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Ma was furious when she walked into the office. "Which one of you is going to tell me what happened today?" She asked Jack and me as she approached us.
I stayed quiet and I saw her eyes linger on me. I knew she was disappointed that I was in trouble. Again.
"Depends, what did they tell you?" Jack asked but his voice was quiet.
"They hardly told me a thing, just that two of my children were in line for expulsion." She said sternly.
Jack and I both looked down, trying to figure out the right words.
"Evelyn! Good to see you again!" Mrs. Cannel, the school counselor said.
"Oh! Jocelyn! Yes it is wonderful to see you; although it would be much more enjoyable to under different circumstances." Ma said, making no effort to hide the disappointment in her voice.
"Well yes, but if you would like to step into my office we can discuss what happened today." Mrs. Cannel said. She was quite a bit younger than Ma.
Jack and I stood up, about to follow.
"Evelyn and I will talk in private first please." Mrs. Cannel added.
Jack and I sat back down, our movements oddly united. It was weird, Jack and I, sitting here, together. This was something that hadn't happened in years.
I saw Jack look down at me, his gaze lingering on me for a few seconds before I looked at him.
"What?" I asked.
"Oh, it's nothing." He said looking away.
"Jack!" I pressed, "Just tell me."
"You're just covered in bruises is all, a lot of bruises," He said and if I hadn't known better I would have said there was actually regret in his voice.
"Yeah, and?" I asked.
"I just didn't think that… I just figured… They really weren't there yesterday?" Jack stuttered slightly, he always had been the shy one.
"No, Jack," I sighed. "They weren't there yesterday, or at least not when the principal saw me they weren't…"
"The principal saw you yesterday? Why?" He asked.
I shrugged, "Same as all ways."
To this comment he look taken a back, as though he didn't realize that this was a regular occurrence. Come to think of it, he probably didn't.
He hesitated before asking, "And why is that?"
I had avoided eye contact with him through the entire conversation, unable to look him in the eye. He moved uncomfortably.
"I don't punch everyone if that's what you are asking." I stated, with a little hostility.
He laughed, "It wasn't."
I nodded slowly, knowing he still wanted the honest answer. Jackie pulled out his Mp3 and headphones, probably sensing the same tension and awkwardness that I felt.
"Back talking mostly, and to harass me about Ma." I said numbly.
"He's done that to you before?" His disbelief shocked me.
"…Yeah, Jackie…" I said slowly and glanced up at him. Our eyes met, really met, for the second time that day, and for the second time that day, I looked away almost instantly.
We sat there in silence for quite a while before he spoke.
"If we get expelled, you're dealing with Jerry." He added.
I laughed. "No way!" I shook my head. "Maybe Ma will be able to talk us out?"
"Maybe." He said. "Just maybe she will."
Then, for what felt like the hundredth time, we were submersed in silence, a silence so loud.
Jack opened his mouth as though he was about to say something but after pausing he put his headphones on and, I would assume, turned up the music. I followed his lead, putting on my headphones and blasting the music.
Song after song passed through my head as the music played but I didn't hear a single thing, not a word, not a note. I was thinking back to the time, all those years ago, the last time Jack and I had been in trouble together, the last time we had really devised a plan together, really worked together. Actually, that was probably the last time Jack and I had really done anything together, just him and me. The last time we had really truly connected. Or at least the last one of these times that came to mind.
Eight years earlier:
"I hate them! We shouldn't be upstairs while they are downstairs!" A nine year old Jack grumbled to a seven year old me.
I just nodded.
Ma had left on one of her business trips, the first one she had gone on since I had been adopted a year and a half earlier. Naturally, she had left Bobby in charge, but even at such young ages Jack and I were more responsible.
Ma had only left that morning but so far, all that our three brothers had done was boss us around and treat us like incompetent children, something Ma had never done.
Jack and I were sitting on the top step, trying to overhear what was happening downstairs. Bobby had sent us upstairs; he was upset about something, mad at someone, typical Bobby. Jack and I were both relatively quiet and it had been obvious how angry, seventeen year old, Bobby was so Jack and I hadn't argued when he told us to wait in our rooms.
"What happened again?" I asked Jack, turning my attention away from the bottom of the staircase.
"Angel got in a fight or something I think." Jack answered.
"Is he ok?" I immediately thought about how much my older brother hated the hospital; none of them were actually overly fond of it.
"I think he hurt his pride." Jack joked, he had been a part of the Mercer family longer than I had and was very familiar with the boys' personalities.
"Ouch. Was he kicked?" I interrogated.
"I don't know, why?" Jack looked at me, confusion visible in his vibrant blue eyes.
"Ma says people aren't supposed to kick boys there." I stated, wanting to share my intelligence.
"Not privates, Dumbo! Pride." Jack explained.
"Oh." I blushed.
"You're stupid." Jack laughed.
"Shut up!" I said glaring at him and punching him in the arm.
At that moment I heard Bobby come stomping up the stairs, despite ourselves, Jack and I both flinched.
"Both of you go to Alex's room." Bobby ordered walking up to us, I could see now that Jerry and Angel were both behind Bobby.
Obediently, we both got up, walking to my room and sitting on my bed, assuming that we were in trouble for trying to listen to what was happening downstairs.
My three oldest brothers walked into my room, all looking equally mad.
"Listen to me," Bobby said sternly. "We've got to go somewhere, we won't be long but the two of you are going to stay right here! You will not leave this room, you will not turn on any music or any lights! You will sit right there on that bed and whisper amongst yourselves, no running around! You hear me?"
Jack and I looked at each other. What was Bobby talking about? Leaving us home alone?
"What if someone comes?" I asked quietly.
Bobby looked around, turning to Jerry for suggestions. Fifteen year old Jerry looked around my room for a moment before walking over to my dresser. He pulled out one of my drawers, examining it for a minute before spontaneously bursting into laughter.
"Is something loose in your head, Jerry?" Angel asked.
I turned my attention to Angel briefly, I noticed that he had a long cut across his left eye, a large bruise around his right eye, a cut along the entire right side of his face, at least one bruise on his right arm and his bottom lip was cut open. What had he done? He'd only been out of the house for twenty minutes!
"Seriously Jer, it's not the time to be looking at Alex's fashion choices." Bobby sounded both frustrated and confused.
"No Bobby, look, I can screw on the front of the drawers to the front of the dresser, that will make it look like there are drawers even if there aren't. I have an idea, Ang, go get the tool box, will ya?" Jerry said.
"Sorry, I was confused by the laughing, thought you must be amused by her clothing choices." Bobby smiled, glancing over at me.
I stuck out my tongue.
Angel rushed into the room with the tool box and passed it to Jerry who got right to work. Bobby watched for a second before turning his attention back to Jack and me.
"Remember what I said?" Bobby asked.
Jack and I both nodded.
"Stay away from the windows and doors at all costs! We shouldn't be too long." Bobby added before whispering something to Angel who proceeded to leave the room.
"How long's this going to take, Jer?" Bobby asked finally.
"Uh… I... Am… Just about…. Done!" He said, standing up as Angel walked back into the room carrying a medium sized duffle bag and handing it to Bobby.
"Alright, look at this!" Jerry said with excitement.
He then opened the back of my dresser.
"If anyone comes you can both climb into the back of this. When you're inside you can lock it with this little metal lever. In the front it looks like drawers but it's actually just the front of from the drawer, so there is room for both of you inside." He closed the back of my dresser, looking impressed with himself
"You both understand how to do that?" Bobby asked as Jerry pushed the dresser back into place.
Jack and I nodded.
"Alright, because you're the oldest, you're in charge. Got that Fairy?" Bobby said to Jack.
I slumped; it wasn't fair that I was the youngest.
"You know I'm only nine, right?" Jack answered.
Twelve year old Angel suddenly looked nervous, "I don't know Bobby… I mean… Maybe we shouldn't… We could… I don't know…. Just wait… Maybe…. Someone could come here… We could take them to Mrs. Fay's… I mean… They're just kids and…." Angel stuttered.
"We're going, Angel. They'll be fine as long as they follow instructions." Jerry and Bobby said in unison.
"That was scary." I whispered to Jack who smiled in agreement.
Jerry grabbed my clothes and the parts of my dresser that he had removed and went to hide them in his room.
"Stay right there; don't make any noise or any light." Bobby said.
"We shouldn't be long." Jerry said, suddenly standing in my doorway.
I noticed something silver sticking out of his back pocket but before I got a good look he turned away. Bobby must have noticed it too for he shot Jerry a look. Jerry returned the look by shrugging and then nodding sarcastically towards the black duffle bag Bobby was holding. Bobby sighed slightly, shaking his head, but let it go.
"Lean against the wall, away from the window!" Bobby ordered before turning off the light and shutting my door as they all left the room.
Jack and I sat in the dark, watching out the window until we saw Bobby's car drive away. We were silent for a long time before Jack finally spoke.
"I bet they went out drinking." He said regretfully.
"You really think so? Ma's not here though." I was nervous; I hated it when people drank.
"Exactly, that way they can't get in trouble!" He sounded angry, if Ma had let him, Jack would have already been a drinker.
I pushed myself further into the corner, dreading their return home if they had been drinking.
"Don't worry, we'll get them back. Come on!" Jack told me, getting off my bed.
"But… They'll be mad and if they've been drinking…" I started.
"Don't worry. They won't do anything to us, just yell." Jack, usually so timid always got so brave when he was mad.
I was still worried, but I had long since accepted the boys as my brothers and I enjoyed messing with them. There was no way I was going to let Jack have all the fun so I got off of my bed and followed him out of my room. In the hallway Jack turned on the light before going down the stairs.
"You wait here, I'll check downstairs first because I'm older." He sounded so proud.
I rolled my eyes but nodded.
When he had walked around the house for a while, successfully turning on all the lights, he gave me a thumbs-up, giving me permission to go down the stairs to meet him.
"What should we do?" Jack asked when I walked up beside him.
"I thought you had a plan." I said, sighing.
Suddenly, we both seemed to realize that we were completely alone and instinctively grabbed each other's hand.
"We better get to work before they get here." Jack said after sitting in silence with me for a few minutes.
I nodded and together we walked to the kitchen, still holding hands. I opened on cupboard and looked inside for anything that might make my brothers mad.
"Jackie, what if we put that in their beds?" I asked pointing up to the cereal.
"That's a good start! Can you reach?" He asked.
"No." I said with a smile before climbing into the cupboard and standing on the shelves, climbing higher until I could reach the cereal.
"Catch!" I called to Jack before throwing down a box of Rice Krispies.
Jack caught the box and set it on the counter before opening the fridge and pulling out the maple syrup.
"Do you think they'll shampoo their hair tonight?" He asked.
I giggled, "They will in the morning."
Jack and I rushed around the kitchen, trying to find more ways to mess with our brothers.
"We could put stinky cheese in their hockey bags?" Jack suggested.
"Aren't those stinky enough?" I asked, plugging my nose.
Nothing seemed like it would work and we were beginning to panic, we had no idea what time the older boys would be home, all we knew was that they'd be mad when they found out we had disobeyed them.
"Alright," Jack said finally, "We need to split up and start setting at least something up. If you think of something else do it."
"Ok, I'll start with the cereal." I smiled.
Jack returned my smile and we rushed off to begin setting up.
I rushed up to Angel's room which was right across from mine. I pulled the comforter off the bed and crushed the Rice Krispies as finely as possible before spreading them all over his sheet. When it seemed like there were enough crumbs I remade the bed.
Quickly I redid the job in Bobby's and Jerry's rooms, adding a little more cereal to Bobby's, after all, he was the one in charge. When I was all done I returned the cereal to the top shelf and climbed into the cupboard under the sink, it took me a minute but I finally climbed out with a big jug of vinegar.
I poured a cupful of vinegar and returned the jug to the back of the cupboard before taking the cup to the upstairs bathroom. When I was upstairs I dipped three tooth brushes in the vinegar and poured the rest down the drain.
"Alex! I have an idea!" Jack called from somewhere downstairs.
"Coming, Jackie!" I yelled and ran down the stairs to find him.
Jack was sitting on the couch, a huge smile on his face.
"Let's make it seem like someone came!" Jack could barely get the words out before he burst into a maniacal laugh.
I agreed to his plan right away. I wasn't nervous anymore, the fact that they might have gone out drinking had totally slipped my mind.
I watched as Jack dumped a bunch of magazines and DVDs onto the floor, spreading them around the room. Quickly I grabbed a lamp off the side table and placed it on the ground. Jack unplugged the TV, explaining that if I did it I might electrocute myself; to this I replied simply that I should have put cereal in his bed too.
Once Jack and I had tipped over the couch, we both rushed upstairs to mess up our brothers rooms. We threw Jerry's clothes everywhere, including some into the hallway. If it was possible to make Angel's and Bobby's rooms any messier, we definitely managed it.
When we were done with the older boys rooms Jack decided we should mess up ours a little bit too, just to add to the image. We did Jack's room first, not needing to do too much work.
In my room, we concentrated mostly on the dresser, deciding to open the secret door on the back and flip the whole thing onto its side.
No sooner then had we finished with my dresser did we hear a car in the driveway. Jack rushed to my window and peered out a tiny slit in the blinds.
"It's them!" He confirmed before grabbing my arm and dragging me into the hall closet.
He threw out a bunch of towels and helped me onto the second shelf. When we were both safely tucked away on the shelf he shut the door and we both fell silent.
"Guys we're home! What the heck happened?" We could hear Bobby yell.
"Dammit!" Jerry yelled and we could hear three pairs of feet rush up the stairs.
I giggled and Jack put his hand over my mouth.
Someone rushed right passed the closet and into my room.
"Jer, your stupid idea didn't work so well! Whoever was here found the hiding spot!" Angel sounded panicked.
"Dammit!" Bobby yelled.
"Jackie! Alex! You guys ok?" Jerry screamed.
"They're not here, Jer!" Angel shot at him, his voice was cold.
"Where are they? Who took them? What do we tell Ma?" Jerry was rushing around the house, mumbling questions more to himself than to anyone else.
"Fairy? Lexi? Can you guys hear me? Come out it's just us!" Bobby yelled.
"Dammit!" Jerry yelled again.
Suddenly I remembered that Jack thought they had been out drinking, I pushed myself to the back of the shelf, sitting up a little I banged my head on the bottom of the shelf above us.
Bang!
The closet door swung open, revealing a worried looking Bobby.
Jack started to laugh. "WE TRICKED YOU!" He yelled.
Jack's enthusiasm made me laugh too.
The worried look on Bobby's face turned immediately to sheer anger.
"What are you two talking about?" He demanded.
"We tricked you. You left us home alone so we tricked you guys." Jack smiled innocently.
"Both of you, out!" Bobby yelled, moving out of our way.
Jack climbed out first, looking slightly ashamed, but when he turned around and picked me up, placing me on the floor, I saw him smile at me.
The three older boys lectured us for a while, talking about how it wasn't funny to worry someone and that we would have to clean all this up. Jackie and I sat close together on the couch, me cuddling up to him, taking comfort in the fact that maybe, just maybe, he would protect me if they decided to hit me. They didn't hit me though, although it was clear that they were furious, they hardly even yelled. They were all acting oddly quiet, not that I would complain. They just talked and confirmed that Ma would deal with this when she got home. They threatened about what they would do if we ever thought about doing this again and together, Jackie and I sat quietly on the couch for almost two hours as they lectured. I bet they would have lectured us all night had Jerry not pointed out how late it was and that we should get to bed, for tomorrow, we would have a lot of cleaning up to do.
"I still think it was funny." Jackie whispered as we both climbed the stairs to go to bed.
"I do too." I giggled quietly before climbing into bed.
Jackie slept on my floor that night, probably still stuck in protective mode. I fell asleep almost instantly, enjoying his presence and knowing, or at least believing, that he cared about me and would never, ever, ever let anything happen to me.
Sure enough, when Jack and I woke up, Ma was home and the boys had already told her about the trick we had pulled on them the night before. We knew as soon as we walked down the stairs to get breakfast.
"The crumbs were a nice addition." Jerry said in a cold voice, he was always so grumpy when he didn't get enough sleep.
"And Ma wants to see you in the kitchen." Angel added, actually they were all pretty grumpy if they didn't get enough sleep.
Jack and I walked into the kitchen to see Ma. Even if he would never admit I knew he was just as nervous as I was.
"Morning you two, would you mind sitting down for a minute?" Ma asked.
"Ok, Ma." Jack and I said in unison.
We both climbed, with quite a bit of effort might I add, onto the stools positioned at the island in the middle of the room.
At that moment, Bobby walked into the room soaking wet with a sticky substance in his hair.
"What exactly was in my shampoo bottle?" Bobby demanded.
Jack and I both started laughing.
"Maple syrup." I answered, giving him the most innocent looking of my smiles.
He slammed his fist on the counter and stormed out of the room without another word.
Jack and I smiled at each other.
"Your brothers are pretty upset about what happened last night." Ma said, looking at us sternly.
"Sorry Ma, we'll clean it up." I said, hoping to get away without too much of a punishment.
"I expected better of both of you!" Disappointment filled her voice.
"It serves them right for leaving us home alone!" Jack defended.
Ma looked shocked. "They did what?" She demanded.
How they had managed to leave out such a vital bit of information when they were explaining what we had done, was something I would never understand.
"They left us home alone so we decided to trick them and make it seem like someone had taken us." Jack explained.
"Hmmm. Well, would you both mind going upstairs to play for a little bit?" Ma asked.
Jack and I agreed, without hesitation.
Upstairs, I sat in his room playing Lego with him until Ma walked in probably three hours later, looking like she had been crying.
She sat on the bed and motioned for us to come and sit beside her. She then explained that the boys were in lots of trouble for leaving us and she said she was very proud of us for staying here all by ourselves but that it still wasn't nice of us to play a trick on them. She said that they had been very worried and it wasn't fair for us to make them worry even if they had been unfair to us. Two wrongs do not make a right. She told us that we would have to clean up the mess we had made and apologize to our brothers but that the boys had to apologize to us as well. The last thing she said before leaving the room was that we were to never, ever speak of this again. Ever.
Jack and I did as we were told, we worked together to clean up and we apologized to the older boys for scaring them. They each apologized to us, saying that they shouldn't have left us.
And that was it; it was over, like it had never even happened. I never mentioned it again, at least, not until one day three years later when I had been sitting in Angel's room, listening to music with him:
We had been listening to Something in Your Mouth by Nickelback when I had turned to him, suddenly overcome with curiosity.
I spent a lot of time with Angel, becoming closer to him as Jack and I drifted apart.
"Hey Angel," I'd asked. "Mind if I asked what happened that day, I was about seven, and you Jerry and Bobby went out, you were supposed to be babysitting Jack and I and…"
Angel looked up from the Playboy magazine in his hand and focused his attention on me.
"You had come back from the store all bruised and cut up, where did you guys go when you left? What happened?" I managed to ask.
Angel looked back at the magazine, his voice hostile, guarded, when he answered. "It was a long time ago, Alex. It doesn't matter anymore; nothing that happens now can change what happened that night!"
"Exactly, so tell me now." I said, I was taken aback by Angel's coldness but that only made me all the more curious.
"Drop it, if anyone found out that you two were left alone at that age they'd take you and Jackie away, putting you both back in the system. Do you want that?" He stood up, anger and resentment in his eyes.
"Angel… I was just…" My voice trailed off.
"I've got to go, Alex. See you later." And with that, he left the room, shutting the door behind him, he left me behind.
The music kept playing as though nothing had happened, although, I realize now, so much had.
I sat in Angel's room, replaying his reaction in my head, until Ma called me down for supper.
"Alright you two, let's go." Ma said, startling me out of my thoughts.
Jack and I stood up without a word, knowing Ma would talk to us in the van. She would talk when she was ready.
In the silence of the van I realized that I hadn't thought about that incident in five years. Mine and Jack's teamwork that day hadn't even crossed my mind. I hadn't analyzed Angel's reaction since the day it happened five years ago. I had pushed it all out of my mind but thinking back now I realized that I had missed so many things. The boys hadn't come back drunk. They hadn't brought the duffle bag back into the house. Angel had become quieter since that day. Jack and I had been there for each other and for some reason that was one of the last times it happened. Ma had been crying. Jack and I had gotten off the hook way too easy. When, at the age of ten, I had mentioned that day to Angel, he had become hostile, his guard had come up and he had left the house. Maybe, I suddenly realized, there was more than one reason that Jack and I might be taken away if anyone found out what had happened that day.
Alex takes a little bit of a trip down memory lane while her and Jack are sitting in the office awaiting their punishment. It was a pretty long chapter but I hope you liked it anyway. Let me know what you thought! I love all reviews, good or bad, so don't forget to review! Hope you liked it!
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