Chapter 10
Once they got home, Mrs. Camden started dinner and the kids all scattered to their rooms to finish their homework.
"So how was your day at work?" Mrs. Camden asked her husband.
"Good, and how was your day?" he demanded.
"Fine," Mrs. Camden simply told him.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Lucy was in her room doing her homework when she heard a knock on her bedroom door.
"How's the homework coming?" Matt asked once he had entered her room.
"Fine," Lucy told her bother.
"Do you need some help? Matt asked her.
"Sure, I have a test tomorrow and I need help studying," Lucy told Matt.
"Wait a minute, don't you have homework?" Lucy asked Matt suspiciously.
"I do, but it can wait," Matt replied.
"Thanks Matt," Lucy said.
Later that night, at around 10:00, Matt was still in his room doing his homework. He was helping Lucy with her homework and she had just finished about half an hour ago.
"Matt it's getting late, you should get to bed," Mrs. Camden said, poking her head into the room.
"Okay, Mom, I love you," Matt told his mother.
"I love you too Matt," Mrs. Camden told her son, just before leaving. After his mother had left, Matt turned out his light on his desk and went to bed.
The next morning all the kids got up and got ready for school. They then went down to the kitchen to get breakfast.
"Morning," they all said, greeting their mother.
"Morning," Mrs. Camden told the children. A few minutes later, Reverend Camden came down the stairs in a rush.
"I need to get to work. I am late," Reverend Camden told his wife.
"No you're not, you're not late for anything," Mrs. Camden told her husband.
"What do you mean? Did I get fired or something?" Reverend Camden asked.
"No, you didn't get fired. I just thought that since Mary is coming home today that it would be nice for you and the kids to be here to welcome her home," Mrs. Camden told him.
"Oh," Reverend Camden said, calming down a little.
"You mean we don't have to go to school?" Ruthie asked her mother in an excited tone.
"No, we are all going to play hooky today," Mrs. Camden said. "Cool," Ruthie responded.
Later that day, Reverend Camden went to the hospital to go get Mary.
"You ready to go?" he asked her once he arrived to her room.
"Yeah," Mary responded.
"Mary, you will need to come back in four weeks to get the stitches out. You can take the bandage off in two days," Doctor Jacobs told Mary and Reverend Camden.
"Okay, thank you," they both told Doctor Jacobs.
"And call me immediately if anything out of the ordinary occurs. Mary will be sore for about a week or two, but if any redness or swelling occurs please call me immediately," Doctor Jacobs told Reverend Camden.
"Here are some instructions of things that Mary can and cannot do for the next three weeks," Doctor Jacobs told Reverend Camden as he handed him a sheet of paper.
"Please don't hesitate to call me if you have any questions or concerns."
"Okay, thanks again," Reverend Camden and Mary told Doctor Jacobs. With that, Mary and Reverend Camden left the room and went to make another appointment. After that, they headed home.
When they got home, everyone was there to welcome Mary home. Mary got a huge smile on her face when she saw her family. They immediately came over and started to hug her.
"Welcome home," everyone, shouted; they had really missed her.
"Hey guys," Mary responded hugging each of her siblings and parents.
"I am really tired, I think that I am going to go upstairs to my room and take a nap," Mary told everyone.
"Sorry," Mary said. "Its okay honey, you go rest and we'll talk later," Mrs. Camden told her daughter.
"Mary," Lucy called before Mary headed upstairs to her room.
Mary turned to face her sister, "Yeah Luce?"
"Can we talk? I miss talking to you," Lucy told Mary.
"Not now, but I promise that when I wake up, I'm all yours," Mary told her sister.
"Thanks Mary. I've missed you and I am glad your home," Lucy told her.
"I've missed you too Luce," Mary told her sister before heading upstairs to her room.
About two hours later, Mary woke up from her nap. Lucy, who was reading a magazine, looked up and focused her attention on her sister.
"Luce, what did you want to talk to me about?" Mary asked.
"I'll tell you what I wanted to talk to you about," Lucy told her sister angrily.
"Okay what?" Mary asked her sister, confused by why she was so angry.
"How about the fact that I got in trouble, all thanks to you," Lucy yelled at her sister.
"What?" Mary shouted back at her sister.
"You got me in trouble because you told Mom about me covering for you," Lucy told Mary in an angry tone. Just then, Mrs. Camden who had heard Mary and Lucy arguing entered the girls' room.
"What is all the yelling about?" Mrs. Camden demanded.
"Lucy, I need to talk your sister, would you please go downstairs and check on Simon and Ruthie for me?" Mrs. Camden asked her daughter, after a few moments.
"Sure Mom," Lucy told her mother. With that, she left the room.
"Shut the door," Mrs. Camden told Mary once Lucy was out of sight.
"Look, if this is about me lying to you and dad about the basketball game, I am really sorry," Mary told her mother as she went over and shut her bedroom door, "including telling Lucy to cover for me."
"I know that what I did was wrong and I promise I will never do it again," Mary told her mother.
"What if something worse would have happened to you, what if you would have died?" Mrs. Camden asked Mary.
"Okay, okay, I get it," Mary told her mother.
"You are grounded," Mrs. Camden told her daughter sternly.
"For how long?" Mary asked in a weak voice.
"Three weeks, no phone and no TV. Church, school and back," Mrs. Camden told her daughter. With that, Mrs. Camden left the room.
A few minutes later, Lucy came upstairs to her room.
"So what did Mom and you talk about?" Lucy asked her sister curiously.
"Better question, what is that in your hand?" Mary asked her sister, noticing the piece of paper that she was holding.
"I don't know, I found it sitting on the kitchen table and it has your name on it. I thought that maybe you would know," Lucy told Mary.
"Let me see," Mary demanded taking the piece of paper away from her sister. Mary studied the piece of paper very closely.
"So what is it?" Lucy asked after a few moments.
"It's the list that Doctor Jacobs gave dad when we left the hospital. It is a list of things that I can and cannot do for the next three weeks," Mary told her sister in a low voice.
"So, what's the big deal?" Lucy asked her sister curiously, noticing the disappointment in her voice.
"The big deal is that it says that I can't do any strenuous physical activities, which means that I can't practice or play basketball for the next three weeks," Mary told her sister.
"Oh, I get it," Lucy told her sister in a low voice, finally realizing why Mary was so disappointed.
"So what did you and Mom talk about?" Lucy asked Mary after a few minutes.
"She told me that I was grounded for three weeks because of lying about the basketball game and having you cover for me. I can't go anywhere but school, church and back," Mary told her sister.
"Welcome to the club," Lucy told Mary.
"What?" Mary asked her sister, confused.
"I got grounded for three weeks because of well you know," Lucy told Mary.
"Because you covered for me?" Mary questioned.
"Yeah," Lucy responded.
"Look, I am really sorry. I never meant for you to get in trouble," Mary told Lucy.
"I know and I forgive you," Lucy told Mary.
"You do?" Mary asked Lucy.
"Of course I do, you're my sister and I love you and nothing is ever going to change that," Lucy told Mary.
"Thanks Luce, I love you too," Mary told her.