Echos of Silence

CARYS

“Carys, I need you to do the dishes, fold laundry, and pick up in the living room,” my mother ordered as she ripped the covers off of my body.

I let out a groan and rolled over. “I did dishes last. It’s Layna’s turn.”

“Layna has a job,” she shot back to me, “just do it Care.”

I grumbled and sat up as she walked out of my room and down the stairs. I let out a sigh and walked to the top of the stairs as my mom opened the front door.

“Bye, baby!” She called up.

“Bye Mama.”

Watching her close the front door, I rubbed my eyes and walked back into my room. Two more hours of sleep and then I’ll start on the dishes. Settling into my bed, I closed my eyes and nearly fell asleep, but my phone started to blast the annoying ringtone I set for Dalton.

“What?” I snapped as I answered his call.

“Good morning to you too!”

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you driving?”

Dalton laughed and hung up on me. My front door opened and footsteps came up the stairs before he busted into my room.

“God, you need to clean this place,” he said as he leaned against the doorway.

“I’m not allowed to have boys in my room.”

Dalton scoffed. “Good thing I’m a man.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” I mumbled as I stood up and stretched, “since I’m not getting any sleep, I have to start cleaning.”

He smiled, brown eyes sparkling. “I’ll help if you make me breakfast.”

Nodding slowly, I brushed past him and trotted down the stairs. We both walked into the kitchen and I began to pull out the things to make pancakes. Dalton ran a hand through his short brown hair and poured himself a glass of chocolate milk. We stood in silence as I made the pancakes.

Dalton has been my friend for as long as I can remember. His dark brown eyes would always sparkle with mischief and amusement. He would always get me and Jordan, his adopted brother, in trouble. When we were in eighth grade, he got us all a month of detention because he started a food fight. I breathed out a sigh and finished up the pancakes. Pulling out the syrup, I poured until both sets of sweetness were drenched. I handed one plate to him and sat down with my own.

“You are the best cook I know.”

I raised my eyebrow. “What about Ms. Sue?” I asked referring to his elderly neighbor who was close friends with my grandmother.

“Oh yeah,” he mumbled, “She beats you.”

I smiled lightly and we continued to eat in silence. Once we both were finished, I handed my plate to him. “You do dishes and I’ll start in the living room.”

“Why do I have to do dishes?”

“Because I don’t want to,” I called to him as I began to pick up some of the mail my dad dropped last night.

Mama would sometimes break down in tears because she was a neat freak and Daddy was a slob. I seriously don’t think he’s cleaned a day in his life. My brother, Shawn, was pretty messy, but Mama hoped that it was just a boy thing. She hoped that Layna and I would be clean, like her. Maybe if we were, there would be less headaches and arguments in this house. All three of her children were messier than little piglets. Someone had to pick up in the living room everyday to ensure that it would stay semi-decent. Daddy has a bad habit of dropping mail, his shoes, and leaving his coffee cups stacked on the tables.

I let out a sigh and wiped my forehead. Glancing over and seeing Dalton wiping his hands with a small towel, I gave a small smile.

I let out a small thank you as I walked to the laundry room and piled all of the clean clothes into a basket before taking them back into the living room. Dumping them on the couch, I began folding the large amount of laundry while Dalton flipped through the channels on our television.

I yawned, but continued to fold. Even though I complained the entire time I did my chores, Mama hardly had to tell me twice. Layna was more like Daddy. She would hardly ever do her chores and was always getting grounded because of it. Shawn was just as bad, but he moved out when I was ten so it was mostly him and Layna fighting over the workload.

I picked up a stack of my sister’s clothes and walked to the bottom of the stairs. “Layna!” I called up more than once.

There was a thump and about a minute later, a very exhausted Layna appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Did you fall?” I asked.

“Yes,” she mumbled as I started to laugh.

“Here’s your clothes.”

She rubbed her eyes and walked down the stairs to get the stack. Saying her thanks as she walked back up to her room, no doubt planning to sleep some more. It always annoyed Mama how much she slept, but Daddy said it was because Layna had anemia and it made her tired. Her door slammed shut and I walked back into the living room to find Dalton stretched out on the couch. I pushed him up, only to have his head fall in my lap anyway. We sat in silence while watching old cartoons.

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“Carys, get up,” Layna said as she shook me lightly.

“What? What time is it?” I asked groggily.

“Almost five.”

I nodded and let my tired brain slowly begin to work. Letting out a small gasp, I pushed Dalton off of me. “Shit! Dalton we’ve slept the entire day!”

Dalton snapped up, immediately awake as Layna smirked at us.

“Hurry up and get out, Dalton. If my dad catches you here, you’re dead,” she explained as he quickly ran out to his car, yelling that he’ll text me when he gets back to his place.

Ever since I turned thirteen, Dalton wasn’t allowed to go up to my room, stay over night, or be alone in the house with me.

“I don’t understand why Daddy won’t let him stay over here. We’re best friends,” I mumbled to my older sister.

She scoffed and pulled her hair into a ponytail. “Mama and Daddy were best friends too, but he got her pregnant at seventeen.”

I sighed. We never talked about Mama’s first pregnancy. She went full term, but had a stillborn baby. It broke both of their hearts and they apparently never wanted kids after that, but she got pregnant with Shawn when she was twenty-two. She let it slip that the stillborn was a boy, and they named him Wesley.

“Are you going to work?” I asked my sister as she grabbed her keys off the table.

“Yeah,” she answered, “I’m off tomorrow and was thinking that maybe we could drive into the city. I could help you with back to school shopping, if you want.”

I smiled lightly. We never got along before she moved, but something changed her while she was in New Orleans and she’s been an ideal sister. “That’d be great.”

Layna smiled and grabbed her purse. “I’ll be home around two, but since you slept all day you’re gonna be awake. Do you want me to pick anything up from the store and maybe watch some movies?”

I nodded. “Sounds great.”

She gave me a quick smile and called goodbye to me as she walked out of the house.

Standing up and stretching, I picked up my phone as it started to beep. I opened up Dalton’s message thread and rolled my eyes at the latest text.

‘Your lap is a good pillow.’