…both of us.  All I can say is I hope that guy from Animal Control is okay, because a complication is the last thing we need.  It'll give everyone more reasons to be against Nim.  Why does everybody have  it out for him?  If they just knew him like I do, gave him a chance…if they just trusted me, they'd see. 

That's what pisses me off the most about mom and dad.  They don't believe in me.  They have no trust, no faith, no belief.  If it comes down to a choice between believing the other guy or believing me, their own kid, they'll always go for the other guy.  If something is broken at home, they'll assume I did it.  If something's out of whack somewhere in the world, they figure I had something to do with it.  Doesn't matter if I wasn't even around.  According to my parents, it's all my fault.  Space shuttle disaster?   My fault.  Kennedy assassination?   Yup, also my fault.  Tsunami?  Yeah, I did that.   

You think I'm exaggerating?  Did I ever tell you about the dishwasher?  It got messed up somehow and soapy water started gushing out of it.  I was sitting right there doing my homework, so I heard mom with my own ears.  Her first question wasn't, "What happened to the dishwasher?"  Her first question was, "Miles, what did you do to the dishwasher?"  I'm a little sick of it, and I'm sick of people blaming Nim for everything, thinking the worst of him, like he won't amount to anything.   I'm going to protect him because I know how it feels.  No one protected me.  But I can do this for Nim.  I can do it, and I'm going to, no matter what.