Forlot: A Girl Who Needs Her Space - Book Thirty-Two

Chapter Nineteen

"That scream sounds like one of the boys," Aunt Elore said to Mom.

She was right. It was one of my brothers. The question is...who?

The three of us hurried out of the kitchen and upstairs as fast as we could. My room is the closest to the stairs. Aunt Elore was the first one to reach my bedroom door and pushed it open.

"That is weird," I told Mom.

"What is weird, Carmen?"

"My door was not closed when Aunt Elore took me out of my room."

"Maybe one of your brothers shut it."

"Probably. But why? And why is he - or all of them - in my room?"

"I wish that I knew, honey."

My mother and I squeezed into my room, and my eyes went wide. I could not believe what I was seeing.

My three older brothers were in the room. Rodney and Aztec were on their stomachs and unresponsive. I was unsure whether they were faking it or not because they got caught. William, on the other hand, was awake. He was standing next to Aunt Elore and hissing in pain. It is because Aunt Elore was pinching his ear.

"Look who I caught sneaking around," Aunt Elore said. "I should have known that they would be in here to get their snake."

Mom pressed her hands to her cheeks. "What snake?"

"The snake that these boys placed in Carmen's room. It is under Carmen's bed if you would like to see it."

Mom hugged herself and took steps back until she was close to the door. She is scared of snakes too. "Thanks, but no thanks. Once you have seen a snake on the darn Internet, you have seen them all."

My aunt grabbed a couple of my dirty clothes that had been in my chair. "Thank the Lord from above that the snake is not huge. It is just a regular garden snake that needs to be put back on the lawn where it belongs."

I pointed to my dirty clothes. "Why are you holding my dirty clothes?"

"I am going to use them to trap the poor snake and set it free. I hope that you do not mind."

"Not at all, Aunt Elore. I just want that snake out of my room."

"So do I, Carmen. So do I." Her eyes darted to Mom. "I am almost positive that your mother wants it to go too. Is that not right, Arlene?"

Arlene is my mother's first name. I think that the name fits her perfectly. Just look at her.

Oh, wait. You guys cannot look at her because this is a Forlot book. You cannot see us characters. Bummer.

"Just please. Get that stupid snake out of the house. As soon as you do, we will be having a discussion with the boys," Mom said.

I could not believe what tumbled out of her mouth. My brothers were in trouble...and I was so happy about it. No, I was not happy. I was thrilled! I wanted to squeal and jump up and down, but not in front of my brothers or Mom or Aunt Elore. I would be scolded by my mom or aunt for doing so.

Minutes later - more like an eternity - I was all dressed and ready for the day. I was off to a rocky start because of the snake incident. Aunt Elore used my dirty clothes to scoop up the snake and put it outside.

I will admit to you that the snake was kind of adorable. At least that it was small and not poisonous.

I was alone in the kitchen and eating my breakfast that Mom fixed for me. It was her chocolate chip pancakes. Have you readers ever eaten chocolate chip pancakes? Well, you have not eaten chocolate chip pancakes until that you have tried Mom's. They are the greatest - and make my tastebuds tingle!

As I was drinking apple juice and eating, I was hearing Mom and Aunt Elore and my older brothers just going at it. No, they were not fighting - thank goodness - but I could tell by their voices that they were not pleased. I was curious what my brothers' side of the story was, so I chewed slowly and listened.

"So you admit that you planted that snake in Carmen's room," Aunt Elore said. "Is that what I am hearing?"

Aztec and Rodney were awake. "Yes," Rodney groaned.

"Yes what?"

"Yes, we planted the snake next to Carmen's bed."

"So you did not plant the snake under the bed?"

"No," William answered. "It must have slithered under there."

Mom hesitated. "...did your younger brothers have any part in this...whatever you want to call it?"

"It is a prank, Mom. And no. Our younger brothers did not have anything to do with it."

"That is a relief to hear. I do not want to punish all my sons."

"But you know what is not a relief?" Aunt Elore added. "It is the fact that you three thought that it would be so hilarious to scare your only sister."

"And it worked!" Aztec proclaimed. "I bet that Carmen wetted her bed." He laughed.

"You boys ought to be ashamed of yourselves. But I am positive that you are not because you do not have class like Carmen."

Now William was angry.

"Carmen, Carmen, Carmen. It is all that we ever hear."

"That is not true," Mom said.

"Oh, please. You are only saying that to try to make us feel better. Well, guess what? It is not working."

"I just do not understand why you boys do not like her, your own sister," Aunt Elore said sadly.

"It is not that we do not like Carmen."

Is he telling the truth?

"It is that we hate our sister so much that we wish that you would give her up for adoption."

I immediately stopped eating and covered my mouth. I was heartbroken. Absolutely heartbroken.

I looked at the watch.