Chapter Five: Unexpected Delay (Mark's POV)
Oh Man! I still don't own "Cheaper By The Dozen" Also; I know the beginning of this chapter will sound like a lot of other plots, but bear with me as it is not like that. Also, as for certain situations in this chapter, I do not know how they really work, so I do not claim to be an expert.
This was freaky. Brendan, if I did not know any better, could be my twin or something. At any point, it did not matter because he was obviously was not a twin. It was probably just one of those freak of nature things. Bryan once again interrupted my internal monologue and jumped up off his seat-disturbing another passenger who had gotten on.
"Hey Brendan, look here's my new friend…What did you say your name was?" Bryan glanced at me. I could not help but laugh, Bryan was definitely like Kyle and Nigel.
"My name is uh, Justin Mathews. I guess you're the Brendan your brother talked about." I said, noticing that the "fasten seatbelt" sign had flashed on the movie screen in front of me. I obeyed the rule and waited while Brendan and Bryan, who surprisingly had seats next to me, get into their seats and buckled up. After listening to some boring instructions on what to do in an emergency, I began to talk to the Creamers again. I noticed that Brendan looked upset about something, but I could not figure out why he looked so downcast. Whatever it was, Bryan was either oblivious or used to it. "So…uh…what are the in-flight movies that they are showing?" I asked as a way of distraction. Brendan shrugged and glanced at the television in front of his seat.
"Well, it says that there is a movie titled "Beethoven" and "The Parent Trap"…oh and this old 1950s movie, "Cheaper By The Dozen." I think that's about a family with twelve kids. Sheesh, I wonder how it would be to grow up with eleven brothers and sisters. I guess you'd have to have some pretty patient parents. To me it seems that it would really hard to not get lost in the shuffle. Tell me about it, I thought silently.
"Yeah, I guess it would be hard." I said. "Well…I don't know about you, but I am watching "Beethoven," it's about a dog, and I love dogs, especially big ones." My thoughts drifted to Gunner, man I missed him! Out of the blue the plane began to shake worse than normal. I was scared and felt stupid for being a sissy so I swallowed and sucked in my fear.
"Brendan, why is the plane shaking?" Bryan asked. Well, I was wondering the same thing. Bryan quivered. "I'm scared" as he cast his wet eyes towards his brother and then towards me. I ventured to speak.
"I am sure that it's nothing…right?" I asked Brendan. Honestly, I did not know but I really hoped that things would be fine. The plane seemed to shake worse and I silently gulped. The intercom came to life suddenly.
"Ladies and gentleman, we are experiencing some difficulties with the plane and need to make an emergency landing in Colorado shortly. Please buckle your seatbelts. We are sorry for the inconvenience." I cast a worried glance at Brendan. This really was not good. Hopefully it was only a minor problem that could be fixed in no time at all. Every delayed moment could mean another chance for someone to realize that I was not Justin Matthews but rather the runaway son of Tom Baker.
As I sat in my chair with my seatbelt secured on me, I listened to Brendan and Bryan talk. They must have thought that I was lost in thoughts because they were holding a conversation that I obviously was not supposed to hear. "Brendan, who did you say would be picking us up from the airport?" Bryan asked in his squeaky childish voice. Bryan looked really freaked out, but then again so were I and I can imagine Brendan was not in peace with the situation at hand. Brendan ruffled Bryan's hair as he seemed to stop and think about how to word something tough that he was about to say. At least it seemed that way because he was looking like Mom did when she had to tell us that Aunt Teri had been killed in a car crash. "Bryan…we're going to be picked up by a lady from the home…Dad...well Mr. Johnson, told me that it's a nice home with loving workers." Brendan stuttered. Now I was thoroughly confused. What in the world were they talking about?
"But why are we being sent away? Don't they like us anymore?" Bryan cried. He clutched a little worn teddy bear that I had not noticed before. Brendan made a half-smile and sighed. "Bryan, they said that we would have a higher chance of being adopted if we were placed in a group home in Washington. I know it's tough to understand, but until we get adopted, we'll probably be moved around a bunch of times. I know this isn't a good situation here and I miss our real parents as much as you do, but they died and so we have to live where the government wants us to. Mr. Johnson was like a father to me and you so I know that he is doing this for our good, but it still hurts." Whoa.
Talk about a tough situation. They had no family and probably desperately wanted a family; I had a family and desperately wished that I did not have one. I coughed as a way of reminding them that I was still there. They both looked up, their faces drained of color. "Did you just hear all that?" Brendan whispered, ashamed. He looked as he had just been caught red-handed stealing from a bank.
"Yeah, I heard all of it, but it's ok, I mean it isn't like you just admitted some heinous crime, it's not like you can help that you don't have parents." I said, trying not to sound too shocked. Suddenly the plane shifted with a loud noise. Within a second we were in a ninety-degree angle with the nose facing the distant ground. The plane picked up speed and seemed to race to the earth below. Everyone was screaming, including my new friends and I. Nothing was stopping the plane. It just seemed to go faster as if it was preparing for an Olympic dive.
The intercom came to life once again. "Passengers…we are doing everything possible to stop the plane, please do not panic," announced a stuttering voice that showed that she was not following her own advice. Her advice was void though as no one paid attention to her plea of not panicking. Bryan was hysterical now. Brendan was doing his best to comfort him, but as he was barely holding it together, he was not doing a great job.
As the plane continued to pick up speed, all I could think to do was pray. So I silently prayed-a skill that my parents had installed in me when I was a really little kid. It was becoming clear that nothing would stop the plane and that probably a lot of people on the plane would not be able to walk away. I gulped…would I really never see my family again? Why did I run away, were they really all that bad, even Sarah who acted like I was some verbal punching bag? I ignored all the commotion that was engulfing the plane.
I stared out the window. Dad had always taught me that fearing something that was going to occur was worse than the event occurring. With a sadistic frame of mind, I desperately wished that the plane would hurry up and crash. The fear was suffocating now. I grasped my hands and waited for the inevitable to occur. Suddenly it happened. We slammed unto the ground with a sickening force. Something banged my head as the plane toppled over. Fire immediately spread through the plane. I could feel myself growing strangely tired so I shut my eyes, giving in to the temptation.