Nelly Sid
2011-06-30 15:22:35 UTC
Beth and Me
Chapter One: Beth
“Well, if it isn’t Timothy Logan.” said Beth, as I climbed into her first-story bedroom window.
“Sorry I woke you up.” I said to her. “The Brothers were bullying me.”
I had three neurotic older brothers: Michael, Alex, and John-Evan(J.V.). They were sixteen-year-old triplets, and J.V. was the oldest by three minutes. That’s how he became the leader of their gang, which they called The Brothers. They usually chose me as their punching bag, because, hey, who can’t take down a lowly sixth grader?
“It’s okay.” said Beth, going to her closet, and pulling out an extra comforter.
“Hey!” I exclaimed, “I wasn’t going to sleep here tonight! I just came to hang out, to escape The Bros!”
Beth grinned slyly and tossed her curly red hair over her shoulders. “But if The Brothers see you running from my house, their suspicions that we’re “together” will be confirmed.”
“Shut up, Beth.” I groaned. “I’ll stay.”
Honestly, sometimes I’d wondered how I could put up with her.
Suddenly, we heard footsteps thumping down the hall. We both froze. Then, Beth turned to me and chucked a comforter in my general direction.
“Get under it!” she whispered urgently.
I threw the blanket over my head and dropped to the floor, blending in with the other sheets Beth had thrown to me. I heard the footsteps come closer, and hoped that this wouldn’t be the time I would be caught here. I heard a shuffle from the bed, and assumed Beth was in it.
“Pea!” she softly cooed.
I slowly stuck my head out from under the sheets. The footsteps had entered the room, and Beth was holding the maker of them. It was Pea, her St. Bernard. I pulled the comforter off of me and sat up. “Thank goodness your parents aren’t up yet.” I said, relieved that it was just her dog.
“Yeah.”
“Well,” I said, breaking the silence “I should get to sleep.”
I fashioned a sort-of bed in the corner with some of the sheets and comforters while Beth took Pea back to his bed in the kitchen. I climbed into “bed” and covered myself in a zebra-print blanket, and by the time Beth had come back, I had already drifted into sleep.
When I woke up at seven that morning, Beth was already up, brushing her hair and staring at me. “Morning, weirdo.” she said, “We’re leaving for school in ten minutes.”
I gasped.
“What’ll I do?” I said, now fully awake, “I don’t have my toothbrush, or anything to wear, and your mom will freak when she finds out I’m here!”
“Relax!” Beth laughed, “It’s Saturday. You know, you look even cuter than usual when you’re worried.” she observed teasingly.
“Thanks.” I muttered, collapsing back and closing my eyes.
“Don’t go to sleep, doofus!”
“Why?” I moaned.
“There’s so much we could do today! If you just snore the whole day, you’re missing a Saturday full of fun!”
I groaned, thinking.
“Now that you put it that way...” I said, “You’re right.”
Beth smiled, her pink braces glinting happily in the morning sunlight.
“I’m always right.”
“Right.”
That evening, I got home after a day exploring the woods for talking frogs. As soon as I burst through the rickety back door, I knew something was wrong.
Ma was sitting at the round kitchen table, and her usually smiling blue eyes had lost their sparkle. And only two of The Brothers were sitting there with her: Michael, and J.V. Alex was probably out with his girlfriend, though. The strangest thing, though, was that Dad wasn’t there. His arm wasn’t around Ma’s fragile shoulders, protecting her from the horrors that lay within her.
Ma needed Dad, because she wasn’t right in the head. She got frightened from the most innocent things, like a butterfly whizzing by. Ma had horrible spaz attacks, too, in which she would “see” us die. Dad was always there to save her from that. So why wasn’t he there?
Ma stood up and sadly walked over to me. She took my hand in hers.
“J-jon.” she stuttered “Gone. Gone. Car. And Alex, too. My son, Alex.”
I froze.
“Ma.” I whispered, “Are you sure? Dad and Alex? They’re--dead?”
“No, dumbo.” I jumped when J.V. spoke. “They’re in the hospital. They’re not dead, but the doc says they’re in critical condition.”
“Ma!” I choked out, trying to convince myself more than her, “They won’t die. Don’t worry.”
“Not worrying.” Ma replied shakily. “To car. Go see my son and Jon.”
“Yeah, Ma.” said Michael. “Let’s go visit them.”
“I’m not coming.” I said, surprising myself. “I’m going to Beth’s.”
Surprisingly, none of the guys teased me at that moment.
“Okay.” Ma began began to enter her own little world. “Good-bye. Don’t be gone.”
“I’ll drive.” I heard J.V. say as I went out the back door.
Sniffling, I ran down the familiar path to Beth’s house.
I didn’t bother to check Beth’s window to see if she was there. I knew she’d be eating dinner in the kitchen. I leaped over the rail onto the porch, and pounded my fist into the door, ignoring the doorbell.