Chapter 4 - Tweedle-Tay's Story
October 18, 1997 - Tulsa, Oklahoma

"Michaela?" I asked.
"What!" she said irritably.
"Do you want to play Monopoly?"
"Tweedle-Tay!" Michaela put her book down, exasperated. "I'm trying to read. I thought you had something important to tell me."
"I do," I said, tapping on the floor. "I'm bored."
Michaela and I had been in the attic for a week. I was hungry and incredibly bored. We were quickly running out of things to do. You see, we weren't allowed to make any noise in fear that Dad might hear us and get angry. I couldn't understand why Mom hadn't convinced him to let us return to the house yet. I was certain that the band would be doing badly without me....... I was the star of the band. I mean, I don't want to sound up myself but it's true, I was the lead singer..... I was the talent. The band just couldn't survive without me. Anyway, because we weren't allowed to do make noise we were very limited in what we could do. We'd listened to our CD's on our diskmans countless times, we'd played board games, I'd drawn in my sketch book (not that there were many things to draw inside the attic), I'd tried to write some songs for the band....... now there was nothing with any fun value left to do. I couldn't exactly rollerblade around the attic. There was no television. So Michaela was doing her school work.
"Tweedle-Tay!" she said again. "Stop tapping!"
"I will," I said. "IF you play Monopoly with me."
"We've played Monopoly every day for the past week," Michaela complained. "I'm sick of Monopoly."
"That's because I always win," I said teasingly.
"That's because you always cheat," she corrected.
"Prove it," I challenged.
Michaela sighed. "You are so lame. Do you really think you can trick me into playing with you like that?"
"But I'm bored," I whined.
"Do you think I'm having fun? Do you think I enjoy reading this crap about river systems?"
I shook my head. "No, that's why you should play Monopoly with me."
"Tay, I would rather play with you, but unless I do the work we'll both be extremely mentally retarded by the time we get out of this attic," Michaela returned to her book.
"We'll be out of here in a couple of days. We can do our schoolwork then."
"Yeah Tay, whatever," Michaela said, shaking her head.
We heard the familiar sound of footsteps coming towards the attic door. The door creaked open and our mother walked in, carrying two plates. "Hi Mom," I said.
"Hi sweetie," she said kissing my forehead. "Hi Michaela," she added. It was easy for her to tell the difference between us because even though we were the only ones here, Michaela persisted in wearing short skirts, and doing her hair and makeup each day.
Michaela put her book down. "Hello," she said nonchalantly.
"I've brought your dinner for you," Mom said. "Sorry, but it's a little cold, we had company over tonight and dinner lasted a little longer than I expected."
"Who did you have over?" I asked.
"Oh, some nice girl, I think her name is Natalie Portman. Yes, Neuton invited her over." Mom smiled.
I heard Michaela stifle a laugh. I'd been drooling over a picture of Natalie Portman in Michaela's "Sixteen" magazine all week.
"So," Michaela said. "When will we be allowed out of the attic?"
Mom looked strangely shocked. "Oh yes, I'm sure you'll be allowed out soon."
"When are we going to England, you know, to make the CD?" I asked.
"Oh, Neut and Grub aren't going to England, they're staying in Tulsa and make the CD. They're about half way through recording now actually."
My face fell. "Right."
"Well," Mom said cheerfully, "If that's all I'll be going."
As Mom once again shut the door to that attic, Michaela stuck her finger up. "Poor Tay," she said.
"I can't believe they're making the album without me," I said.
Michaela laughed. "I can't believe Natalie Portman would go for someone like Neuton." I looked at her. "No seriously, I can understand how you feel. I mean, if Leonardo DiCaprio started dating Elizabeth, I'd be devastated."
"Yeah," I said, "Well we'll be out of the attic soon. This will all be over soon."
"Yes Tweedle-Tay, you tell yourself that."