Of Moons, Birds, and Monsters

I wiped down the counters and prepared the sink to wash dishes. Colby and Karen wanted to make and decorate cookies for Mrs. Moreno. They wanted to mix the frosting together and put them on the cookies. They made an absolute mess. There was more frosting on the dining room table then there was on the cookies.

Karen had fallen asleep in her room watching The Last Unicorn. Colby sat quietly in front of the TV watching the Transformers DVD for the millionth time. Colby was a lot easier to handle than Karen. With Colby, all I had to do was put in her favorite movie and every once in a while, play action figures with her. The action figures were actually fun, but I would never admit it out loud.

“Riley?” Colby called from by the TV.

“What’s up?” I asked, putting the cookie sheets into the hot water that filled the sink.

“Do you have parents?” she asked, looking at me with curious eyes.

I was a bit taken back by the question. I had never mentioned my parents to the girls. The only people in the house who knew about my parents were Luke, who most likely told Jack, and Mr. and Mrs. Moreno. I couldn’t think of a reason why they would share that kind of information with two six years olds.

“I have a daddy, yeah,” I answered slowly, scrubbing the cookie sheet.

“Does he live with you?” she asked, pulling up pieces of the carpet.

“No, he lives in Ohio,” I replied through gritted teeth. There was one particular spot on the dish that was refusing to come off.

“What about your mommy?” she questioned, tilting her head to the side. “Does she live with you?”

“My mommy is in heaven,” I answered with a weak smile.

“Oh,” she said sadly. “Then who sings to you?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, bending over to empty the dishwasher.

“My mommy sings to me,” she answered. “If your mommy is in heaven, who sings to you?”

She was so innocent and naïve that it made me want to cry. That, and the fact that she was asking about my mother.

“Nobody sings to me anymore,” I responded, trying very hard to swallow the rock-hard lump in my throat.

“Jack sings the Cupcake song to us when mommy is at work,” Colby said with a wrinkled nose. “I don’t like that song.”

“How does it go?” I asked, loading the dishwasher back up.

“You’re my honeybunch, sugarplum, pumpy-umpy-umpkin, you’re my sweetie pie. You’re my cuppy-cake, gumdrop, snoogums-boogums, you’re the apple of my eye,” she sang. “And I love you so, and I want you to know that I’ll always be right here. And I love to sing sweet songs to you because you are so dear.”

Even though Colby sang with a grimace on her face, it was still unbelievably cute. As much as I disliked Jack, I couldn’t deny that he took good care of his sisters. Sometimes he treated them like they were his own kids. Izzy kind of got jealous when he did that. She hated children.

“I love that song,” I grinned.

Colby stood up and climbed the chair that stood by the counter. She folded her arms and rested her head on the counter.

“What did your mommy sing to you?” she asked, wearing an expecting face.

“She used to sing to me when we were both really sad,” I told her, shutting the dishwasher and turning many dials on it.

“Will you sing the song for me?” Colby asked, looking up from the counter.

“Sure,” I nodded, trying to replay the song in my head. I hummed the piano solo at the beginning, trying to time it just right.

“Shadows all around you as you surface from the dark, emerging from the gentle grip of night's unfolding arms,” I sang, returning to scrubbing dishes. “Darkness, darkness everywhere, do you feel all alone? The subtle grace of gravity, the heavy weight of stone. You don't see what you possess, a beauty calm and clear. It floods the sky and blurs the darkness like a chandelier. All the light that you possess is skewed by lakes and seas. The shattered surface, so imperfect, is all that you believe.”

I continued to hum the long piano solo, picturing the way my mother played the grand piano in our living room. Her long, delicate fingers gracefully pressing the keys. I would always sit next to her on the bench, and watch her as she played. Even though she would sing only when she was depressed, she would do it with a smile on her face and a tear sliding down her cheek. She really was a beautiful woman, even when she was crying.

“I will bring a mirror, so silver, so exact. So precise and so pristine, a perfect pane of glass. I will set the mirror up to face the blackened sky, so you will see your beauty every moment that you rise,” I finished, putting the clean pot onto the towel to dry.

“You have a pretty voice, Riley,” Mr. Moreno said, standing next to Colby.

I jumped at his sudden appearance, sending water and bubbles splashing all over the counters I had just cleaned.

“Oh my God,” I breathed, grabbing my chest in effort to catch my breath. “You scared me.”

“I see that,” Mr. Moreno laughed, his eyes crinkling. “Where is Karen?”

“She is in her room,” I answered, returning my gaze to the sink. “She was watching a movie, and she fell asleep.”

“Mm,” he grunted, walking towards his recliner.

I looked at the clock that hung beside the fridge. It was almost twelve thirty. Mr. Moreno usually didn’t get off of work until five thirty, and he was home around six. He never came home for lunch since he worked down town. I didn’t want to pry, but I wanted to know why he was home so early.

“The office closed down early today?” I asked, drying my hands off.

“Something like that,” he sighed, flipping through TV channels. “They said maintenance crew could go home early today. They’re having some energy company coming through the building to do re-wiring.”

“Ah,” I nodded, grabbing a Miller Light out of the fridge and handed it to him. I figured it was a little early in the day for him to start drinking whiskey already, so I grabbed him a beer.

“Thank you,” he nodded, taking the beer and popping it open.

I returned to the kitchen and re-cleaned the drenched counters. I heard a few lines from the TV and instantly knew what he watching; the Anti-Obama network. I smiled to myself and listened to the people on the TV argue with each other. It made me feel at home.

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Mr. Moreno groaned, leaning back in his recliner and folding his arms behind his head. “This idiot.”

“You’re not riding the Obama Llama either, huh?” I chuckled. Dawn had made buttons that said ‘Not riding the Obama Llama’ and handed them out at school. A few of the teachers were caught wearing them. I thought it was quite funny. She got bitched out by a lot of the students, though.

“Hell no!” he exclaimed, taking a swig of his Miller Light.

I laughed to myself and continued to clean the kitchen. I wasn’t really expecting him to like Obama. Mr. Moreno was a bitter, drunk old man. He didn’t like anything. I personally didn’t have anything against the president. I stayed out of politics and all that mess. They’re all a bunch of liars, anyway. The only politician that seemed to be doing any good was Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he was still using all his cheesy movie quotes from the 80s.

“My roommate has a pretty strong hatred for him,” I shrugged.

“Smart girl,” he nodded, clearing his throat. “Has the mail come yet?”

I grabbed the stack of envelopes from the dining room table and handed it to him. He nodded a thank you and began to rip open the papers. I took a seat next to Colby on the couch and fidgeted with my hands, trying to pay attention to the movie.

“I heard you’ve been causing a lot of problems here in the house,” Mr. Moreno began, squinting his eyes at the bill in his hand.

“Me?” I asked, pointing at myself.

“Mhmm,” he hummed. “Colby, go play in your room for a while.”

Colby crawled off of the couch and to her room. My stomach instantly turned into a pretzel when Mr. Moreno took off his reading glasses and set them onto the side table along with the bill he was focusing on. I tried to calm my nerves and tell myself everything was okay. But the way he rubbed his face and sighed, things didn’t look too good.

“I have Luke in one ear saying ‘Dad! Dad! Jack called Riley a bitch!’” Mr. Moreno said, trying to mock Luke in a stoner voice. “And in the other ear, I have Jack saying ‘Riley is messing around with Luke while she’s supposed to be watching the girls, and she’s going to school!’”

I looked at my shoes and bit my lip. My pretty average day went to complete shit in about two minutes. How to hell was I going to find another job that would let me keep the same hours to where I could still go to night school? I tried to keep my composure as Mr. Moreno continued to speak.

“Now, I’ll have you know that I did not raise either of those boys to act like that,” he said sternly, pointing his index finger at me. “Calling a woman a bitch to her face is disrespectful on so many levels. If you call a woman a bitch, you’re the bitch, not her.”

“The other boy, I didn’t raise him to come rushing to me, whining about everything. That boy is about two complaints away from getting chocked, I swear to God,” Mr. Moreno said through tightly closed eyes and his hand balling into a fist. “He came to me the other day saying Cathy still hasn’t paid you what she’s owed you for the past four almost five weeks now.”

“Yes, that’s true,” I nodded. I was afraid of telling him that because if or when I did get paid, it could be considered my last payment.

“In the spice cabinet there is a can of cashews. Will you bring it to me?” he asked, resting his chin on his palm.

I got up from the couch and tried my best not to make it seem like I was nervous. This had to be the end. He was going to do it the slow, old fashion, painful way. He was going to munch on cashews and tell me everything I did wrong before he fired me.

I grabbed the tin can and handed it to him. He opened it as I took back my seat and started to mumble to himself. My heart just shriveled in my chest like a grape did when it turned into a raisin. I looked at Mr. Moreno, my eyes growing wide when I realized what he was doing.

He rested his hands on the top of the can, counting bills from the large stack of money he had. What was with this family?! Did everyone have a secret stash of money hidden somewhere? The stack he had in his hand had to at least be three grand, plus whatever he had left in the tin can.

“Six hundred” he mumbled to himself, handing me a few bills. “Because she‘ll go awhile without paying you.”

I took the money and put it my pocket. It guaranteed Luke would get his money back and my part of the light bill would be paid.

“Now about the other two complaints,” he continued, clearing his throat and stuffing his money back into the deceiving can of cashews. “I don’t know if there is anything going on between you and my son, and frankly, I don’t care. If he’s knocking ’em out, good for him. Just don’t be fooling around while my daughters are here.”

“There really isn’t anything going on between Luke and myself,” I said quickly, looking him right in the eyes that were hidden by wrinkles.

“Just not while you’re supposed to be watching them,” he repeated, holding his hand up as the signal he was going to get the last word. “Are we clear?”

“Yes sir,” I nodded.

“When are you starting school?” he questioned, putting the lid on the cashews can and setting it on the floor beside his recliner.

“I started last night,” I answered. “I’m going to night school four days a week. One week I get Monday off, the next week I get Friday off.”

“What are the hours?” he asked, taking a drink from his beer.

“Four to eight.”

“So that’s two hours short of what you usually work,” he said. “What are you doing with the girls for the two hour gap?”

“Luke said he would stay here with them as soon as he got home from school,” I answered confidently.

“The both of them lie their asses off,” he scoffed, taking another swig out of his beer can. “And you’re sure he has agreed to that?”

“Yes. We’ve talked about it, and he said he would.”

“Alright,” Mr. Moreno sighed. “If he slips up, the both of you are going to be in trouble for it, you hear?”

“Yes sir,” I nodded.

Mr. Moreno grunted in approval and returned his gaze to the TV. He only spoke when he was cursing the Democratic Party and the reports on the television set. I tried very hard not to laugh at is remarks and impressions of the president. He kept rambling about rainbow juice and unicorn milk replacing oil and other fossil fuels. I couldn’t hide my laughter when he said ‘Joe Biden has poo-poo on his shoe.’

“What are you doing home?” Mr. Moreno yelled, looking behind the couch from his recliner. His sudden loud voice made me jump about a mile high.

Jack slowly turned around and walked into the living room, wearing a defeated look on his face. I was shocked. I had no idea he was home. Of course, I didn’t go in the Mitrani brother’s room at all today.

“What are you doing home?” Jack countered, crossing his arms over his chest and raising his eyebrow.

“Boy, don’t ask me questions,” Mr. Moreno said darkly. “Why aren’t you at school?”

“I didn’t make it on time,” he shrugged, looking at the floor.

“You better look at me when I’m talking to you,” Mr. Moreno demanded. “Why didn’t you drive to school at all? You have a car, and I know you didn’t just wake up.”

Jack slowly shrugged, and looked from the floor to his angry father.

“I just did didn’t feel like going,” Jack shrugged again.

“You just didn’t feel like going?” Mr. Moreno repeated with a raised eyebrow. “You know, I would just love to hit you right now.”

I just kept silent and looked at my hands while Jack was staring me down.

“How about this, Jack,” Mr. Moreno began, his mouth turned into a firm line. “I’ll just pull you out of school and have you baby sit the girls. That way, you won’t have to go to school ever again, and Riley can go back.”

“Dad,” Jack scoffed, getting very irritated with being in the hot seat.

“No,” Mr. Moreno interrupted, holding his hand up as a signal to stop. “I think that’ what I’m going to do. You’re already failing your science class because you don’t show up. If you want to just stay home all day, you can have her job and she’ll go to school.”

“You’ve made your point,’ Jack muttered through gritted teeth.

“No, I don’t think I have,” Mr. Moreno shouted. “You’re coming over crying to me about what other people are doing. Who's getting out of work early and who's trying to get into school. And you have the nerve to stand there and say you just don’t feel like going. I tell you what--No, I won’t tell you, Riley will. Tell him how hard it is to get a job without a high school diploma or G.E.D.”

I looked between Mr. Moreno and Jack, who were both staring at me, waiting for me to speak.

“Eighty percent of jobs today require at least a high school diploma,” I said, my voice faltering a little.

“Why do you think she works for us?” Mr. Moreno asked, taking the attention off of me. “Because she couldn’t get hired anywhere else without schooling. You better be grateful you’re not living in a roach infested tin can in the backstreets of a landfill, and that you have the opportunity to get your shit together.”

Jack’s jaw was locked and his arms were in a vice grip around his chest. He looked like he wanted to explode. I had never seen Mr. Moreno say more than six sentences while I was around, and I was surprised he knew my name. The first month I was in the house, he kept calling me ‘The Baby sitter’ or ‘The Girl who works for us.’

“But oh, that’s right,” Mr. Moreno said sadly. “You just don’t feel like going. That’s why you’re failing one of your classes. You’re the babysitter now, Jack. Go make Colby and Karen dinner.”

“I could be the babysitter, and I’d--” Jack yelled.

“You could be a fucking astronaut, but you’re not!” Mr. Moreno shouted over Jack, making me cower a little. “You’re a student, and you’re going to school no matter what. If it’s the job that’s making you late to school, we’ll get rid of one of the jobs. If it’s the girlfriend that’s keeping you out at night, we’ll get rid of her. If you still haven’t gotten things straightened out, the other job goes, too. Then you lose your car.”

“You don’t need two jobs, Jack,” Mr. Moreno continued, his voice calming down a bit. “You only need one. Your mother and I are taking care of the bills. We don’t need your money if it’s affecting your school work.”

Jack kept staring at his feet and sighed. It made me realize Jack acted just like his father sometimes. The attitude resemblance between the two was alarming.

“You have three weeks to get that failing grade fixed,” Mr. Moreno stated. “If you don’t, you’re not going to work at Subway anymore. Do you hear me?”

Jack shrugged, and kept his mouth clamped tight.

“Boy, I swear if you shrug those shoulders again I will punch you in the throat,” Mr. Moreno threatened. “I said, do you hear me?”

“Yes sir,” Jack replied bitterly.

“Good,” Mr. Moreno nodded. “Now since you want to stay home, you can go cut the grass with the push mower. I want the grass cut, the hedges trimmed, the weeds plucked, everything. And you’re going to stay outside until it’s done right.”

Jack scoffed and mumbled to himself as stormed to the garage.

“These kids,” Mr. Moreno sighed, leaning back in his recliner.

“Mr. Moreno?” I asked, trying to figure out a way to get out of here for a while. I didn’t like being in a house with this much tension. I would have left sooner, but I didn’t want to get in the middle of the argument that was going on.

“Hmm?” he grunted.

“Can I go to the school and pick up my Calculus book?” I asked. “I left it in my locker and I have to have a few pages done before I go into class tonight.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “I’m here with the girls. You can go and get it.”

I drove to the school in complete silence. I wanted to put in the CD that my mom recorded, but I knew that I would never make it to the school. I would have just pulled over on the highway and cried until my eyes bled.

My thoughts trailed to Jack while I sat in silence for the fifteen minute drive. Why would he stay home and stay locked up in his room all day? I figured that he would spend the whole day harassing me and telling me what a dumbass I am.

I pulled into the crowded school parking lot and got out of the car. There still had to be at least two hours of class left. I was hoping that I showed up right at a passing period, instead of while class was in session. That way, I wouldn’t have to get a visitor’s pass from the office. I could just slip in unnoticed and get my things.

I was extremely happy when I saw a bunch of students littering the hall. A lot of them I didn’t recognize or remember which was fine with me. That only meant that I wouldn’t be recognized or remembered either. I would have been nice if they moved a little bit faster, though. I got stuck behind a group of girls that were walking as fast as a legless turtle.

I saw Luke’s hair sticking up from behind a person I was standing behind. I was going to go up and surprise him, until I saw that he was talking to another girl. He had a smile on his face, and she flirtatiously twirled her hair. I thought it would be inappropriate if I went over there and interrupted their conversation, especially after I told him how to start talking to girls. I didn’t think he would actually use it.

I made my way around the pack of girls and tried to remember what locker was mine.

“Riley? Someone called.

I rolled my eyes before turning around to face Luke.

“What are you doing here?” he asked with a confused smile on his face.

“Your dad came home early, and said I could come here to get the book that I left,” I explained, looking at the girl that had her arm looped through Luke’s. She was staring at him, rushing him with her eyes and trying to get him to stop talking.

“Jack is home,” Luke said wide-eyed.

“Yeah, your dad found that out,” I told him. “He’s making him do yard work for the rest of the day.”

“That’s it?” Luke asked disappointed. “When I skipped school he made me clean the inside of the trash bins until I could eat off of them.”

“That’s gross!” the girl beside him gasped.

“That’s my dad,” he shrugged.

The girl grabbed the ends of his hair and started to twist it.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said quickly, trying to get away from the two. The girl was making me furious for some reason.

“Wait, I won’t see you tonight?” Luke asked, grabbing the girl’s hand so she would stop pulling on his hair.

I stared at her hand and grinded my teeth together. She didn’t notice because she was too busy smiling at him. He seemed to know it was bothering me because he looked from me to her hand before quickly letting it go.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “It depends on Mason.”

“Oh,” he mumbled. “But I’ll see you tomorrow night for sure, right?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “And I also have something to give you tomorrow.”

“Sweet,” he grinned. “Like a present?”

I quickly darted my eyes to the girl who was now looking at him with an angry, impatient face. I small smile danced across my lips before I answered Luke.

“Kind of,” I smiled, only trying to piss the other girl off. It seemed to be working, because she started to tap her foot.

“I’ll see you later,” I waved, turning around and walking towards my locker.

“Bye!” Luke called after me.

I found the locker that belonged to me and opened it. It was then that I realized that I had left my calculus text book in my car.