Chapter 6: Too Hot To Handle...

Monday morning I awoke feeling refreshed. My head hurt from where Bree had pounded me a couple of days back, but otherwise I felt fine. I packed my things up for school and got dressed. It seemed as though no one else was up yet. The house seemed way too quiet. I looked at my watch. Six in the morning. Well I was up a little early, but I couldn’t sleep anymore. I cleaned up my room a little bit in case Halyn came over again, then walked out into the kitchen. I smelled coffee so I figured Athena was up. Boy was I wrong – Bree was up early this morning, packing lunches and making breakfast. I nodded a hello to her, she returned it. Everyone was looking forward to the weekend, even though it was only Monday. Autumn would be going to Uncle Raphael and Aunt Sam’s house to play with Sarah Ann, so the house would be quiet and peaceful. Mellanye would be able to do some homework, and the whole family would be able to get along without a problem. But that was still 5 days away. I grabbed an apple from the basket of fruit on the table and munched on it. Apple juice dripped down my chin, so I grabbed a napkin and cleaned myself up. Bree handed me my lunch, and I looked inside. A juice box, an apple, and a ham and cheese sandwich sat inside. I looked up at her and grinned.
“What, no candy?”
She grinned and threw a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup at me, backwards over her shoulder without looking. I caught it, somewhat impressed, and hid it in my lunch box.
“So what are you doing in the kitchen so early?”
“Athena didn’t get a lot of sleep last night…so I thought I’d let her sleep in a little bit. You know how hard she works…”
I nodded. Athena spent hours making sure the family was functional. Instead of taking time for herself, Athena would clean and cook and make lunches and set out clothes for all of us, including mom and dad. She also went to school, was an honor student, volunteered at the local dog shelter on the weekends, tutored kids in piano, wrote stories to entertain us, and held down a job at Hot Topic four days a week. Usually she would get about four hours of sleep a night, and be grateful when summer got here. Summer was still a few months away, and people knew she got tired quickly.
“We should make dinner tonight Bree. Give Athena a break.”
“Sounds good. What should we make?”
“What about sausage, pancakes and fruit salad?”
“Sounds good. Do we have milk?”
“I’ll pick some up after theatre rehearsal.”
“Have detention today?” She grinned.
“Last day.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“What time does rehearsal end?”
“Six, I think. I should be home at six thirty or so.”
“Good. Everyone will be home and hungry.”
Suddenly Vlad came in, his usual black attire accompanied by his messy black and purple hair and his spiked bracelets and choker. He grabbed his lunchbox. Bree smiled.
“Morning Vladdy,” she said. He smiled a little. “Oh, here I almost forgot.” She went over to the cabinet and brought out a big Tupperware container. On the outside, in Athena’s handwriting, was “VLAD’S STASH”. She opened the box and pulled out a big chocolate bar. She handed it to Vlad. “Here, Athena said to put one in your box.” Vlad smiled. He grabbed an apple from the basket and took a bite. A knock came at the door. Bree went to open it, and in walked Jayde.
“Morning Vlad,” she said shyly. He smiled.
“H-h-hi Jayde. Ready to go to school?” The kitchen stood still. She nodded and the two departed.
“I have never heard him talk so much,” Bree said, looking through the doorway which was now vacant.
“Me either. This will be good for him though.”
“Agreed.” Next, Autumn walked through the door. I saw Bree’s fists clench. The two hated each other, that was to be certain, but sometimes it was difficult to tell which one hated the other more.
Autumn was a vegan. She only ate certain vegetables and fruits and criticized anyone who ate meat. She grabbed an apple from the table, along with an orange. I could tell that Bree’s day was going to start out rough because Bree, being tired and not used to being up this early, completely spaced on Autumn’s veganism and said, “Morning, sis. Want a glass of milk?”
“No, I’m vegan you idiot.” Autumn was the picture of perfection in the eyes of most of the girls who went to our school. She was skinny, with perfect skin. She wore lots of makeup; her hair always set right. Her wardrobe was the envy of the school. Today she wore a bright pink V-neck top with sequins surrounding the neckline and sleeves, along with a black pleather mini skirt. She wore red high heels that were about six inches high, and bangles surrounded her wrists. Pretty much every girl at our school wanted to be like her; but no one except our family knew how cruel and bitchy she really was. No one wanted her here, but more than anything, she didn’t want to BE here. If she could get up right now and move into Uncle Raph and Aunt Sam’s place, she would. She hated us all, even from an early age. She thought we were freaks, not people.
I could tell Bree was hurt, but she said calmly, “Oh, right. Sorry. Forgot.”
“Whatever, loser.”
Bree’s fists clenched tighter. I got up and went over to where she was. I touched her shoulder, letting her know she should calm down. She unclenched her fists. “Here’s your lunch, Autumn. Fruit salad, a bottle of organic pineapple juice, and some organic carrot sticks. Is that all you wanted?”
“Was anything else on my list that I set out for you last night?” Autumn’s tone was getting sharper.
“Well no, but I was just checking. I know people are tired in the evenings and they tend to forget things.”
“Well thanks for your false concern Bree, but I don’t want or need anything from you.”
“Oh. Well…sorry.”
“You should be.” Autumn finished her fruit, grabbed her lunch, and left the room. Bree was almost in convulsions trying to restrain herself from punching Autumn in the jaw.
“Calm down. She’ll get hers.”
“Next time I fight with her, I’m breaking her oh-so-perfect manicured nails,” Bree said.
I smirked. Autumn’s looks meant everything to her. If Bree broke her nails, hell would really break loose. I heard a mumble come from the other room. I followed Bree’s softened gaze to the living room door and saw a very tired Athena come crawling through the door. She sat down in her chair at the dining room table. Bree plopped a small bowl of Fruit Loops in front of her, and she ate quickly. Her energy slowly returned.
“You have my lunch together?” Bree nodded and handed Athena her lunchbox. Athena took it gratefully.
“All the others aside from Rod and me have gone off to school. I just finished making lunches for mom and dad. OH and Rod, here.” Bree handed me a paper bag. “It’s a snack so you can eat before rehearsal. I know how hungry you can get.” I smiled.
“Thanks.”
“Well we had better be off. Athena can you drive?”
“Sure. Come on.”
We piled into Athena’s car, a Camero, and drove to school. I got there on time and met up with Jake and Drake at my locker.
“Hey Rod.”
“Hey guys.”
“What’s up?”
“How’s your sister?”
“What?” Drake and I asked.
“Uh…I mean you. How are you?”
“Dude, that is so not what you meant,” Drake butted in.
“Jake…care to explain?” I asked.
Jake blushed. “Well…I kind of like Athena…”
“Dude for how long?”
“A while, man.”
I groaned. “Well maybe you can knock some sense into her. She’s overworking herself.”
“What is she doing?”
“Cooking, cleaning, packing, etc. She’s running herself rampant.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Invite me to dinner sometime this week…maybe I can refocus her attention.” I grinned.
“Sounds good.”
“How’s it going with you and Halyn?”
I blushed. “She and I rehearsed at my place last night.”
“Alright Roderick! Score!” High fives were exchanged.
“Don’t push it. It might not happen.”
“What do you mean? You guys are great for each other!”
“Yeah…well…she met my family on Saturday and…I’m kind of nervous. Bree and Autumn got into a huge fight and….ugh…what a weekend. How were your weekends? Better than mine I hope…”
“Eh, it was pretty boring. We had family game night.” Both of them shuddered.
“Ah. Well I’m excited because Autumn is going to be leaving to go to our aunt and uncle’s house this weekend. If you guys want to come over for a Saw marathon you can.”
“Sounds great. I don’t think we can stomach another game night.” I looked at Jake. He had been quiet. I followed his gaze. He was looking at Athena. I grinned.
“Why don’t you just go talk to her?”
“She doesn’t even know I exist,” he said glumly. “I just want her to know I’m HERE. Unfortunately I don’t know if talking to her will help that.”
“Yeah, remember Rod, he’s the dorky one,” Drake said. The two took turns whacking each other until the bell rang.
“Well class is starting. We’d better go,” I said, making my way to the classroom.
We walked into the classroom and instantly my gaze met Halyn’s.
“Hi Halyn. Thanks for the help last night.” She rolled her eyes and looked away. I was confused. Was she mad at me? Was she just pretending as though she wanted nothing to do with me? I took my seat next to my friends but my mind quickly drifted from class to her. Why wasn’t she talking to me?
Class ended quickly, but I didn’t notice until Jake whacked me upside the head after class had been dismissed. I gathered my things and went to my next class. My day was about to get worse. I wound up failing yet another pop quiz, getting another detention for accidentally spilling vinegar everywhere in chemistry, and even worse, getting ignored by Halyn yet again after theatre practice. She wouldn’t even say hi.
I walked home after rehearsal, feeling worse and worse by the second. I got home and handed the milk to Bree, as I had promised, then went straight to my room and shut the door. I locked it and laid down on my bed. The thoughts of the months before flooded my mind. I had jumped off a building in a suicide attempt and failed. I shuddered. My dad had laid into me with the razor wire for what I had done. And if Athena hadn’t been there… I shook my head. I couldn’t be thinking of this again. I heard a knock at my door.
“Rod?” I recognized it as Bree’s voice.
“You have the key.”
“Oh yeah.” I heard her footsteps retreat back to her room. Bree was the only person aside from me that had a key to my room. I trusted her with it. She and I understood each other – we were close. Sometimes it seemed as though we were closer than our parents. I had given Bree a key simply because she and I would have times at night where we would break down or struggle with our thoughts. Now we could meet up at night and talk in my room. I heard her footsteps approach, then the key in the lock. She walked in, closing the door behind her.
“Roderick…”
“I’m scared Bree.”
“You’re thinking about jumping again aren’t you?”
I nodded. My mouth had gone dry.
“Roderick, don’t. Please don’t. We can’t lose you. Not now.”
“Who would miss me?”
“Mel, Athena, Vlad, Mom, Dad…” She paused. “Me…” I looked at her. “Especially me Roderick. Don’t make me lose you.” She wiped her eyes. I hugged her close.
“Bree…I’m going to need your help staying afloat.”
“That’s what I’m here for.” Silence. “Roderick.” No answer. “What happened at school?”
I let it all out then and there. I told her about my failed pop quiz, about my epic fail in chemistry, and about Halyn. She took pity on me, as every good sister does. We sat there for about an hour, hugging and talking. After I stopped crying, Bree told me to change clothes and then to join her in the kitchen so that we could start dinner. She left the room and I quickly changed into a fresh (and dry) t-shirt and jeans. When I walked into the kitchen, Bree had already gotten out the sausage and pancake batter. I took the sausage and put it on the cutting board.
“Oh my God it’s so big!” Bree exclaimed, laughing. I started laughing with her, knowing full well where this conversation was going.
“And white. My God!” I said, pointing at the pancake batter. Suddenly Autumn burst in, flipping out.
“What the hell is going on in here?!” She saw the sausage and batter and blushed. “Oh.”
“What did you think it was Autumn?” Bree asked, a smirk on her face.
“Mind your own business, Skye,” Autumn replied, calling Bree by her middle name.
Bree’s knuckles tightened again. “We’ve all had a rough day, Autumn. Let us get dinner started.”
“Awww even Roderick had a rough day? What’s the matter,” Autumn began in a dangerously mocking tone, “did your precious Halyn not talk to you?”
I looked at Bree, frustration on my face. “I didn’t tell anyone,” Bree said, looking confused. She turned to Autumn. “How did you know that?”
Autumn grinned malevolently. Bree glared at Autumn. “You told Halyn something didn’t you, you whore?”
“One thing, I’m not a whore. Two, yes. Yes I did. She thinks you don’t want to talk to her because last night was awkward.” She smiled smugly.
“One thing, you are a whore. You got caught fucking a guy today at school. And it was found that you weren’t a virgin before that, so don’t act so innocent,” Vlad said as he came into the kitchen with an empty juice glass in his hand. The room went quiet. “And two, that was not your place. You have made life shit for Roderick now. You owe him an apology and Halyn both an apology and an explanation. And I am going to be at school tomorrow, with you, when you do. So stop being such a snotty hypocrite and hand me the juice.”
Autumn turned bright red. I was still dumbfounded about Autumn having sex on school grounds, but Bree was well past it.
“I don’t owe anyone anything.”
“HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO YOUR OWN BROTHER, YOU BITCH?!” In an instant, Bree had pushed Autumn to the ground. “I am sick of being nice. Rod do you remember what I told you this morning?” I looked at Bree thoughtfully, remembered, grinned, and nodded. “Remind me please? And say it loud so that Autumn can hear.” This was about to get ugly.
“You said nails would be broken,” I said calmly, taking a step back.
“And break they will,” Bree said with a malevolent grin. Autumn’s eyes widened.
“If you TOUCH them I will break your arm.”
“Let it break.”
The two tumbled around the kitchen floor, knocking each other into chairs and counters. Bree knocked into Floppy, making the dog wake up sleepily.
“Sorry Floppy!” Bree called out. The dog wagged its tail then walked over to where I was and crashed on his side, falling asleep almost instantly. I rubbed the dog’s tummy, wanting to do something while I watched the fight take place. Suddenly I heard a “snap”, and a cry of pain. Autumn’s first nail had cracked off. The girls continued to tumble. Bree threw a punch that landed on the floor instead of Autumn’s face, and a “crack” was heard. Bree held her ground, though now trying to hide falling tears that were being instigated from her now broken hand. Autumn rolled over.
“That’s what you get for being a violent dipshit,” Autumn said breathlessly.
“I’m not done with you yet bitch,” Bree said as she got up. Her arm was still at her side. “NO ONE messes with my brother.” She clobbered Autumn to the ground and the fighting started again. Autumn took a chance and reached up to scratch Bree’s face. She succeeded, but at a cost. Another snap, another cry of pain. Finally the rest of the family came up to watch, Athena being the first to show up. Instead of breaking up the fight, however, she ganged up on Autumn.
“Get her Bree!” she called. I grinned. No one liked Autumn. At least, not in this family.
After two more nails snapping and a few more punches being thrown, the floor was coated in blood. Nails were spread across the kitchen floor. Floppy was still asleep, content at having his belly rubbed and not making any fuss to get up or see what all the ruckus was about. Mom and dad came into the room, Vlad and Mel hot on their heels. Dad was the first to speak.
“Bree! Autumn! Stand at attention. NOW!” My father, being military, always handled fights this way. Bree got up right away, whimpering and holding her hand at her side. Mel rushed to get the first aid kit, while Vlad ran to call a doctor. Autumn got up slowly. Both of them stood at attention, both of them shaking with fear.
“What is this all about?” Mom said, making her way towards the girls from the doorway. Bree looked up at my father.
“Permission to speak freely, Sir?”
“Granted.”
“Autumn came in here and treated both of us like shit, then told Halyn a false story about how Roderick thought their rehearsal last night was awkward. Halyn won’t talk to him now, and both are hurt emotionally.”
Autumn said nothing, as she knew I would back it up one hundred percent.
My father looked at Autumn. “You have already been in enough trouble today. I am very disappointed in you. Tomorrow you will go to school, and you will talk to Miss Morgenstern. You will apologize and tell her the truth. Now apologize to your brother and sister, then I want you to go straight to the guardhouse. After that, you will spend the rest of the night in your room. Am I clear?” She nodded. “I said AM I CLEAR?”
“Y-y-yes Sir.”
“Good.”
“I’m sorry Roderick. Sorry Bree.” She walked out of the room. I abandoned Floppy and the uncut sausage on the counter and helped Bree into the living room.
She sat down. “Bree are you alright?” I asked. She was still cradling her hand.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “I think it’s broken…”
“I called a doctor,” Vlad said, coming over to comfort his sister. “Let me look at it. Can you move it?” Bree tried but couldn’t without screaming in pain. “Yeah, it’s broken. Dr. Malory will be here shortly.” We waited until the doctor came, hugging Bree and thanking her for teaching Autumn a lesson, and telling her how much we admired what she had done. Mom and dad were lenient with her, as they figured a broken hand was enough punishment, and Mel and Vlad and I agreed to pick up the extra chores that she wouldn’t be able to do. An hour later, Bree had been taken to the hospital and been x-rayed. She came out another two hours later with a cast on her arm and a sling around her neck. She was put on painkillers, one of which she took as soon as she got home. I helped her to her room and helped her undress. I tucked her in, and the day ended.
The next day, everything was normal again. Apologies had been given, and fights had been forgotten. Halyn started talking to me again, though she wasn’t saying much, as NOW things had become awkward now that the rumor had spread to her ears and mine. When I got home from rehearsal that afternoon, I groaned. Athena and Vlad and Mel were in their bathing suits. I had completely forgotten: today was bath day for Floppy. It was incredibly humid outside, so the water would feel good, but I had a lot of homework. All well. I grabbed my swim trunks and slipped them on and met the others in the back yard. Hoses and soap were out, ready to be used, and Floppy looked scared as hell. He hated bath day.
We let him off the leash and turned on the water. Floppy took off. We chased him, hoses in our hands. We got him wet finally, and he stood there, shivering and soaking wet. We put the hoses down and grabbed the soap. He shook the water off of his coat, getting us wet. Mel let out a scream.
“AH the water’s freaking cold!” she screamed as the dog continued to shake. Athena couldn’t help but laugh at her, so Mel sprayed her with the hose. Another scream filled the yard and Vlad and I looked at Athena, who was soaking wet in her black and blue bathing suit.
“Good thing we’re in our swimsuits,” Vlad said as he looked her over. I nodded. The two girls had totally forgotten about Floppy (who seemed to be very happy about this) and were now spraying each other with the hoses, laughing and having a great time. Meanwhile, Vlad and I hadn’t forgotten about Floppy. We managed to coat him in soap and give him a good rub-down. Then we grabbed the hoses again. He took off.
“FLOPPY GET BACK HERE!” I yelled as he continued to run away. The dog stopped, having heard his name, and was then splashed with water. Vlad caught him and rinsed the soap out of his coat. We dropped the hoses, and the dog stood there, looking at us with pure hatred for a few minutes. Then he shook the water off of his coat and seemed happy again. We dried him with a towel, then let him back in the house, where he proceeded to fall asleep in front of the heater in the bathroom.
Vlad and I were still perfectly dry. We looked at the girls, who were still spraying each other with water. Vlad went back inside but I stayed outside to watch. I grinned.
“This is…HOT,” I said. Mel and Athena dropped the hoses for a minute, looked at each other, nodded, and with a grin turned both hoses at me.
“This is what you get for being a pervy little brother,” Mellanye said, giggling now that the hose was not pointed at her. I picked up my hose and turned it to both of them. The water fight lasted for about an hour, and when all of us came back inside, we were soaked from head to foot, and pruning. We changed into some dry clothes and ordered takeout. The night was long, but quiet. Bree was starting to try to help out with chores and cooking, but we all knew it would take a while before she would be well enough to do some things herself, like putting on clothes. After dinner, I did the dishes and went to my room. I had a lot of studying to do.
I finished up my homework, then crawled into bed. I was tired. I turned out the light and dreamed about Halyn for the rest of the night.