I had just got home from school and I heard John and Mom arguing about something. I walked through the screen door and shut it behind me before I turned and took off my shoes in our mud room. I looked over at our adjacent room, which was a little workshop that my dad had spent much of his time in. There was a toolbox on top of the wooden table he built and some paints in a clear plastic bucket. Mom must have been painting something.
I looked out the sliding door into the backyard and see my neighbor playing pretend with his older brother. We went to school together and I liked spending time with him during the summer. I turned on my heel and opened our house door. There, in the kitchen, I saw my older brother, John having a heated argument with Mom. They were yelling about his grades and school attendance.
John had really bad ADHD and was currently unmedicated for it due to our family's lack of funds. The insurance Gregory had covered it until he quit his job and lost his benefits. That meant that John was very scatter-brained and late for school and work. I felt bad for him, but this wasn't my fight, so I quietly walked past them towards the living room.
Greg was watching the local collage's football game next to Theodore. Theo turned and waved at me, then got down from the couch and reached his arms up at me. This meant upsies, so I picked him up and carried him and my backpack to my bedroom. Greg didn't even notice Teddy had moved or that I even came in the room. He must've been really high.
I walked up the three little stairs up to the bedrooms, took a right into mine and was surprised to see my overhead light was on. Then I saw Charlotte with her back turned to the door, playing with our dolls on my rug. I sat Theodore down and threw my backpack onto my tiny twin sized bed. He toddled over to her and grabbed a small airplane to play with. I walked around my bed to her and saw that she was crying slightly.
"Hey.. what's wrong, hunny?" I asked her. She refused to look me in the eyes and kept moving her Barbie's around in the air. "Momma and Johnny keep fighting." I studied her face. Her cheeks were red and puffy, and her eyes were swollen. I figured they've been fighting for quite a while. Charlotte never liked being near fights, something I personally relate to. "Vrooooomm whooshhhhh." Theodore played with his toys, completely unaware of what was happening two feet from him.
"Are you hungry? Eating food always makes me feel better." I fake laughed to try and lighten the mood. She stopped moving her dolls around and looked at me. Her beautiful dark chocolate eyes were slightly bloodshot as she smiled lightly and responded, "What do we have?"