light coming from the windows creating a mirror. She looked at her own reflection cynically, then back over at me.
I shook my head. I admired Julia, I really did. She didnât take any shit seriously; boys, this town, anything. It was all about getting out. But I wasnât like her. I told her about our plans for the night and she and Treena got up and left, Julia telling us that if she was going to party, she needed to study. Jake left soon after. I worried about him.
The thing was, Jake stole cars. He never sold them, but he loved to joyride. He was lucky that he was seventeen, for the next few months anyway, or his ass would already be in jail instead of just the brief stints he did at juvie. The other shit he did was break into buildings at night, sometimes with other guys, sometimes alone, and sometimes with me. In fact, thatâs what we were thinking about after weâd sold some weed, after Iâd crawled out of my window like I always did, once everything was nice and dark and quiet on the streets. Jake had been eyeing an old, abandoned apartment complex that someone had told him was haunted, one that was on the edge of town. He wanted to see what was inside and heâd called a bunch of friends and told them we should party there. Jake always wanted to know what was inside of things, but he was never prepared for the consequences once he found out.
I lay on my bed, thinking about Mike. After a while, I got up, the bedsprings squeaking, and walked upstairs to help Mom with dinner. She was already in the kitchen. I walked in and leaned against the wall, her back to me. She was at the sink.
âHi Mom.â
âHi.â
âMom! Look! Look!â Carrie was yelling, trying to get Mom to look at her drawing. She was standing at her leg, pulling on her pants urgently.
âCarrie, I told you later!â Mom looked down at her and she stomped her feet angrily. Mom looked over at me. âDinnerâs almost done,â she said. âCould you take over? I gotta go to the bathroom.â Her curls were in a massive state of disarray.
âSure,â I said, walking up to the counter.
By the time she came back, the spaghetti was almost done. Mary ran over and started clinging to her, her Barbie plastered into the hand that was wrapped around her leg. Carrie was sitting on the floor, drawing in the corner of the kitchen, holding her Barbie by her upturned arms and singing something about bears.
Mary was crying. âMargaritte, do something about this,â Mom said without turning around. I sighed and walked over to Mary and pulled her off of Momâs leg. She screamed and cried and finally buried her head into my chest. I patted her head and set her down.
âThey need a bath. Thereâs just enough time to give them one before Iâm finished making dinner.â
âNooooooo!â Carrie wailed. She hated baths.
âYou let your sister bathe you!â Mom yelled.
âBut I ainât dirty!â Carrie said, and Mary shook her head, walking up to Mom and re-attaching herself to Momâs leg.
âYes, you are! And no more fussing!â
I plucked Mary off of Momâs leg which was quite a feat, considering that she was doing her damnedest to stay attached to Mom like she had suckers growing out of her dirty little paws, picked Carrie up and dragged them into the bathroom, which kind of made my side hurt. Mary dropped from me halfway there, but as she usually went wherever Carrie was going, she began following me.
I let Carrie down once Mary had gotten past the bathroom door, and then shut and locked it before Carrie could run up to it and out, which she tried anyway.
âNo!â I said, and began taking off her clothes while she wailed and screamed. âStop scratching me!â Once Iâd gotten her clothes off, I turned to Mary and got hers off. I went over to the old green tub and started running the water, testing it to make sure it
Aleksandr Voinov, L.A. Witt