The Bloody Test

BEFORE YOU READ: If you're finding it hard to keep up with ages and names, I have a list for you at the bottom of the page. I don't think it will be too difficult, though. Enjoy

“Cimm- braid Jo-Anne and Chelsea’s hair.” A voice called over the cacophonous noise usually only reserved for an unruly classroom or auditorium of people. Shouts could be heard up and down the halls, thundering up from the floor boards, from above the ceiling and even outside the window.

Cimoreen would have loved to turn over in bed and ask for five more minutes of sleep like a normal sixteen year old would at this gosh-awful hour in the morning, but Cimoreen wasn’t normal, nor was her family. She lived in a house equipped with four parents and seventeen children ranging from the age of 24 to 3. Her parents had divorced and remarried their best friends, finding it to be a good idea to all live together in the same house since everything was so mutual.

Her mother married her father’s best friend, and her father married her mother’s best friend, and the two best friends had also been married to each other. They each had four kids of their own before the marriage and now had four more children each after their second marriage. Cimoreen was the exact middle child and last offspring of her mother and father before they divorced and remarried. She had been a twin, but her sister died two years ago in a drunk driving accident. Sometimes the house got so hectic and rushed that Cimoreen wondered if they even realized her twin was gone. She had done everything with her twin, they didn’t even need to communicate verbally. They could just look at each other and do the eye-roll thing and understand completely. They helped each other out even in the hardest of times. Now Cimoreen was left to do things on her own. She was also put in charge of taking care of all the children younger than she was. This was because her older siblings had to get themselves ready for school and college and didn’t have time to help their parents out with the younger kids.

The parents didn’t have time to get the kids ready because they all rushed off to work as soon as everyone was awake. Her parents had more fun partying and fooling around and seemed to forget the responsibility of taking care of their own children. As soon as they got someone else to do it they were off and not worrying about it.

Cimoreen would have loved to get in front of the mirror and attempt to look nice for school or at least tame her wild curly blond and brown hair, but her older sisters would make fun of her saying things like, ‘so you’re going to try and look nice today- why bother.” And her older brothers’ bathroom was just too terrible to even think about going in. She didn’t know how her twin had managed to do it, but she always seemed to look nice. They were identical but looked completely opposite because she could squeeze her way in between her older sisters.

She grabbed the elastic band from her bedside table, which was also littered with the many lost toys of the random children that came into her room at night to bother her. She pulled her hair back into a messy pony-tail and swung her legs over the bed. She glanced at the clock, it was 5:59 in the morning. She hit the switch to turn off the alarm. She had never heard what the actual alarm sounded like before because she was always awoken by the loud raucous through the rest of the house. She was half attempted to let it ring but she shook her head knowing she didn’t even have one minute to spare if she was going to try and not be late for school this morning.

She looked at her neatly folded jeans and shirt that she had laid out the night before at the end of her bed. She had learned long ago that she shouldn’t get dressed until all the children were on the bus and heading to school. There had been too many accidents and spills, the morning wasn’t complete unless she had another stain to add to her collection on her pj’s every morning.

She made her way over to the door and opened it, the dampened screams and yells of the children blasted full force on her.

“Hurry up and get out, Cimm-“One of her older sisters grumbled at the noise.
“Yeah- we need to sleep a little longer we’ve got tests and stuff.” Another groggy voice echoed.

Cimoreen shared a room with three of her seven sisters. They all got to sleep in another hour until it was time for them to get ready for college. Her parents agreed that if anyone was going to do extra work it was going to be Cimoreen because college was harder and they’d need all their concentration. Some days Cimoreen just felt like a used maid instead of a loved and valued member of the family.

She shut the door and headed straight for the two loudest screamers. Jo-Anne and Chelsea were always fighting and pulling each other’s hair in the morning, causing each other to scream. They were both four. Cimoreen had discovered that by braiding their hair they didn’t have much to grab on to and they discovered other things to toy with. Sure enough she found Jo-Anne with a fist full of Chelsea’s brown hair in her grasp. While Chelsea screamed, Cimoreen quickly pleated Jo-Anne’s hair into a tight French braid. Then she expertly removed the felonous hand and braided Chelsea’s hair in the same fashion. Instantly their screaming stopped and they ran together to their room to bother their little twin brothers, Christopher and Christian. Cimoreen called them both Chris and they both responded and acted the same much like she and her twin had. She knew that if she made them compete against each other they would get things done the fastest. In a way they were the easiest to get ready.

“Let’s see who can brush their teeth and get dressed first.” Cimoreen said, holding on to Jo-Anne and Chelsea’s wrists before they could grab on to someone else’s hair. Both boys raced to the dresser and helped each other yank open the drawer before pushing each other out of the way to get to the clothes first.

Cimoreen then dragged Chelsea and Jo-Anne downstairs to the kitchen and set them at the table. Derrick, the other middle child who was treated similarly like Cimoreen was making breakfast. He was sixteen too and came from her parent’s best friends just before the divorce. They were somewhat close and he did the most comforting after Claire had died. His chore was to cook breakfast for all the children younger than him, and that included Cimoreen but she never had time to eat breakfast. She told him not to worry about her but every morning he still gave her a plate of steaming fresh food anyway.

“I think you’ve set a new best time today, Cimoreen.” Derrick joked while bringing over two plates of eggs, bacon and sausage.

“I don’t have time to waste, I need to run off and get to class as early as possible. I have a test.”

“Well then, you should save some time to eat some breakfast.”

“Thanks, Derrick, but I never have time for food.”

“If you keep working as hard as you do without food you’ll get sick.” He said, never refusing to keep her running at her best. Cimoreen tried to smile at him in appreciation but a shrieking cry rattled through the house. With Jo-Anne and Chelsea stuffing their faces Cimoreen would have time to go tend to her three year old half brother, Jonathan, the loudest of them all. As if on cue the four parents of the house rushed out the front door for work. Cimoreen’s real mother was the last to exit.

“Thanks again, dear.” She called to Cimoreen, “I’ll just leave the rest to you. I’ll be home later today- don’t forget the twins need to go in for their shots this afternoon- do you think you could get off of school early and take them?”

“Mom, I don’t have a car- and I’ve got some major tests to study for this week.”

“Well that’s disappointing. I was counting on you. I’d hate to ask one of your older siblings. They always do so much for the kids already.” With that she shut the door and Cimoreen grumbled, storming up the stairs. NO one else did anything for the children except Derrick and her. The only times her brothers and sisters ever were involved is if they needed something and the child was in the way. It made Cimoreen want to scream into a pillow in frustration. She stopped her self fro the negative thoughts and kept her mind clear. She was determined to get to school early and now was not the time to have anger rushing through her head.

“CIMOREEN!” She heard a call from one of her bother’s rooms, “THE BABY IS CRYING DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!” She recognized the voice from Philip. He was nineteen and thought that he ruled the world.

“CIMOREEN, TELL PHILIP TO STOP YELLING!” She heard her oldest sister, Rachel command. She was twenty two and supposedly the smartest daughter in the house. Despite Cimoreen’s hectic schedule, she had a near perfect GPA in school, but her parents overlooked her grades and praised the older kids for their grades or the younger kids for trying.

“They should just change my name to Cinderella,” Cimoreen mumbled, ignoring her yelling siblings. Sometimes she wondered who the real adults were in the house. She went into Jonathan’s room, knowing the first thing he needed was a diaper change and then feeding time. He’d be ready to go for their carpool neighbor which would take him along with Chelsea and Jo-Anne to daycare.

Cimoreen took Jonathan from his crib and carried him to the changing table. She expertly swapped his old diaper for a new one, while cleaning him up in the process. He continued to whine and cry until she picked him up. She carried him quickly down the hall towards the kitchen, knowing that she would get yelled at by her older brothers and sisters if she lingered too long near their doorways.

She made it to the Kitchen just as Derrick handed her a warmed plate of baby food mix and Cheerios. She strapped Jonathan into his high chair and put the plate of food in front of him. He was finally at the age where he could feed himself. She paused for a moment to watch and made sure he began eating. She looked to see that the twins, Christian and Christopher had dressed themselves in matching outfits and were sitting with Jo-Anne and Chelsea finishing up their breakfast.

“Cimm- I’ll watch him this morning, you need to go get ready.” Derrick offered.

“Thanks, D.” She responded went to wake up her five remaining brothers and sisters. Today she knew that her little half sister, Brittany was turning nine. She didn’t have much money but whatever she spent was usually on her writing supplies and books. Instead of that she bought Brittany a journal hoping she would like it, knowing her other brothers and sisters probably wouldn’t remember her birthday anyway. No one remembered birthdays.

She knocked on the third door from the right, her bedroom again filled with her sisters, “Brittany.” Cimoreen called, opening the door.

“Keep it down.” Amanda commanded, throwing a pillow over her head. She was eighteen.

Cimoreen walked into the room and sat at the end of Brittany’s bed. “Happy birthday Brittany.” She whispered and instantly Brittany shot up out of bed.

“Oh yeah, I’m grown up now.” She commented, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

“Here you go.” Cimoreen handed her the hastily wrapped package.

Brittany noisily opened the paper causing Amanda and Rachel to groan loudly in protest of the noise. Brittany’s face fell when she saw what the wrapping was concealing.

“Ew- journals are for freaks and weirdoes like you. I want makeup. I’m old enough now.” Brittany complained, looking disgusted at the fresh new journal.

“You aren’t old enough for makeup yet, Brittany. You have to wait until you’re older. Besides, you can write stuff down in a journal.

“I’ll write that my sister is a freak who gives bad gifts on birthdays on every page…there, you happy?” She snapped and angrily grabbed a broken pencil from the nearby desk and started scribbling just that on the first page.

“Well now that’ you’re old enough I think you can pick out your own clothes and style your own hair.” Cimoreen said and left the room. She went back down to the kitchen and looked at her watch. Only ten minutes until the carpool arrived. She rushed down the stairs and collected Jo-Anne and Chelsea to get them dressed. Jonathan had successfully given himself a baby food and cheerio beard like he did every morning.
“Derrick, would you mind cleaning Jon-“
“Don’t worry, Cim. I’ve got you this morning. Just go and do what you need to do.”

“I owe you so big, D.” She said, pulling Jo-Anne and Chelsea along. She rushed down the hall and into the little kid’s room. With one hand she dug through the drawers for clothes and with the other she unfastened their night gowns. Quickly she dressed the two girls and made sure their shoes were on. She took them to the living room back downstairs again and set them in front of the television, turning on a random cartoon to keep them entertained while she went to retrieve Jonathan and wake up her remaining brothers and sisters.

Derrick had successfully cleaned Jonathan’s face and Cimoreen flashed him a quick thank you look while picking him up and running up the stairs. She knocked loudly on one of the doors to her left.

“Daniel, Brooks, time to get up. You’re fifteen and thirteen, you should be able to get up by yourselves by now. Get up before I come in there and make you get up.” After that last statement she heard the boys quickly start scrambling. Last time she had threatened and they hadn’t gotten up she had been on her time of the month and was not in a good mood. She ended up dumping a bucket of water on them to wake them up. Ever since they had gotten up just when she asked.

She quickly slipped Jonathan into a new outfit when the doorbell rang. She picked up Jonathan and ran for the stairs again. She jumped the last two causing Jonathan to laugh and spit up all over her shoulder. She groaned thankful that she hadn’t changed into her new clothes yet.

“Good morning, Cimoreen, Derrick.” Ms. Lancaster greeted. She had known Cimoreen since before her parents split up. She knew the routine of the house very well and wouldn’t stay long. She picked up Jonathan with one arm and took Jo-Anne and Chelsea with her free hand. As soon as they were out of the house a fight broke out.

“Get out of the bathroom what are you doing in here?” She heard Brittany yell.

“Daniel is using the other bathroom and I really have to go. I’ll only be a second.” Brooks pleaded.

“No.” Brittany scoffed, “I’m a lady now and I’m going to need all the time in the bathroom. I don’t want to look like Cimoreen when I am as old as her so I have to practice now. I want to look like Claire… she was the better twin she shouldn’t have died. At least she would have given me a better gift than a journal.”

Cimoreen ran upstairs to break up the fight. All the boys knew very well that they weren’t allowed in the girl’s bathroom even for emergencies. SO she knocked on the boy’s bathroom as she passed, “Daniel unless you want to have bathroom cleaning duties instead of Brooks you’d better come out. You know the rule; the one who cleans it gets to use it first.”

“Allright, allright,” She heard Daniel groan from the other side of the door. “You need to loosen up, you’re too much of a rule follower.” He said opening the door.

“Don’t forget to flush.” Cimoreen reminded him. She then made her way down to the girl’s bathroom, “Brittany you have five minutes left in the bathroom before you have to get dressed. The bus will be here in fifteen minutes. And Brooks, you know you aren’t allowed in here so go to your own bathroom.”

“You’re so uncool.” Brittany said, folding her arms over her chest.

“Yeah- you’re so mean.” Brooks responded, rushing down to his bathroom.

Cimoreen sighed, if only they knew how tight of a schedule she had to run because they couldn’t take care of themselves they’d appreciate her more. Maybe she should refuse to do it any longer. She knew she’d probably get in trouble anyway for them not being ready.

“It’s okay, Cimoreen.” Derrick said, coming down the hall, “They don’t realize the hard work you go through.” He smiled at her and went back down to the kitchen.

Finally the boys and Brittany were in the kitchen scarfing down breakfast. Cimoreen stood at the door watching for the buss. She saw it turn the corner way down the street.

“All right, Chris’ and Brittany. Your bus is coming.”

“I’m an adult I can drive myself.” Brittany said.

“Not today you can’t.” Cimoreen informed, grabbing her by the arm and slipping one strap of her backpack over her shoulder. She pushed Brittany towards the door and the twins followed. They made it to the end of the driveway just as the bus pulled up.

“Our bus is next.” Cimoreen informed Daniel, Brooks, and Derrick. It should be here in twenty minutes.”

“We know Cim.” Daniel said.

“What about Kyle Amanda and Philip?” Brooks asked.

“They drive themselves and they get themselves up. It’s not my fault if they miss school.” Cimoreen sighed with relief that her morning routine was finished. She went upstairs and changed into her school clothes. She stepped into the bathroom for a quick check. Her hair stuck out in all directions and she rolled her eyes, removing the plastic band and French braided her hair. At least a braid would make her look like she attempted to look nice. She splashed her face with water and dried it with a towel just as Rebecca, her seventeen year old sister came in.

“Out” Rebecca commanded, “My turn for the bathroom.”

Cimoreen didn’t argue. She just rolled her eyes and left. She was finished anyway. If she allowed her emotions to get in the way she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else. She walked down the stairs and waited by the window again, watching for the bus. Derrick joined her after a few minutes. He had changed into his school clothes also.

“Here, Cim.” He said and handed her a brown paper bag, “It isn’t much but if you’ve got a test today you’ll need to eat something. Maybe you could eat it on the bus.” He smiled at her and pat her on the back.

“Thanks, D. What would I do without you?”

“Probably cook.” He joked and winked at her. She smiled and looked out the window again. The big yellow bus rounded the corner down the street.

“Bus is here.” Cimoreen called. She walked down to the end of the driveway. Brittany, Brooks, Daniel and Derrick soon joined her and they climbed on the bus. Finally Cimoreen was headed to the school where she could take care of only herself.