Unintentional

Chapter 2

Part 2

As I crossed the threshold into my small but inviting home, the sound of screeching children overwhelmed me. At least I knew everyone was home and I wouldn’t have to go to two different schools not including my own to pick everyone up.

“Carmen, thank god your home, I’m going crazy trying to help everyone with homework and make dinner at the same time,” My mother said gesturing to my two younger brothers, Andrew and Alex, and my two younger sisters, Jessica and Jamie, wrestling and laughing loudly at the ongoing telavison. This is why my stepmother needed me-or rather kept me around. 

When I was five my mom left one day saying she was going for a drive but never returned. It took my father exactly one year of grieving before he could love again. So when I was six my dad met her-Selvanna-who he fell head over heals for, got married to, and had four children with. Exactly 23 days before my most recent birthday when I turned fourteen, my father passed away. I still cry about it nearly every night but somehow the loss of my mother devastated me slightly more. She was my rock, my idol, my other half- when I lost her it was like I lost part of myself. I lost the part of my self that read and wrote. The part that sang and danced. I lost almost all of myself.

“Here I’ll take over homework,” I said hefting the horridly large pile of books into my arms and crossing to the crowded sitting room. It wasn’t that I didn’t like my siblings it was just they were rather loud and well uninteligent- except for Jamie that is. Jamie was the only of my four step siblings that cared about school, about knowledge, about learning, about me. So when I shouted for everyone to come to the study room everyone piped in a chorus of “I don’t wanna”s and “Who cares” and “No thanks”- all except Jamie. Jamie stould slowly and silently and glided out of the noisy TV room to the room we called the “study room”. The room was nothing spectacular-but nothing ordinary either. It was decorated with subtle accents picked out by Selvanna’s interior designer. A line of black there. A shade of gray there. All very melow non-extravagent pieces, yet somehow my desk in the far corner of my room felt somehow magical. It was the place where I could create; be myself because Selvanna hardly ever checked my desk drawers probablly because she didnt think I was daring enuough to draw or read or write under her nose when she specifically told me not to.

“Alright Jamie, why don’t we start with math today and get it out of the way first,” I suggested plopping down her thick fifth grade equations work book and flipping to page 6.

“How was your day?” Jamie questioned me timidly.

“Wonderful,” I replied, smiling to myself.

“You,” Jamie paused. “Danced didn’t you!” She whispered pointing a small tan finger at me and giggling. 

“Keep your voice down!” I hissed playfully, poking her in her stomach. She erupted in laughter.

“Carmen, I have a question,” Jamie said solemly as her laughter subsided.

“What is it?” I whispered, she loved it when we had secrets just between us.

“One day will you take me out and, and,” She sounded like she was trying to find the courage to say something. “And teach me how to dance?”.

Before I could reply my mother yelled for dinner.

“Guess we better go before the big bad wolf eats us,” I said only half joking. Jamie giggled at the mean name I called our mother. Even though she was Jamie’s mom, it didn’t seem like Jamie particularly, well, liked her.