🎶 “And she came to me from the sea.” 🎶

I was in my bedroom singing with my headphones on, as usual. I was also working on my history assignment. I usually did more than one thing at a time. It's just the way my brain works.

That’s when I looked up and gasped. “Don’t touch that, Gemi!” I jumped up from the floor and grabbed my 13 month old niece as she was reaching for my mug. It was at the edge of my desk, and full of pens and pencils, sharp things.

It would not be good if I let her get hurt again.

“Can you please watch Gemi while I run to the store?” Mom had asked.

“Mom! I’m working on my homework,” I complained.

“I won’t be gone long, should be back in an hour.”

“Alright, but can you bring me some of her toys?”

“Thank you! But really watch her this time. You are still on probation, young lady.”

“I will,” I promised.

That’s what I said last time.

I really didn’t mind watching Gemi. She was so cute. But she was a handful, very curious, always getting into everything. I had arranged her favorite toys around her. Last time I checked, she was playing with them.

I guess she got bored.

How long since mom left? My phone said 7:45. When did she leave? I had a hard time keeping track of time. I was nearly finished with my homework, so she should be back soon, I hope. I put her back with her toys and talked to her about how fun they were. She smiled, grabbed her plastic keyring and started chewing on it, with lots of drool on her chin. She was teething too.

Sitting next to her, I went back to my homework. The next song was playing on my headphones.

It didn’t take me long to finish. So I put it in my backpack for tomorrow. When I looked up Gemini was gone again.

Oh no! Where was she now? How did she get away so quickly?

Oh, I found her in my closet, chewing on one of my shoes. Ew, germs!

I yelled and grabbed it away from her. She started to cry and threw herself back on the floor, with a loud thud. Then the screaming started, what a set of lungs!

At least I had finished my homework. I stopped my music, took my headphones off and picked her up with a big hug.

“I’m sorry for yelling, sweety. I love you, but you can’t chew on shoes. I don’t want you to get sick.” She didn’t stop crying but at least she wasn’t screaming now. “You smell ripe. Let’s go find something good to eat, right after you get ready for bed.” Looking at the clock as we walked out of my room, it was 8:10, already past her bedtime. I took her to Hen’s room, where her changing table was.

Hen, really Henny, is my older sister, Gemini’s mother. She would not tell me who the father was, but I knew anyway. Flinn Horn was the slime bag she had been hanging out with a while ago. She liked to party a lot. Actually, she still does, just not with him. Henny dropped out of school once it was obvious she was pregnant. Now she worked at the Greasy Pig, when she wasn’t partying with her friends.

I didn’t see her much.

Gemi had stopped crying while I changed her diaper and dressed her in her nightie. I took her to the kitchen, put her in her high chair and fed her some apple sauce, which she really likes. Once we finished and cleaned up, I took her to her crib in Hen’s room.

I read her favorite book to her.

“Time to go to sleep,” I said as I tucked her in. She started crying again, but it was a game she played every night. After I reassured her that everything was okay, I turned off the light as I left the room and closed the door. She was asleep soon after.

Where was mom? Shouldn’t she be home by now?

I heard the front door open, so I went to check. Oh no, Dad’s home.

“Keyva, where’s Jen?”. He was too loud and drunk, again.

You should know that my dad is a hard worker, but he is gone a lot. Being a logger, he has to stay near the job site much of the time. And when he is home he often volunteers as a firefighter. So we don't see much of him either.

“Dad, please be quiet,” I hissed. “I just put Gemi to bed. Mom is at the store. She should be home soon.”

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He stared at me. “Shopping again?” He was angry, but tried to lower his voice, sort of. “That woman spends every cent I earn.”

She works too! Now I was angry, but I couldn’t say it out loud, especially in his condition. Dad was a very strong man and fiercely loyal to his family, but he also had a drinking problem. He frightened me when he was like this, but he had never hit me, or Mom, as far as I knew.

“Your brother and sister are no better,” he said, “always broke, spending everything they get.” My brother, Jace, was a car mechanic, but moved out last year. Hen took over his room, which finally gave me a room of my own.

After a long pause he said, “You be smarter.” I could only nod.

He growled and turned on the TV to the sports news. Thankfully, he lowered the volume.

I went back to my room and got ready for bed. With my headphones on and my music playing, I picked up my guitar so I could sing and play along. I wasn’t very good, but music helped me calm down.

Not long after, I was sure I heard yelling from the living room. I think the baby was crying too, but it was best to stay away. I fell asleep with my headphones still on, but had to wake up later and take them off.

At least it was quiet by then.

The next morning, I woke up with my alarm and got ready for school.

“Thank you for taking care of Gemi and putting her to bed last night,” Mom said as I walked in the kitchen. She was making waffles and bacon, which smelled delicious. Mom is a great cook. Well, at least I love what she makes, even if it may not be restaurant quality.

“Smells great,” I said. I put a waffle on my plate, and added some butter and syrup. She brought me two slices of bacon and sat down with me to eat.

“I’m sorry I got back so late. I had to go to several stores, so it took me longer.” She didn’t talk about the argument, but I was glad for that.

After we finished with breakfast, we headed to school together. Since mom is the Physical Education (PE) teacher (and girls coach) at my school she takes me with her. She has to be there early, but I’m okay with that. I just hang out in her office, reading or working on homework until I need to go to my first class. After school she usually brings me home, unless she has to stay late. I walked home when I needed to, but it took a while, since we lived several miles away.

You may be wondering about Gemi. Hen takes care of her during the day. They usually sleep in since Hen gets home late. She takes Gemi to the neighbor, Mrs. White, if she needs to leave before one of us gets home from school.

As I walked to my locker I stepped on only the colored tiles, often having to hop to reach them. It’s something I have to do. I don’t know why, but if I don’t do things a certain way, it drives me crazy. I also have to hum as I walk. Those things used to bother my parents. They even took me to a shrink for a while, but that ended very badly. We don’t talk about it any more.

“There goes cottontail, hoppin’ down the bunny trail,” I heard as I got to my locker. I looked up to see Ashlie and her cronies giving me a smirk and giggling. I looked down and didn’t engage. They turned to walk away but her friend Macie bumped me hard as she passed, knocking me into some lockers.

“You shouldn’t let them pick on you.” I turned to see a tall boy looking at me from across the hall. I think his name is Elijah. The blood rushed from my head, and I quickly looked away. I went to my locker, praying he would leave. When I finished exchanging books, I turned to head to my first class. Thankfully, he wasn’t there any more.

As I got to my homeroom class, I had to touch each desk as I made my way to mine, near the back.

“Ew, she touched my desk!” a boy named Hank yelled as I passed him. Kids around the room laughed, but I ignored them, as I always did.

After roll call and announcements, we had some time to work on what we wanted. I had finished my homework so I got out a library book to read. It was a mystery set in medieval Ireland.

I felt someone grab the back of my shirt and pull. I felt my bra strap get yanked and then snapped back hard, stinging my back.

“Ouch! Hey!” I yelled. Turning around I saw Mitch with his head down in a book. Everyone in the class turned to look at us. I felt my face get hot with anger and humiliation. I looked for the teacher, but she must have stepped out, no help there. I turned back to my book, hoping everyone would just ignore me. But I heard some snickering.

I just wanted to disappear.

My next class was English. Why do we have to study our own language? I'd rather study Samoan, the language of my father's ancestry, but that is not taught in school, at least not here in Green Lake, California.

The teacher is Mr. Heyborn. He has a mustache and wears a toupee. He won't admit it, but everyone knows. His toupee is sticking up strangely on the left side of his head. I don't know why he doesn't notice.

It bothers me so much, like I have ants crawling all over me when I can't do anything to brush them off. There is no way I can concentrate.

“Miss Leota?” I hear my name. “Can you tell us why that is wrong?”

What was wrong? What was the question? What was he talking about?

“Ah, sorry. I can't.”

“That surprises me,” he said. “You had no problem with gerunds on the quiz, if I remember right.”

Gerunds? Were we talking about verbs or nouns? I didn't dare ask, so I just looked down at my desk. Please ask someone else, please, please. I heard a snicker.

After a long pause he finally asked another student.

I was a good student. At least I tried hard, but my grades didn't often match my expectations, nor my mom's. Just don't call on me in class.

Don't ask me what the rest of the class was about. At least I copied down the homework assignment from the board before I left.

The rest of the day was pretty normal. I had a lot of fun in PE. My mom was a good teacher. And she was much harder on the boys than us girls, thankfully. I guess she just expected them to do better. Yes, our school is small so gym class was coed. We often did different activities than the boys, but not always. Today we played coed volleyball. My team won more games than we lost, so it was good.

As I was leaving the gym, Mom stopped me to let me know she had to stay late for a staff meeting. I told her it was fine and that I would walk home.

“Don't take too long,” she said with a smile and a hug.

“I won’t,” I promised.