Of Moons, Birds, and Monsters

I stood in the kitchen adding the finishing touches to the sandwiches for Karen and Colby. They both were very picky about how their sandwiches were cut. Colby had to have her sandwich cut into triangles and severed on a Transformers plate while Karen demanded her sandwich be cut in the shape of a heart and placed on a Disney Princess dish. They were the same way with their juice cups. I had grown used to their behavior after babysitting them for two months. They were just little kids. I remember when I was their age; I was pretty picky about my plates and cups, too.

“Karen! Colby!” I yelled from the kitchen.

Karen stormed into the kitchen with a red face and her lip sticking out in an angry pout.

“Colby won’t do what I say!” she whined, furiously crossing her arms in front of her tiny chest.

“No!” Colby declared, stomping in behind Karen. “She told me she would break my Power Rangers if I didn’t play dress up with her!”

“Did you break Colby’s Power Rangers?” I asked darkly. To get the truth out of children, you had to make them fear you, although the Moreno sisters were a bit hard to scare.

“No,” Karen snapped. “I just wanted to play.”

“Well c’mon, lets eat,” I suggested, placing their plates and juices on the table.

The girls obeyed, giving each other death glares while they quietly ate. I decided to turn the volume up on the TV. The television wasn’t visible from where the table sat, and they girls would always try to sneak into the living room to eat. Mrs. Moreno, Colby and Karen’s mom, didn’t allow anybody to eat in the living room anymore. Her older sons, Jack and Luke, had destroyed the living room with their friends.

I knew Luke, Jack, and all of their friends. Not very well, but I knew who they were. I used to have a class with Jack when I went to school. He and I never got along very well. He got a kick out of it when I had to drop out of school. I would have gladly stayed in high school. Finishing my last two years up and graduating would have been ideal. But my room mate Dawn needed help paying the bills, and school was taking up a lot of time that could be used for making money.

There were loud banging noises coming from the front porch. That could mean only two things; the mailman dropped off a package, or the Moreno brothers were home.

“Yo, Riley, I’m going to take a quick shower and leave for work,” Jack announced. He was hidden by the wall between the living room and hallway. My guess is that he was stripping on his way to the bathroom. I felt sorry for Jack sometimes. He got home from school at two-thirty, and had to be at work by four. He only had time for a shower and a lunch to go.

Luke dragged himself into the living room and plopped himself onto the couch. I was half expecting for Kevin or one of his friends to file in after him, but no one came. I didn’t have a problem with Luke. He was really quiet and never gave me a hard time. I had him in one of my classes when I was in school, but he was always either spaced out in the back, or messing around with one of his friends.

“Mom said she’s on her way,” Luke informed me with a yawn. “She said she’ll be in here in about ten.”

“Alright. I’ll wait until she gets here before I leave,” I said, folding the blankets that hung over the back of the couch. I really just wanted my money. Mrs. Moreno owed me three weeks worth of cash. I had been really lenient at first, but now I really needed my pay.

“Riley,” Colby called, jumping down from her chair. “I’m done.”

I nodded towards her and collected her plate. Karen was still happily eating her sandwich, dancing in place as she did so. Karen was always the last one to eat. Colby always finished her food first. She ate even faster when Luke was home. You could definitely tell that Luke was her favorite brother. Karen favored Jack. Jack spoiled that little girl the best he could.

“Luke, I want to watch Transformers,” Colby said, tugging on Luke’s brown, poodle curly hair.

“We can’t,” Luke whispered with closed eyes. “I don’t know where the DVD is.”

“But I want to watch it,” Colby repeated, her voice growing little louder.

“I’m sorry,” Luke breathed. “Go tear up Karen’s Barbie dolls or something.”

Colby let out a sharp breath and stormed off to her room.

“Long day, Luke?” I asked with a small smile. Luke always was asleep as soon as he sat on that couch. It was like magic. Every time he got close to it, his eyelids instantly fell, and he turned into some sort of half dead being.

“Two more days till the weekend,” he sighed. “I can’t wait.”

“Any plans?” I asked. I was never really good at talking to Luke. I was just bad at having conversations in general. Not to mention that he certainly never started a conversation with me, so I just kept to myself.

“Sleep,” he answered.

I nodded once, and rinsed off Colby’s plate in the sink. I decided to remain quiet. I thought that if I said anything else, I would be bugging him.

“Riley, my mom is home,” Jack informed me, pulling on his red collard work shirt over his head. His hair was soaking wet, leaving a trail of water behind him and water spots on his shirt.

“Okay,” I said with a slight shrug.

“You be good for mom, you hear me?” Jack said to Karen, running his hand over her dark hair.

“Mhm,” she hummed happily.

“Luke,” Jack barked, glaring over towards Luke’s limp body.

“Huh?” he replied.

“Dad isn’t coming home till late tonight, so you better help,” Jack warned more that instructed.

“Got it,” Luke said with his face still buried in the couch.

Jack sighed and shook his head at his lazy brother. Probably feeling resentment for his opportunity to sleep. I know I would be a little jealous of sleep if I were him.

“Riley,” Jack nodded.

“Jack,” I said back. That was our hello and goodbye, if we even said hello or goodbye. We only tolerated each other because I took care of his sisters. He usually rolled his eyes and made some sort of nasty remark towards me, but he wouldn’t dare in front of his little sisters.

Mrs. Moreno waltzed into the tiny living room, tossing her purse into the basket that held all the book bags. Mrs. Moreno had a certain look to her. She could have definitely been a beauty in the 60s, but then the stress of children and trying to support them hit her, making her look face sag with wrinkles and exhaustion.

“Riley, honey, you can go now,” she sighed, making her way towards the kitchen. It seemed that the whole Moreno family was dragging their feet today. It was tiring just being there.

“Mrs. Moreno, I was wondering if you’re planning on paying me this week?” I asked awkwardly, grabbing my backpack. I was scared to death of asking for my money. She could just easily fire me and never pay what she owed. There was a large possibility that she would get mad and that would embarrass me. I just didn’t want to seem like I was bothering her, even though I really needed the cash.

“Oh, honey,” she began, with a grimace. “I just don’t have it this week.”

I was afraid that was going to be the answer. I loved the Moreno girls, but if I was never going to be paid for doing my job, then I was just wasting my time. I left school to make money, not baby sit for free. I'm not running a tab service. I have bills to pay, too.

“Oh,” I mumbled.

“Honey, I’ll have it next week, I promise. Mr. Moreno is getting paid for working overtime. I’ll pay you for the four weeks I owe you,” she promised while pulling out ground beef for dinner.

“Okay,” I nodded, trying to force a smile. I threw my backpack over my shoulder and made my way towards the door.

“Hey, Riley,” Luke coughed from the couch.

“What?” I asked, stopping in front of the door.

Luke stumbled off of the couch and walked to the hallway that I was standing in.

“Come here,” he instructed, nodding his head towards his room. “I want to show you something.”

I followed him nervously down the small hallway. I never had been in the Moreno brother’s room with them there. I usually sat on the floor and watched TV while I was waiting for the girls to wake up in the morning.

His room was messy like every other boy’s room in America. Not only was it his room, it was Jack’s room, too. So naturally it looked like a tornado just ripped through it with the help of an earthquake.

Luke dug around in the bottom drawer of his dresser and pulled out a beanie.

I stood there, watching him dig inside the wool hat. I started to wonder if it was like a Mary Poppins’ purse. He was digging in the bottom of a beanie like he was searching for gold.

“Here,” he said, grabbing my hand and slapping a large wad of cash against my palm.

My eyes grew wide, staring at the crisp, thin green paper in my hand. Luke and his family didn’t have that much money. They weren’t necessarily living in poverty, but they were barely scraping by. The fact that he had enough money to pay me three weeks worth of work and have money left over made me think he was doing some dirt to keep his bank.

“Luke, I can’t take this,” I disagreed, pushing the money back towards him. I didn’t want to take his money. I didn’t care what he was doing to get this cash; I just didn’t want to take it from him. It was his, and I didn’t have the right to take it from him.

“Yes, you can,” he insisted, pushing the money back towards me. “My mom has been purposely stiffing you on payments. She is telling the truth,” he informed me, after noticing the angry look on my face. “She doesn’t have all that much to give you., but she isn’t really trying.”

I shook my head and pushed the stack of green back towards Luke.

“I don’t want your money,” I admitted, looking him straight in the eye.

“That’s too bad,” he said with a smile, pushing the cash back towards me. “I’m not taking it back. I know you need the money, Riley. Just take it.”

I swallowed the large lump in my throat and pocketed the money. I felt horrible, like I had just taken everything he had. He had obviously been saving it for something, or he would have spent it already.

“See? Not that hard,” he shrugged with a wide smile.

I blinked, being slightly taken aback by the whiteness of his teeth. I’ve seen Luke smile before, but not like that. It would make any girl do a double take.

“Thanks,” I blushed, before turning to leave.