My eyes focused on to my mother's enraged eyes. She screamed things at my father. Spit flied out, some hit my cheek. None of it made sense.
"You hurt our daughter! Don't you lie!" My mother spit in my father's face. He wiped her saliva from his eyes and called her a bad word.
I didn't remember that happening. I tried to imagine my father doing what my mother said... and it just wouldn't add up. It didn't happen. I was there for her. I tried to imagine his big meaty hands, wrapped around my sister's delicate neck carrying her up the stairs. It didn't happen. I stayed in the room, watching my parents fight in stunned silence, not defending my father. Tears welled in my eyes, but would get sucked back up by my empty heart. It was so numbing to see them fight all the time. But, it was never as bad as this.
Credit cards... my mom did something with credit cards. What is a credit card? That is what I thought. Why would they fight over a card? Was it rare? Was it like a baseball card?
"Joseph, get out!" my mom yelled at me, using her legs to nudge me out of the kitchen, and shut the door behind me.
I put my ear to the door. "Who told you this?" my dad fired back at her.
"Joseph!" my mother quickly retorted.
But, that wasn't true... I didn't tell mom that. I looked down at my feet. I keep being blamed for things I didn't do. My dad, he would never forgive me. I hoped that he didn't believe Mom. I love my dad. I questioned my own memory again. Was this my fault? Did I really say that to mom? No... I didn't. I wiped tears from my face and looked over at my sister.
She was scared; hiding under the coffee table. Trembling and crying, tears soaked her face and were falling down her arms. I felt my shoulders roll back, and a feeling overcame me that made me want to protect her.
I knelt down in front of her and gave her a warm smile. She wiped the tears from her own face. I took my thumb and rubbed it across her left cheek to remove the remaining moisture. "Serenity, wanna go play outside?"
She nodded and climbed out from under the table. I went to our room and gathered our outside things. She slipped on her own rain boots and jacket. I felt so proud of her. Just last month she still required my help to get them on. I saw some money sitting on the coffee table. I carefully put all the coins in my pocket. We might get hungry or need a ride home on bus... 30. Yes, that is the one mom told me we ride home on. We ride on the 30.
"How does the beach sound?" I asked. I remember that me and Mom and Dad and Serenity all went to the beach on bus 30. It is easy to get there, I thought.
She smiled and gave me a small giggle as she placed her little hand in mine. My parents were too busy screaming at each other to care that their children had left them.
We walked down a thin paved road out to a lonesome bus stop. Serenity held on to me tight, nearly bruising me with the tips of her fingers. She smiled up at me every once and a while as we waited for the bus to take us away from the craziness. With a sudden gust of wind and the sound of decompression, the bus had arrived. I wonder what the bus driver thought when two small children boarded his bus.
The bus driver looked at us with a small bit of concern. "Where are you headed?"
"The beach!" Serenity said with excitement.
"Well you are on the right bus for that. How old might you be young lady?"
"Four," she said with a smile holding up four of her tiny fingers.
"Fifty cents," the bus driver said.
I handed two quarters to my little sister. I knew she would want to put the money in since I got to carry it. She enthusiastically put the money in.
"Sit up at the front here, and I will make sure nobody bothers you."
"Yes sir," I nodded and aided my sister up so she could sit next to me.
On the way we sang many songs to pass the time. It seemed so short on the way there. We had a great time at the beach and when we had to go home, my sister started to cry.
"I don't want to go back. Why can't we stay here forever and live in a sandcastle? We would never have to hear them fighting again... and we can be happy here."
"Sis, our parents need us," I said... not knowing what to say. But then, I remembered what my parents always used to say to keep us from crying when we left fun places. I held out my pinkie, "I promise we will come back some day."
My sister smiled and accepted my pinkie oath. "Better keep your promise! Don't be like mommy and dad about Chuckie Cheese."
I nodded. If I didn't agree, I would never get her off that beach, I wasn't as strong as my parents. Despite apperences, she would have been hard to drag to the bus stop.
When we were on the bus- on the way back, my sister fell asleep on my lap.
When we got home, our parents had just thought we were playing in the yard. They never even bothered to check on us.