I am in charge. I always have been. Or at least since my parents divorced, which was when I was five. I am a born leader. I could drive a car since I was eight. I could cook a full three course meal since I was seven. I could give haircuts and clean wounds and mend fences and plant gardens and climb trees for stuck kites since I was seven. We live with my dad who is crazy. A daily routine for me is: Wake up at five thirty to make tea, get dressed and sign any home work with a perfect copy of my father’s hand writing. Then I would cook breakfast. Pumpkin spice bread, pancakes, french toast. You name it. Then I would get my father dressed and give him tea and breakfast. My two siblings, Jenna and Alfred would come downstairs and I would feed them and get them ready for school. Our neighbor would come over to watch dad while we walk to school. I have no friends. I did, but with having many “Afterschool chats” with teachers about phone calls to check on Dad and Ms.Malris our neighbor from my cellphone during school, I became known as “The weirdo” I am constantly asked to work with the Special Edds kids though, since I have patients for these things. After school. I make Alfred and Jenna do their homework and do mine, I start dinner, feed dad, Alfred and Jenna then get them ready for bed. Goodnight.
“Oh yes. It would be fine Mrs.Cortine I would love it if Alfred and Jenna went to your house with Lily and Thomas. Yes yes dad is...at work after school.” I told The mother of one of Alfred and Jenna’s friends after school. He’s at work at being useless I thought angrily. If that was true then he would be at work all the time.
“Is it okay with your parents?”
“I’ll check,” I sighed and took my phone out of my backpack. I punched in my mom’s number but didn’t hit ‘call’ I waited for a moment to make their mother think that it was ringing. Then I said to the buzzing dial tone:
“Oh hi mom, Is it all right if
Jenna and Alfred go home with the Jones today? It is. Okay when should they be back? Okay. Bye Love you.” I said in a much practiced routine. Then I hit the “disconnect” button in case Mrs.Jones was watching.
“Mom said that that’s okay but they need to be back here at 4:30. I’ll pick them up.”
“Oh can’t your mother pick them up? I’ve been looking forward to meeting the miracle mother that keeps these kids so polite and in line.” She pleaded as Alfred Screamed a battle cry at the top of his lungs and began chasing Lily around. I allowed myself a small knowing smile at the misgiven compliment, beings that I “keep the kids in line”
“I’m sorry but she has a...book club meeting tonight and needs to make dinner when she gets home.” I said cooly
“Oh, well I must talk to her sometime. There’s a class field trip to the zoo coming up soon and it needs volunteers. I think that we have a lot in common.” She chirped.
“I’m sure you do.” I said smiling wryly.
“MAMA! LETS GO!!!” Thomas screeched
“I’m afraid we must go now, goodbye dear Piper.” Mrs.Jones said and ushered the kids to the car. But before they left I gave Jenna and Alfred a look telling them: “Not a word about mom and dad- not a word!” When we’re lucky my siblings and I can communicate quite easily through looks. Then I turned around and began walking home.
I reached it in a few minutes and slithered around the old Citron that was our car. We had bought it used but it was in much worse shape now. It was rusted badly and the glass of one window was severely cracked. The antenna was bent and the the bumper was falling off. On the rare occasion that A mother dropped Jenna and Alfred off here I would always say “Ah, that’s dad’s old collage rig that no one has the heart to throw away. Our good car is at work with dad at work.” It always works. I pulled open the broken screen door and fished around my neck for the key. I found it and opened the door, letting the screen door slam behind me.
“I’m home!” I cry and Ms.Malris comes racing from the other room.
“I’m sorry Piper but you might just want to give me a raise. Today was awful. He fell down and then insisted on soup for lunch so I took him to the store and he insisted on riding in the baby seat then he got stuck and the clerk had to come and...”
“I’m sorry. I will write it down.” I interrupted. I was ready to drop and I still needed to make dinner and a million other things. Ms.Malris demanded a raise almost every day. With good reason. Taking care of dad was infuriating. You need a lot of patience for it...A LOT of patience. Ms.Malris doesn’t mind my interruption and slams the door behind her as if to say “Goodbye and Good riddance!” I walked over to the window and sat on the thread
bare couch. I watched two popular girls walking home from school, arm I arm, giggling. I quickly ducked so that they wouldn’t see me in the old house. I imagined them at school making fun of me. Not that I really cared. I was used to it. I felt a flash of anger at myself for ducking. They already despise me so why become a softie?
I took a deep breath and went into the kitchen. I pulled a cheese stick out of the fridge and began to gnaw on it. Then I pulled off my shoes and put them back by the door and threw my backpack to the scratchy wood floor.
Dad was in his room, where I always find him. He was chewing a candy bar (though his doctor constantly told him not to) and staring into space. I walked up and promptly snatched the caramel-chocolate bar from his hand. I stuffed it into my jeans pocket.
“Dad you know that you can’t have those.” I said he turned to me
“Don’t be bossin’ me around you insane zebra.” he sighed dreamily. I rolled my eyes and put the cheese stick rapper in my pocket too.
“I’m going to start dinner now. You just stay here and don’t do anything bad. Call if you need anything.”
“Call. Ring Ring! Ring Ring!!” He cried and laughed hysterically at his own joke. I left him to his rings and headed to the kitchen to make dinner. I cut honey baked ham into cubes and put them in a pan on the back burner. Then I cut potatoes into slices and began to fry them. I was just prepping another pan for the braised greens when duty called.
“RING! RING RING!” I stormed into dad’s room
“You called?” I asked through tight lips. Dad laughed nonsensically as if it was the funniest thing in the world
“I’m bored put on Finding Nemo.” so while I fiddled with the ancient TV and the only movie that we owned, dad shrieked “JUST KEEP SWIMMING JUST KEEP SWIMMING!!!!!!” So loud that I hoped that the neighbors wouldn't hear.
“Okay! Okay! Just be quiet .” I said firmly and eventually he quieted down. While dad clapped his hands as the movie started playing across the crackling screen, I continued to make dinner. The old phone rang from the hall. I sighed. I had had enough ringing for the moment. I answered
“Hello this is-”
“Piper thank goodness!” Mrs.Cortine’s relived voice came through. “Is it normal for Alfred to yodel in the bathroom.”
“Yes,”
“Thank goodness!” She gushed and hung up. The phone hadn't been on the base station for 3 seconds before it rang again/
“Yes Mrs.Cortine?”
“Mrs. who?” A smooth voice from the other end said.
“Mom!? Is it time for your monthly call already I thought-”
“Piper can you give the phone to your father?”
“But-”
“Piper, now.”
“Why thought isn’t-”
“Piper,” She didn’t say it in a strict way. My name; Piper slid off her tongue like an ice cube. I fell silent immediately. I began towards dad’s room. Dad was crazy...but when he talked to mom- it was like he was reborn and he became his old, normal......arguing(!) self. I handed the phone to dad.
“It’s mom.”I said simply. His glassy eyes were instantly replaced with a cool, calm look.
“Thank you, Piper.” He said. While I shut of the TV I heard mom say: “Was that finding Nemo playing Mike?”
“The twins are watching it,” He lied and I shivered at how easily the lie had escaped his lips, no hesitation, no nothing. Anyone would buy it, If I didn’t know better even I would believe it! Everyone would believe it except mom, who said
“Likely story.” I cringed at how early in the phone call they had started arguing.
I heard the soy sauce sizzle in the braised greens pan and I raced back into the kitchen. But after a while curiosity took over. I crept to the bedroom door and put my ear to it.
“Six months! You’ve been preparing for six months and yet you tell me one week before we pick him up! We don’t need another mouth to feed Julia. I don’t care what happened to his parents, it’s hard enough taking care of Piper, Work, Work, Work that’s all you do while I’m having a very hard time watching over the kids, they’re quite a handful-“ I had heard enough. I was steaming mad, He was having a hard time with me!? I cooked and cleaned! I took my siblings to school! I took my family to the doctor and bought them new clothes! I handled the money which we only had because of our rich grandparents and the summer jobs that I managed to get. I washed the windows, ironed the clothes and read Jenna and Alfred bedtime stories. I scheduled “fun nights” at the movies or the park, I did all that and he’s saying I’m a handful. Suddenly I smelled smoke. I raced into the kitchen. The potatoes were burned, as was the ham and the soy sauce had stained the pan. I felt ready to cry, all of my patience and practicality had gone down the drain. I was angry. At dad for being crazy, at mom for working too much to take us in, at our tiny dumb house and above all I felt sorry for myself. Everywhere I looked I was mad. I turned on the radio. The station was talking about a famous singer who hadn’t won a competition. I felt my anger bubbling up. I could picture her sobbing into a giant plushy pillow in her huge mansion in L.A. with her friends, family and staff running around her bringing her soothing tea and all sorts of gourmet dishes. I took a deep breath and put the dishes in the sink. It was going to be spaghetti tonight.
Dinner was quiet. I had picked up the twins about an hour ago. They were eating ravenously. I was eating slowly; Dad was back to his normal, crazy self, and wasn’t eating at all. Finally he broke the silence and said
“I hate spaghetti,” That was the last straw. The anger that had been hiding under a rock for all this time came out,
“Well what do you want me to do, make a whole new meal just for you? Well I’m sorry but that’s not going to happen! Because since you’re refusing to be a parent I guess I’ll have to be the parent! So be it!” I stood up out of my chair; I was talking in a perfectly calm, cold voice “I’ve been being the parent for seven years now, since you haven’t! When I fall, I put my own bandage on when it’s my birthday I just forget about cake because it’s not right to make your own birthday cake. On the other hand when you fall down, I help you up and put on a Band-Aid, when it’s your birthday then I bake the best cake that I can. Sure call us a handful, Say it’s hard to take care of us!” The calmness in my voice slipped away and I was screaming “A normal dad is supposed to take his kids to football games and help them with their homework. If you couldn’t take care of us just because you were working then that would be fine…but you’re not. You’re not doing ANYTHING!!!!! I am!!!!!,” The words poured out of my mouth, I couldn’t stop if I wanted to! “So say we’re a handful all you like to mom but you know and we know who’s really doing the work around here!!” With that I picked up dad’s plate and scraped the spaghetti on it into the trash and stomped down the hall.
“Somebody has to keep their head” I thought as I sat on my old mattress. “My siblings need me. And I might as well find out why mom called in the first place.” I had made up my mind. Now don’t get me wrong- I was still steaming mad, But I knew that I had to keep things together. I stood up and took a deep breath. The kitchen was in ruckus. Dad was staring. But it wasn’t the normal, stupid grin. Behind his green eyes I could practically see the mysterious thoughts swirling and rippling like rain hitting a lake inside his head. Alfred was throwing meatballs at the wall, and Jenna was sobbing
“Don’t go Piper! I didn’t mean to lose your favorite pencil last week!”
“I’m not going anywhere, Jenna,” I replied tartly and dabbed at her tears with a napkin, but only succeeding in getting a smudge of tomato sauce on her cheek. Then I quickly stopped Alfred and rubbed at the noodles that were stuck to the wall with a layer of tomato sauce.
“You’re not?”
“No, but we are…to Safeway we’re getting ice cream. Grandma sent money yesterday and we’re over due for a treat.”
Later, just when I finished tucking Jenna and Alfred in, it started to rain lightly. On the brink between summer and fall, the weather was always changing it keeps you guessing. I hope that the rain isn’t a sign I thought as I walked towards dads’ bedroom. I opened the door quietly. Dad looked…normal, but miserable.
“Piper,”
“Dad”
Awkward silence……..
“Piper I’m-“
“Dad what-“
“You go first Piper.”
“What was the phone call about?” I wanted to know. Dad cringed
“Now it’s my turn.…I’m sorry for saying that you’re handful and for having my…..head in the clouds. It’s just that I didn’t want-“
“Didn’t want…?”
“I’d better start from the beginning,”
“Yes, You’d better.” I agreed,
“Well, in LA were your mother lives, the parents of a small family died. They left Able. Able is twelve, like you. So your mom adopted him before he could go to an orphanage or a foster home. But of course she’s much to busy to watch over a child so she arranged for him to be sent here for us to look after. But I said no! It would obviously be too much for me to handle.” I glared at him “I mean for you to handle.” He corrected quickly.
“Actually it might be good to have an extra hand around here.” I said coldly. Dad sucked in a breath
“I well…how much did you hear?”
“It doesn’t matter how much I heard because you’re going to explain the whole deal to me no matter what.”
“Well next week he’s going to be landing and he will be brought to the ‘Families of the world center. Usually it just a daycare but it is also where they can pick adopted children and keep them until their new families come.”
“We should help this kid. But it’s not fair.”
“I know your mother just thrusting this on us- you.”
“No it’s not fair to become part of such a messed up family after what he’s already been through.” I sighed and said, “Make the call.” Then I went back to my room.
The week had gone by quickly and I had skipped a day of school to clean out the old garage and go to a few yard sales to prepare a room for Able. I bought a cheap mattress a small bedside table (very scratched and old, but workable) an alarm clock. I was going to buy more, but then I decided to keep the rest that I had put aside for him, I would give it to him so that he could get what he chose with the reminants. They could go thrift store shopping, It was chep, and apparently rather trendy too.
It was a stressful week and Dad and my siblings could sense it and helped by brushing their own teeth and dad even attempted (and failed miserably) to make his own tea in the morning. It was a cloudy but warm day. School had just ended and Alfred and Jenna had gone home with a friend. I had agreed that Ms.Malris would stay an hour longer with dad so that I could visit a neighbors house, the neighbors used to have teenage boys and so I figured that if they were feeling generous I could get a few items and tips, there were two more weeks until it was time to get Able and my calm attitude was slowly ebbing away. I had made sure to look especially sharp today with a almost new shirt on and I was trying to control my breathing. I walked up to the Jhonsons door. Trying not to notice how big and well kept their house was. I knocked on the door precisely 33 times before it opened, it was Mrs.Jhonson and she was looking tired and slightly annoyed and I silently cursed myself for being so persistent.
“What do you want?!” She cried then realized it was me and shook herself
“Oh my apologies I thought you were that dumb salesman who always comes around the block you know?” I didn’t salespeople never bother to stop by our house, I had watched countless girl scouts and many advertisers- even the mailman(!) pass our house without a backwards glance. But unlike Ms.Malris
I took great pains to not show the Johnson’s where we lived.
“Oh, him yeah he’s so annoying.” I said a bit too quickly.
“Well then, why is it you’re here?” she asked with a hint of irritation. How could I say that I needed her stuff!? Darn it I can’t just say “oh we can’t afford anything for the random kid my family is adopting so gimme your stuff” I bit my lip
“Well my family is taking in…an…uh exchange student , yes an exchange student. He is about my age, 12. And we don’t know a lot about almost teenage boys soooo….” I trailed off, feeling stupid. I wasn’t used to words not coming easily to me in front of grown ups. Mrs.Jhonson raised an eyebrow
“Shouldn’t your mother be here?”
“She’s busy so she sent me over.”
“Working no doubt.” Mrs.Jhonson stated and I nodes, realizing that she probably was working, just not at home.
“Well, I do have a few odds and ends. I don’t have much time right now to talk but all of the stuff in our third garage over there is going to a donation center so you can pick out what you want I guess.” With that she closed the door. I couldn’t believe my luck, these people were filthy rich! The stuff that they gave away was probably treasure to us! They were the kind of people who gave away whole packages of kit cats during Halloween. I eagerly raced down the stairs and to the third garage, sliding through a door in the side.
The room was filled to the brim with furniture, boxes of clothes and bags of old sports equipment. I didn’t want to look weird taking away so much but I couldn’t help it. The stuff was almost brand new and it was FREE! So I went a bit over board and soon I had 2 boxes of clothes that I hoped would fit Able, a lamp with a lotus shaped shade on it, some clothes that might fit me, some sports equipment, some interesting looking sci-fi books a pair of hiking boots an old lava lamp and another box full of posters and other odds and ends. At last I stopped and tried to look dignified as I hauled the stuff to my house on an old skateboard that I decided to get as well. I lugged it to the garage and set the stuff down, I began to organize.
When I was finished it looked almost like a normal boys room other than the beams on the ceiling showing and the cement floor peeping out from beneath worn pieces of carpet. I couldn’t help going back for more too and soon found a piece of decorative wood that would work as a headboard, some new sheets and an alarm clock, as well as a radio and a basketball. At last I called it good and went home feeling like a queen by getting all of that stuff for FREE! When I arrived home there was a package on block of cement that we called a porch. It was from mom. I lugged it inside and tore it open as Ms.Malris raced out the door. It was full of top of the line fashion clothes. Mom wrote a column in a fashion magazine, so every year or so she sent tons of clothes that she got free from the designers that she knew, so for about half the year I dressed super great as did the rest of my family, but after that half of the year I sold them out for good prices and turned back to the thrift store. I plopped the box down and got dad an apple from the mini fridge in the kitchen and gave it to him then I sorted out the clothes into four piles. My clothes pile. Dad’s clothes pile. Alfred’s pile. And Jenna’s pile. I held up a boys shirt, I noticed that Alfreds pile was at least twice as big as the rest of ours and looked trough it, half of the shirts were too big for Alfred and too small for Dad. At first I was very confused then realized that that stuff was for Abel. I folded the clothes and saw a note in the bottom of the box it said:
“For Alfred, Abel, Jenna, your father and my little fashionista! Enjoy!”
I folded the clothes and put them in everyone’s rooms. Just one more day until I had a new brother!