Out in the Wind

Chapter 2

I was spared seeing the man from the bank actually coming to evict us. My mom handled that all by herself while Chloe and I was sitting at our aunt's table eating Oreos. I knew what was happening but Chloe was laughing and smiling as she dipped her cookies into the milk, oblivious as only a six year old can be. On the other hand I could not help myself from envisioning a man with a wooden hammer, shouting out prices to people standing around. They would not know what they were buying. They would not know about the laughter of Mandy and I as we ran around the house as small children. They would never know how mom sung me to sleep until Chloe was born and she decided I was big enough to sing her to sleep instead. They would never know about the night when the preacher came over and mom fell onto the stairs, crying so much that I needed to listen in to her conversation later that night with Aunt Barbara to find out that Dad was dead. They would never know about all the boxes I packed and unpacked and how much trouble it was to fit an entire house in a storage unit as big as our garage used to be...

Used to be...

Everything used to be different. Mom was smiling, not crying. Chloe hasn't changed, but what does she know? If only Mandy was here. She would have known what to do. She always came up with great ideas.

"Are you finished with your milk, honey?" Aunt Barbara asked. I didn't even realize how deep in thought I had been until she spoke.

"How long is mom still going to be?" I asked as I picked up my glass and brought it to my mouth. Why Aunt Barbara insisted on treating me like a child I would never know. In her eyes I was probably still six just like Chloe.

"I'm not sure," Aunt Barbara said, a smile on her face although I had no idea what she was smiling for. "She's going through a lot of things today. Maybe she needs some time on her own."

"Would you mind if I go play some piano?" I asked Aunt Barbara. Piano was the one thing I was actually good at. Locking my piano away in the storage unit was the worst thing that could have happened. I asked mom if we could keep it, but like she said, we would be living with Aunt Barbara for a while and she just didn't have any space for one. Luckily Aunt Barbara played as well.

"Not now. I have a headache. Why don't you take Chloe and go play outside?" she asked with an even bigger grin on her face. I never really liked her. She always looked so fake with that hair that looked like molten chocolate that dripped down her face and never moved. But she was mom's sister which meant I had to like her.

"I'm also going through a rough time. Piano helps," I protested, hoping that I could just let my fingers run over the cold keys for five minutes and escape to another world.

"I said no. Now take the baby outside."

Not Chloe. Not 'your sister'. Just 'the baby'. Like she didn't have feelings. Like she could not hear what was going on around her.

"Come Chloe," I said as I stood up and held my arms toward her.

"We're going to play?" Chloe asked, stars I wished I still had shining in her eyes.

"Yeah, we're going to play," I answered her as I walked past Aunt Barbara, trying my best not to make eye contact with her as I walked out the kitchen door.

As I watched Chloe run around, trying to catch a butterfly I could not help but hating Aunt Barbara just a little. And my mom. And most of all my dad. If it wasn't for them I would have been in front of my piano. Or reading a book. Or off to the mall looking for a new hangout spot for when Mandy came home from her holiday. I would not be here babysitting.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I quickly took it out, only to be confronted by Mandy's face. I hadn't even told her exactly what had happened just yet. For a few more days I just wanted to pretend that I was still normal. That I still had a home to go to and not a mattress on a living room that I had to share with my sister and mother as well.