Say you swear

2

The first night in the house, when I stopped lingering on the porch after Grandma was put to sleep and I actually came inside, was cold. My mother, Eli, and I's old rooms were all full of junk we would have to clean out in the morning, so for the time being, Eli and I shared a blow up mattress as my mother slept on the small recliner chair.

My mother fell asleep easily, paying no kind to the nonstop beeping of my Grandmothers monitor. It was in no way comforting in my mind, but maybe she thought differently.

"Get your cold ass feet off of me." I whisper in the dark to Eli. I kick him lightly and tug the blanket, positioning it over me.

"I'm fucking freezing." He mutters muffled into the sheets.

"So am I, doesn't mean my shins are a place of warmth for your toes, jerk." The only light encasing the area flows from underneath the bathroom door, glowing over my mothers auburn hair.

"Cant you two be normal children and pretend you don't cuss with your mother present?" My mom is whispering too now, changing her line of direction to face us.

"Where do you think we learned all the words from?" Eli chuckles, bringing his arms up to fluff his pillow. Ive always noticed that about my brother, the way he'd cling to his pillows for dear life whilst im quick to kick and push mine to the floor.

"Ok, suficienté." She mumbles, her accent saying hello from behind her American persona. She then shut her eyes and fell asleep in a number of seconds. Eli and I following suit.

                                  * * *

The sun awoke me before the slight thudding from the next room over did, soft beams spilling in through the living rooms uncovered blinds.

"Mom, you sure as hell aren't going to be able to lift that on your own, just wait." I hear Eli's voice demand.

I pay no regard however, snuggling back into the cozy sheets and closing my eyes again before taking a sweet deep breath and pushing back the white coverlet.

"Good. You're up." My mother then appears magically in front of me before I even have the chance to bolt.

"Unfortunately." I groan, rubbing my tired swollen eyes with the back of my hands.

"We need your help moving the junk from you and Eli's rooms."

"Where are we even gonna put all of it?" I ask, slipping on my mothers grey slippers, the fuzzy texture so comforting that I wish I could shrink myself down and live inside them.

"We're just gonna have to pack everything into the garage and hope for the best." Eli replies from behind her, a box of god knows what in hand.

"Will that work? Will everything fit?" I question again.

"I think so. We got most of everything big, we're down to just boxes and laundry hampers filled with these dirty cowboy books." Eli answers, kicking the door from ajar to fully open.

"Ewwww," I elongate the word, adding my disgusted facial expression to the mix. "Grandma reads cowboy sex books?"

"Stop speaking and grab boxes, rápida rápida." She snaps at me and drags the fabric covering my shoulder to the rooms.

Eli was right, most of everything was cleared and the rooms were starting to now look like actual bedrooms again rather than storage compartments. The queen bed positioned near the two wide windows in my room reminding me of the time Eli and I had gotten too rough whilst pretending to be Mortal Kombat characters, Eli had me in a chokehold as I vigorously wobbled about under his grip, next thing we know, my sneaker went flying from my foot straight to the glass, shattering it with no effort.