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“Janie?” I called out, wondering where she was. It wasn’t like her to leave things messy at night. That was one of the few rules she had. The house had to be tidy and picked up and the sink had to be empty and shining before we all went to bed.
When she didn’t answer, I locked the door behind me, placed my backpack on the bench by the door and walked toward the kitchen. The dining table was littered with half-eaten hamburgers and tots from Sonic. There were drinks on the table—cherry limeades—that were half full or less. It looked like everyone had left the table quickly.
Were they sick? Food poisoning?
I hurried upstairs to the bedrooms. Janie and Dad’s room was the first one off the stairs. The door was open, and the lamp was on by the crib. Janie sat in the rocking chair, fast asleep with Daisy on her chest. My baby sister had slipped a bit, by the looks of it, and I hurried across the room to gently lift her from Janie’s arms.
My stepmom barely stirred. I touched her shoulder. “Janie?”
She grumbled, and I gave her a shake. “Janie! Are you okay?”
“What?” she asked, struggling to wake. She looked confused as she blinked at me and rubbed her face. “God, I’m so tired.”
“Are you okay? Did y’all get sick?” I caught a whiff of something yucky in Daisy’s diaper and carried her to the changing table. If I was very lucky, she would sleep through the diaper change. “The front door was unlocked, and the lights are on.”
“Oh,” Janie said, still groggy. “We didn’t feel well after we ate. Food poisoning, maybe.”
She didn’t sound very sure. Her head bobbed as she nodded off and then jerked awake. “What?”
“Get in bed. I’ll get Daisy back in her crib and take the monitor to my room. I’ll check on Colt and Hannah.” I kept sneaking worried glances at her as I hurriedly cleaned Daisy’s bottom and slipped her into a new diaper. I zipped up her footie pajamas and raised her to my shoulder, gently rubbing her back and rocking her until I was sure she was asleep.
Janie got out of the rocking chair finally and stumbled to the bed. Her movements were so sloppy, and I grew more and more worried. I only knew a little bit about food poisoning, but I wasn’t sure it made people sleepy like this. For a moment, I panicked and thought it might be carbon monoxide, but then I remembered everything in the house was electric.
By the time I had Daisy in bed with her pacifier, Janie was out like a light. I grabbed the monitor and brought it with me as I checked on Colt and Hannah who were both fast asleep in their bunks. Neither had taken off their school clothes, and both had their shoes on their feet. I thought about dealing with the shoes but decided against it. If they were sick, they wouldn’t want to be bothered by me messing with their feet.
I backed out of the bedroom and went downstairs to clean up the house. I started in the living room and made my way to the kitchen. As I picked up the uneaten food from the table, I spotted the familiar handwriting from my dad. He had left ridiculous sappy notes on the bags, telling us how much he missed us and loved us.
I rolled my eyes and crumpled them up before stuffing them in the trash. It figured he would bring everyone food that made them sick. Everything he touched went straight to shit. He was a walking curse.
Once the house was tidy, I turned off the lights and went to my room upstairs. I switched on the lamp on my small desk. My gaze skipped to the brilliant parakeet green dress on the front of my closet door. Next weekend was prom, and I was joining Van, Aiden, and some other friends for our last big dance of high school.
For the first time ever, I had bought a brand-new dress. All the extra shifts and saving I had been doing since last fall had allowed me to walk right into Muzzie’s and buy the dress of my dreams. It was slinky and shiny and the green color was bold and beautiful. It looked incredible against my red hair. I wanted to feel like a knockout. I wanted to feel sexy and vibrant.
Most of all, I wanted Danny to see me in the dress. I wanted him to look at me and want me. I wanted him to look at the dipping back and my bare shoulders and think dirty, filthy thoughts. I wanted him to kiss me again—and not just on my mouth.
But that wasn’t going to happen. Danny wasn’t here, and I had no idea when he was coming back.
Exhausted, I flopped down onto my bed. Still weirded out by what I had found when I walked in the door, I sent Van a message.
Dude. Came home and the house was a disaster.
All the lights on. Sonic on the table.
Janie and the kids are all sick.
But like weird sick. IDK.
Like hospital sick? Food poisoning?
IDK. Maybe?
Well Janie’s a nurse. She would have called 911 if it was serious. Right?
I guess.
Weird. Call me if things change, yeah?
Yeah. Night.
