Return to Neverland

Chapter 3

What I didn't like about Grandma moving in was the fact that she always got my name wrong. She would always call me Julian or John. People called me Julianna or Juli, but never John. It was like Grandma was hoping that I'd suddenly turn into a boy or something.

After a week with Grandma in the house, Mom and Dad finally announced that they were going back to work. Sure, Dad would still take night shifts and Mom would take morning shifts, but this was the first time that they were both going to work full time.

It was my job to babysit Jamie, Charlie, and Grandma. I wasn't feeling too hot about babysitting Grandma, either. Usually the grandparents babysat while parents were away, but I never thought that I would have to experience it the other way around.

Mom and Dad left together, making sure that we were all eating before they left. They were in their nice work clothes and Dad had shaved the whiskers off of his face. I felt happy to see them going back to work, since I knew that they loved it. Mom was a waitress and Dad worked at a device making company. Each of us kids got a free phone from Dad's work once we turned twelve. I got my phone a year ago. Mom kissed our heads before scurrying out the door, grabbing her bag from the counter.

Once the door shut Grandma got up, silently heading to her room. I felt anger and hurt as I watched her leave. She hadn't even said anything to us. I sighed, and picked up my bowl. I dumped out the remaining cereal before plopping the empty bowl into the sink. I waited for Charlie and Jamie to finish before washing the dishes.

I ran the water and scrubbed the dishes with a soapy sponge. My arm was energized with anger, and I scrubbed each dish until they shined. Once I was finished with a bowl, I would toss it into the sink filled with water to soak, having it land much harder than I expect. I barely noticed though. It was wash, clean, throw. Wash, clean, throw.

I could hear Charlie and Jamie entering the bathroom. They fought over who would use the mirror first, and I tried to tune out their voices and concentrate on scrubbing. I could hear Grandma's feet slowly walk around her room and sit on the squeaky mattress. The noises got louder and the anger began to swell inside me, and it nearly ripped out of my chest and destroyed the house.

On my final bowl, I threw it harder than I intended. It bounced off of the pile of dishes and onto the floor. On contact it broke into a million pieces. The house grew quiet. Jamie and Charlie's bickering in the bathroom and Grandma's feet shuffling stopped. I let out a growl, grabbing a broom.

Once the broken bowl was cleaned up, I placed the dishes on a rack to dry. I then checked on my siblings.

Jamie and Charlie were in their room playing with Jamie's small Lego figures. Charlie had mismatching socks on, and Jamie had toothpaste dried under his lips. I grinned, watching them as they played.

Charlie jumped as I silently moved behind her, slipping off her socks. She giggled as her body slid when the socks refused to let go. I laughed, too, as her hands slid across the carpet. I tossed them back into the bin. I warned Jamie about his toothpaste and he attempted to lick it off. I laughed again, the anger inside of me slowly going back to sleep. I kissed Charlie's head, smelling the sweet scent of lavender soap in her hair.

We went outside and ran around our yard. There wasn't much outside to climb or to jump on, but we found a way to entertain ourselves. We played and did tricks until they began to complain and accuse me of cheating because I won every round of tag.

Mom and Dad came back at five. Mom set down her stuff and wrapped her arms around us in a hug. Charlie and Jamie ran off, and Mom grabbed my arm. She motioned me to the living room.

Once we were there safely she asked, "Juli, how was it?"

I shrugged, "Okay. Jamie and Charlie were good."

"How about Grandma, she didn't do anything, right?"

I didn't speak for a minute. I just stood there, staring into my mom's brown eyes. I finally replied, "I don't know, she's been in her room this whole time." I didn't mean to add venom in my voice, but I couldn't help it. Before Grandma came Dad reassured us that she would do everything just like a normal grandma did, just a little different. Nothing so far was the same, but I couldn't complain. Jamie and Charlie loved her so much that I couldn't dare say anything bad about her.

"Would you go check on her?"

I only nodded. I felt like an older sister having to take care of my younger sibling, once again. I entered her room, swinging the door open. Her head whipped towards me. Grandma was holding a small bag. She motioned me towards her.

My heart pounded. Maybe this was the moment where we were going to bond, a grandma-granddaughter moment. I was hoping that she'd show me something incredible like a gem instead of junk and tell me the stories of when she was a little girl, and then I'd tell her about what it was like when I was Charlie's age. That was the only thing allowing me to step towards my grandma.

Once I did step inside, though, the jars hanging on the ceiling hit my head. They swung as they came in contact with me. I jumped back, seeing small wings inside one jar. Only yesterday they were empty, but now I could see feathers, chipped animal wings, and other weird things. I yelped, heading towards the door.

"John, don't be alarmed," Grandma said coolly. She showed me a bag with more sand in it. "I'm only making pixie dust."

"It's Juli!" I screamed and slammed the door.