Guardian by Kassandra Kush Read Free Book Online

my siblings into the kitchen and sat them at the table with glasses of milk, then dug through the large pile of mail on the counter until I found what I was looking for; the unopened electric bill and the two letters saying it was overdue.
    Though their lifestyle was to spend the little they made on themselves, my parents didn’t usually miss paying the bills. Maybe they knew better than to invite those kinds of complications, or maybe they knew it could make more trouble for them where we kids were concerned. Whatever the reason, if the bill hadn’t been paid, it meant there was no money left to pay it. It would fall to me, just as it had once before.
    I darted into my bedroom and crawled under my bed, pulling out the metal safe box I kept there and unlocking it with the key I wore around my neck. I’d learned the hard way that my parents were not to be trusted with valuable things, even if they belonged to me. I thumbed through the money I had there, saved over the last year from odd jobs and random babysitting when I could bring Colton and Grace along with me. I had fifty-two dollars. I was thirty-seven dollars and eighty-six cents short. I closed my eyes and sighed, knowing what I was going to have to do in order to make pay. The only problem was the pawn shop where I had gone last year, near our house, had closed. I would have to go to a different one, probably in more unfamiliar territory.
    I spent the rest of the day poking around my house, gathering things I could probably sell. The problem with getting money this way was that it took a lot of ordinary house items to raise enough cash to make an impact, and we had precious little to begin with. I gathered a backpack full and was just getting Colton and Grace back into their shoes and jackets when the phone rang.
    It was Natalie once again, and she immediately dived into conversation, first asking me what the calculus homework had been, then if I had finished already, and then in a wheedling voice if she could possibly take a look at it tomorrow.
    I allowed her to go on for a little while, taking anxious glances at the clock on the kitchen wall. Finally, I could stand it no longer. If I wanted to get all the way over to Sullivant Avenue – the nearest pawn shop that would take the junk I had to offer – and back before dark, I needed to get going.
    “Nat, I’ve got to go,” I finally interrupted. “I’ve got something to do.” For just a moment, as I looked down at Colton and Grace, I had a flash of worry. Maybe it would be best to see if Natalie could come and get them, watch them for me while I went to the pawn shop. Then we could study together, since she already said she was having trouble with calculus. Did I dare actually ask someone for help?
    “Okay, no problem,” Natalie chirped. “I’ve got to go re-do my hair anyway. I told you that Brian asked if he and I could go get pizza, didn’t I? What do you think that means? I mean, pizza? Do you think that’s like a date, or like an unofficial kind of-”
    “Natalie,” I said on an exasperated laugh. “I’ve got to go . You can tell me all about it tomorrow, or call me tonight after.”
    “Okay! Bye!” And she was gone.
    I looked down at Colton and Grace, torn for a moment between two choices that seemed equally bad; better to take them with me, or leave them home alone? They were young, but Colton was already so responsible. They’d lasted for short periods of time in the past, like the night of the youth group kick off…
    No. I shook my head and made up my mind. Better to keep them with me. At least then I could have my eye on them and wouldn’t worry about what my parents might be doing to them. If they even came home. Undoubtedly, they would see the electricity was out and head off to a bar or a friend’s house rather than stay here.
    Maybe this was just a sign, proof that I needed to handle this on my own. I didn’t need help with Colton and Grace. They didn’t need someone else to