A Mistaken Kiss

Chapter 4

I spent the rest of my day in my room. Mom was downstairs with Mason, playing with him while she passed the time for her date. She knew I was upset about this ‘Caden’s-in-charge’ crap and I was trying to show her I wasn’t going to tolerate it.

I watched the clock ticking by, debating how well my agreement was for not having Caden around. So far, it was pretty good. If she trusted me, she would understand that I was clearly capable of watching my younger brother. With age comes wisdom right? And she had trusted Mason in my hands since he was born.

Why was it now she was reconsidering her actions?

I glanced at the clock again.

An hour left.
I rested my chin on my hand, thinking about how I could use Caden to my advantage. I could easily sneak out of the house and not have to worry about Mason. He would be under watchful eyes. Finally, I could go to parties and meet boys and get drunk. And there was nothing Caden could do about it.

He could, of course, tell mother.

But how would he know? That’s the best part. I could tell him I was going over to a friend’s to study or hang out since he was there to take care of Mason. He wouldn’t know a thing. I doubted Caden would rat me out. He must’ve snuck out a few times during his high school career.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts.

With a sigh, I pushed myself up off my bed, walking down stairs to where Mom was. She was sitting on the floor with Mason on her lap, rocking back and forth. I stood by the doorway, smiling. She wasn’t always motherly.

It was nice to see this side of her with Mason. When she was as silly as goofy as Mason was because no one was watching.

“Mom” I said, catching her attention. She looked up at me, shock written across her face. A slight red tint spread on her cheeks as she gently pushed Mason off her lap and onto the floor. He looked up at her, confused, as she stood up, brushing off the non-existent dust from her pants.

I rolled my eyes, standing straight.

“What’s wrong, Joanna?” She asked

“I’ve come to discuss something with you. Let’s go to the kitchen” I said, motioning for her to follow. She sighed, following nonetheless. I could tell she knew what I was going to talk about.

I took a seat, Mom taking one across from me.

“Alright, I’ve thought about it again and again and really, I’m not quite sure what the benefits are of having Caden around” I said, getting straight to the point

“Honey, I’m just worried for Mason. I don’t want anything to happen to him”

“Mother, you’ve trusted me with him since he was born. I’m getting smarter the older I get”

“And Caden is older than you which makes him smarter than you which is why I want him around the house”

Ouch. I ignored the insult “Mom, look. Caden’s a waste of money that we don’t have”

“I’m not paying him much”

“How much are you paying?”

“Three bucks an hour”

“Mom!” I yelled “That’s stupidly low!”

“You want me to give him more money?” She asked, confused “I thought you wanted him out”

I groaned, banging my head on the table “No, no. Please keep paying him that price mother”

“That’s what I thought. He’s really good about that. I offered to pay him more but he insisted he wanted only three bucks an hour” She explained “I’ve never known a boy—a teenager at that—to want less money than offered”