Chapter 9
It was a little after nine o’clock on Sunday morning, and Jalen was in the kitchen cooking breakfast for her sisters. She could hear the twins playing in her bedroom, where she’d ushered them when they’d woken up about an hour ago, to allow Mikal to sleep in a bit later.
From what she could tell, they were the only two of her siblings up. Though Kodi often woke up and simply lay in bed for a while on some weekend mornings.
Jalen was currently placing pieces of bread into the toaster. The oatmeal and sausages were already done. While she waited for the toast to finish, she took out a carton of orange juice and six cups as Landon walked into the kitchen.
“I’ll pour the juice,” she volunteered, taking the orange juice carton from her.
“Thank you,” Jalen responded as she fixed plates for everyone. “So, how was your date last night?” she then questioned. All of her siblings had been asleep when she’d gotten home last night, so she hadn’t had the chance to ask her.
“It was good,” Landon responded. “Kodi didn’t embarrass me. I forgot she was there until it was time for us to leave.”
“You mean when I popped up as he was trying to kiss you?” Kodi questioned as she rounded the corner into the kitchen with a smirk on her face.
Landon groaned exasperatedly. “He kissed me on my cheek.”
“Which would have been all lips if I hadn’t popped up on you.”
“I’m not a kid, you know,” Landon told her, placing the juice back into the refrigerator.
“Correction. You are a kid,” Kodi responded with a smirk.
“You’re a kid too,” Landon countered.
“She’s got you there,” Jalen threw in, placing oatmeal on everyone’s plate.
“Just barely, so it really doesn’t even count,” Kodi informed them. “I’m going to go get the others for breakfast.”
“So, he wanted to kiss you,” Jalen stated.
“I…he…it was on the cheek!” Landon squeaked out, and Jalen laughed lightly.
By the time all of her sisters were at the table, she was bringing the last plate over. They all sat down and blessed their food before eating.
While they ate, Mikal talked about how another science project was coming along and how excited she was to present it when it was due.
The twins talked about their birthday, which was coming up at the end of October.
Kodi spoke about preparing for the first ACT test she would take at the beginning of November.
She had signed up for a few prep sites and was aiming for a high score so she could get a scholarship.
Jalen knew she could do it. Even if she got a partial scholarship, she would do whatever she had to in order to ensure her little sister could attend college.
When they were finished with breakfast, Kodi and Mikal loaded the dishwasher and cleaned the kitchen. Jalen had a bit of homework she needed to finish and figured she could get it done while she left her sisters to their own devices for a while.
She had been doing her homework for a little over an hour when there was a knock at the door. She was about to get up when Kodi came down the hallway, stating that she would get it since it was more than likely for her.
A few seconds later, Jalen watched as a teenager walked into their living room.
She had seen her once before, but she didn’t remember her name.
She assumed the girl was there for Kodi to do her hair.
The young girl greeted Jalen, who smiled and responded before her little sister led her into the dining room and pulled out a chair.
When she finished her homework, she looked over and found that Kodi was a third of the way finished with the other teenager’s hair. It seemed as if she was simply braiding it with extra hair added in.
Taking her schoolwork back down the hall to her bedroom to put it away, she stopped and checked on the twins, who were playing school with their stuffed animals. When she walked into her bedroom, she found Mikal lying across her bed on her stomach, reading a comic book.
“The twins being too noisy for you?” she questioned, putting her books away.
“No,” Mikal responded, turning the page. “I was acting out in class, so they sent me to the principal’s office.”
Jalen laughed, knowing that her little sister had purposely “acted out in class” so she wouldn’t be forced to play with their youngest siblings.
Going over to the bed, Jalen tucked her feet beneath her. “What comic are you reading?”
“Umbrella Academy,” Mikal responded. “You want to read it with me? I don’t mind starting over.”
“Sure,” Jalen responded, patting the spot next to her.
Mikal moved over and handed Jalen the comic book. She was sure that when her sister asked her if she wanted to read it with her, she meant read it to her. Though Mikal was ten, she still enjoyed Jalen reading to her, and often listened to the bedtime stories she read to the twins.
Jalen flipped back to the front of the book as Mikal lifted Jalen’s left arm to shimmy underneath it and lay her head on her shoulder.
“Don’t forget to do the voices,” Mikal told her, and Jalen nodded as she began reading the comic.
????????????
Rohan watched his mother pace back and forth in his living room. She had shown up five minutes ago, and he could immediately tell that something was bothering her. That she was currently pacing meant that whatever it was had her stressed for some apparent reason.
He mildly wondered how he’d gotten so lucky as to be the one she was going to use to rant to.
The only conclusion he came to was that he lived closer than his older brother did.
Bringing a handful of the popcorn he’d been eating during the movie he had been watching to his mouth, he tossed it inside.
The sound of him chewing the snack must have brought her out of her haze because she swung around to look at him.
“I’m having a crisis, and you’re eating popcorn,” his mother stated incredulously.
Rohan lifted a brow at her, swallowing the kernels. “Well, considering I have no idea what said crisis is, since you didn’t tell me when you walked in, I’m not sure how you expect me to help.”
His mother gave him a look as if he should have been able to read her mind, but it soon deflated. He assumed she realized how ridiculous and unrealistic that seemed.
“You remember Howard, my neighbor, right?” his mother questioned, and he nodded as he ate another mouthful of popcorn. “Well, somehow, I have a date with him tonight.”
“What do you mean ‘somehow’? You either agreed to a date or you didn’t.”
“I was on the phone when he asked me while I was coming out of my house. I answered yes to the person I was talking to, and he took that as me saying yes to him.”
“Then why didn’t you just tell him you were on the phone and weren’t answering him?” Rohan questioned.
“Because,” his mother groaned out, and it was in times like these that he wondered if he was actually the parent. “He looked so happy when he thought I was talking to him.”
He rolled his eyes, placing his bowl of popcorn down. “Then it looks like you’re going on a date.”
“But I don’t want to,” she told him, sitting down on the couch beside him and picking up the discarded bowl of popcorn.
“You act like he’s a terrible guy? What’s the harm in going out with him once? You could probably use a night out.”
“First of all, just because you’re dating right now doesn’t mean that everyone else aspires to follow in your footsteps.” She placed a handful of popcorn in her mouth. “Second, he’s my neighbor, which means if the date is bad, I won’t be able to just avoid him,” she stated around her mouthful.
“And what if the date goes well?”
“Again, I’m not looking to date, and besides, I’ve given up on men. I think if I got back in the dating game, I’d play for my team.”
“Well, you’re going to have to do something, because it sounds like either way, one of you is going to be miserable.”
“I don’t think I’d be miserable; I just don’t want to go.”
Rohan sighed. He really wished that she had gone to his brother with this problem.
At the very least, he wished she had more female friends she could talk to about things like this.
Not that he minded talking to his mother about her problems, but sometimes it was very clear to him that she needed another female perspective on it.
He’d thought about signing her up for one of those friend apps he’d seen popping up left and right, but decided against it.
“Maybe if I stay here and wait until after work tomorrow to go home, he’ll have forgotten about it.”
“Really, Mom?” he questioned, causing her to shrug as she placed more popcorn into her mouth.
“That would just be putting off the inevitable. Go over to his house and tell him that your agreeing to go out with him was a misunderstanding and that you aren’t ready to date.
Hell, you can even tell him you’re a lesbian if you want to. ”
His mother swallowed as she nodded. “Yeah, that actually may work. I mean, he knows I have children, but it’s never too late to declare your love of—”
“Vagina?” Rohan questioned, cutting her off with a smirk.
It was now his mother’s turn to roll her eyes. “I was going to say, women. Because who doesn’t love women?”
He watched his mother finish his popcorn, placing the empty bowl back on the table. She leaned in and kissed his cheek before standing and heading out of his living room.
“Good talk, son,” she threw over her shoulder, and a few seconds later, he heard the front door open and close.
Shaking his head, he grabbed the empty bowl and went into the kitchen.
He made more popcorn before heading back into the living room to finish his movie; he made himself a mental note to call his brother and tell him that the next time their mother had what she called a crisis, it would be his turn to handle it.