming, paraded around town with all the fancy gifts and supplements Dad had brought her, showing off he...