Burdened and Burned.

Burdened and Burned {2}.

When I made it down the stairs with Ellie I was bombarded with the noise of the other eleven children in this crazy house.

I heard the little ones, from ages three to five, playing in their food and throwing their plates on the floor. I don't know how Ellie puts up with them disrespecting her house like this, but I guess she loves them so much that she just ignores it.

Making it to the kitchen, I didn't see Josh, Ellie's husband, anywhere. He must be at work, I thought to myself. He's a surgeon at the local hospital so when duty calls he's out the door like a bat out of hell. Josh doesn't particularly like his wife taking in so many children but if it makes her happy he would go and get every needy child in the world for her. Seeing their love makes me sad because I know my parents were like that but me being stupid I had to ruin it all for them.

I push that to the back of my mind and looked at the kitchen. The maids will sure be mad about this.

There was food on every surface of the kitchen; even the kids. There was something burning on the stove and when I went to turn it off I saw mixed colors and crayon paper in water. Someone must have tried to make crayon soup again. I shook my head and poured it out in the sink, making sure to catch the paper.

Ellie sighed and leaned against a slightly clean counter. I could see she was stressing and I was angry that the older kids did nothing to stop the little ones from making such a mess. I may be the oldest out of them but there are others that are around my age.

Damon, the shit-head for instance, is fifteen; only two years younger than me and more than capable of controlling a couple of toddlers for a half hour. His sister, Danielle, is fourteen and could do the same.

Like I said, there are twelve children in the house including me. Ebony, me, seventeen. Damon, fifteen. Danielle and Jocelyn, fourteen. Jared, Michael, and Steven, twelve. Dylan, eleven. Marci, five. Deja and Adrienne, four. And lastly Trey, three. Trey is my favorite out of everyone even though Adrienne is quite close. He's so darn cute that you just have to love him. His mom was on drugs and left him at a restaurant one night while she went off with some man. They put him in child protective services and Ellie just had to have him because he was so handsome. So for a year, he's been here reeking his own little havoc. We all have stories that would make anyone with a heart cry, but we don't like to dwell on the past. Except every once in a while.

I looked over at Ellie and she had her eyes closed while rubbing her temples.

I thought she was getting too old for all this. Being forty-five and with her recent accident, I think she should go on a vacation for a while so she wont be so stressed. I don't want anything bad happening to her.

Turning my attention back to the table that held the eleven monsters, I saw that they were mostly quiet and looking at Ellie. We all loved her more that anything since she saved us from ourselves. I motioned to them to start cleaning up and they looked at me like was crazy.

Ellie looked up noticing that it got quiet and all the children quickly turned back to the table and started to clean up.

I rolled my eyes and started to make a plate from the food that was on the stove. There was fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and a corner of macaroni and cheese left. I piled three pieces of chicken, a big glob of mashed potatoes and the last of the mac and cheese on my plate with a slice of bread. Looking in the refrigerator, I pulled out a Kool-aid Jammer, red, and headed upstairs. Ellie smiled at me before I was all the way up and I knew she would be alright.

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It was ten o'clock when I decided it was time I went to sleep. I shared a room with Jocelyn and she was already asleep because she thought she needed her eight hours.

I changed into what I like to think as my sleeping attire; a big baggy shirt and underwear. It got to damn hot to have on full pajamas like Jocelyn. Every night she put on a tank top and matching pajama pants. Yes, pants. And she wonder why she wakes up with sweat covering herself and her sheets.

I looked out the window that was right beside my bed. I could see the moon and some stars shining their way through the sky and I knew four of those stars belonged to my family.

The nightly tears started to run down my scared face and I could feel the sobs coming.

I closed my eyes and I could see the smoke coming up under the bathroom door. I was hearing the screams of my family and the banging on the door.

I was crying full on now remembering that day when I lost everything seven years ago.

Before I knew it I was heavily sleeping and dreaming that same nightmarish dream all over again.