Ten Years Later

Chapter Eleven

Daniel arrives home just before seven.

My mother had already picked the kids up from the daycare center, and she said Irene complained the whole way home about being too old to be there. She had said she was older than the rest of the kids, and that she didn’t have time to play with them, and how most of them eat their boogers. We laughed about it, but Irene threw a fit and has been in her room ever since.

“Honey, I’m home,” Daniel says as he walks through the front door. He kisses my mother on the cheek, before excusing himself to clean up. Mason wakes up from his nap and begins following Daniel around, talking to him in his two-year-old nonsensical way. Daniel doesn’t seem to mind, and allows him to trail behind him like a physical string attached the two of them together.

After Daniel is ready to go, my mother tells me to go get Irene. I bound up the stairs and knock softly on her door. After a few minutes, I push the door open. She’s sitting on her bed with her back to me.

“Come on, Irene, we’re going out to dinner.”

Nothing. She crosses her arms over her chest, but doesn’t reply. I walk into her room, carefully stepping over Barbie dolls and stuffed animals. I sit beside her on the bed. She has a scowl on her face, but turns away from me quickly.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” I say softly. I rest my hand gently on her shoulder. “I’m your big sister, you can tell me anything.”

She turns to me then. “I don’t want to go to daycare.”

I smile at her. “Alright, you won’t have to go anymore.”

She only has to go on the weekends, because she has school on the weekdays. Since I’m here now, I can watch her on the weekends. I doubt I’ll have any plans on the weekends with any of my peers, anyhow. Plus, it’ll be good for us to bond and get closer to one another.

“Really?” She asks, incredulously.

I nod, smiling. “But I’m going to be in charge of you while your mommy and your daddy are busy at work, so you’re going to have to listen to me. Can you promise me that?”

She nods feverishly. “I love you!” She says, wrapping her arms around my waist. She presses her head against my side, right where my broken rib is. I gasp and pull away quickly, startling her. “What’s wrong?”

I shake my head. “Just an owey on my side. Wanna see?” She nods, so I lift up my shirt to show her the dark bruise formed on my side. She gasps and I laugh at her. “I’ll be fine, I promise. But if we wait any longer I might die of hunger, so let’s go get some dinner.”

We walk down the stairs together and my mother, Daniel, and Mason are already standing in the living room, ready to walk out the door. Irene and I slip on our shoes and jackets and we all leave together.

The reporters waste no time snapping photos and yelling their questions at me. I look at them for a moment, smile, before getting into my mother’s minivan. She got it after she had Mason, thinking she’ll need all the room she can get for these hellions.

“Guess what, Mommy?” Irene says. “I don’t have to go to daycare anymore.”

“Oh, really?” My mother says as she climbs into the passanger seat.

“Well, I just figured since I’ll be here, I can just watch her on the weekends. I hope that’s okay,” I say quickly. I hope I haven’t made any promises that I won’t be able to keep.

“That’s fantastic, Sawyer! You’re already becoming an amazing sister.”

Mason plays with his miniature firetruck, making siren noises as he pushes it back and forth on his armrest. Daniel turns the radio on to a pop station, and Irene begins singing at the top of her lungs. My mother and Daniel are talking about each other’s day. I look out the window, watching the familiar houses pass by, boring house by boring house.

This is my life.