Down The Hall

Chapter Six

Milk- check
Bread- check
Pasta noodles- check
Strawberries-

As Kendall, Eli, Ella, and I made our way through the grocery store I checked off the important food necessities. Kendall said this is how she shops without getting distracted from buying things that she doesn't need. Though today it didn't seem to be working for her.

The cart was already piled with groceries that weren't on the list, from sugary candy to large bags of salty chips. Eli and Ella weren't holding back on what they wanted and they made that publicly known.

Ella held out a box of animal crackers and started to plead.

"Mom, please. I really like these."

"Fine, put it in the cart. But this is the last thing you're getting." Kendall finally gave in before setting a boundary.

She happily threw the box in then jumped on the front of the cart ready for her mom to push. Eli was also ready, standing on the cart between Kendall and the buggy.

"Okay, what's left on the list?" she grunted, pushing the buggy with all her force.

I looked at the list and read it out, "Only ice cream and strawberries."

"Do you want anything?" She asked.

"Me? No, I'm okay," I answered, surprised by her question.

"You can get anything you want."

"Thank you, really, but I'm okay with what we already have."

Henry's words have been running laps in my head since yesterday. "Charity," "Begging," "Poor." They were affecting me more than I wanted them to. To him, it probably does look like we are a charity case.

The thought of spending their money made me icky. Kendall and Bradly were already doing so much for my dad that this felt like I was taking advantage of them. Spending my dads hard hard-earned money even made me sick to my stomach. I never ask for something unless I needed it and even still it's hard for me to ask.

Ella and Eli were lucky to have a mom who would ask what they wanted and care about the food they ate. Ham sandwiches and ramen noodles every day wasn't so bad but it's nothing compared to the colorful pantry that is constantly stocked at this home.

Microwaveable meals vs. home-cooked dinner, saltine crackers vs. a healthy snack consisting of fruits and vegetables. You don't notice how shitty your diet is until you're eating a chicken salad with fruit for lunch instead of three cans of Vienna sausages.

The twins were still pointing out things that they wanted and making a fuss. Kendall stopped suddenly in her tracks and turned to me.

"Lucy, why don't you take the twins with you to get the strawberries while I get the ice cream and head to the front? Just look for me at the front."

"Yeah okay," I handed Kendall the lists and called the kids, "Guys, let's go."

The kids were holding my hands, swinging back and forth as we walked to the other side of the store where the fruit section was. For a 17 year old my baby fever was shooting off the charts from their giggles and little thumb rubs.

"Which ones?" I asked the twins giving them the choice to pick the pack of strawberries.

"This one." Eli picked up a random carton and shoved it in my face.

There was mold on some of the strawberries at the bottom and droopy dark spots grew on some. I decided to use this as a teaching lesson.

"You see here? The white stuff," I pointed to the white strawberry. "That's nasty stuff. It will make you sick. You want a strawberry that looks like this," I pointed to a ripe red one on top.

"Ew, yucky," Eli said putting the pack back into its compartment.

The twins studied the fruit, looking for the perfect pack. I looked towards the registers to see if Kendall was already there but instead, I found someone else.

A petty girl and her boyfriend were making their way in my direction. Hand and hand they were pointing out things in the aisles when they noticed me as well.

"What is the cutest couple doing here?" I called out to Jada and Tyler.

They were the two people sitting at the lunch table when Sarah pointed them out on my first day at school. I learned that they are talented with Tyler playing football and Jada being a cheerleader.

"Just finding things to lather on each other for later," Jada joked.

Jada and Sarah have been friends since the beginning of high school when they had no one else. Jada's tall with dark smooth skin, no hair would ever be seen on her arms or legs. Her deep-set chocolate eyes always had eyeliner around them and false eyelashes that blended evenly with her mascara. One thing about Jada is you would never catch her dead without being glammed out or with one last flirtatious comment.

"Jada!" I looked down at Eli and Ella seeing if they heard what she said, but they were in their little world of picking strawberries.

"Yeah, Jada," Tyler mocked me, "Lucy's siblings are around."

Tyler was a lot like Jada. So much so that if you put the two on paper and had to guess who was who based on the things they would say and do, you would be sitting there for hours with a headache trying to figure it out.

Tyler was buff in the shoulders, arms, legs, really everywhere. He took football as seriously as he took working out in the gym. His skin matched her eyes just as his eyes matched his skin. He had black short hair while she had black faux locks. He is even shorter than her which he doesn't like people to point out. I found that out the hard way.

I decided not to correct him for calling them my siblings so instead I changed the topic.

"What are you two REALLY doing here?"

"Netflix and chilling," Jada said.

"Tyler," I looked over at him, knowing he would give me the real reason.

"No, that's actually what's happening. It's date night so we are going to cook up something, watch some Netflix, and chill."

Jada gave me a wink before kissing Tyler on the cheek.

"That's actually really romantic."

"Right! Now we just have to pick the right food," she said looking around.

"Lucy, I found the perfect one," Eli said.

"I did too," Ella also said.

Eli and Ella held up two packs of strawberries that were juicy red with no dark spots or mold. I could tell that they would start arguing any second now so I quickly took both of the packs.

"Ella, Eli, these are perfect. But we only need one pack."

"That's it," Jada said smirking at me.

I fully understood what she meant and I handed her the other pack smirking along with her. That's when I saw Kendall behind them, already unloading the groceries.

"We have to go, but you two have fun," I quickly said pushing the twins in front of me. "Make sure to get some whipped cream with those and stay protected."

"Always am," Tyler said.

"Maybe she should join us," Jada joked back which prompted Tyler to push her head.

"Hey!" Jada said playfully doing the same thing back to him.

As we made it to the register I started to unpack the rest of the groceries. Kendall didn't look as stressed as earlier which made me happy to be able to take a load off her shoulders.

"Mom, what does it mean to lather something on someone," Eli innocently asked.