Off the Field

Chapter Eleven

Hola! It's officially Christmas break since yesterday whoohoo!! And all my siblings are coming home, I'm so happy. Hopefully I'll have loads of time to write over this break - these past 2-3 weeks have been SO busy and horrible and yuck - but now I'll have some time. My friend got me this really good book on writing and it's inspired me, so yay! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and please comment and let me know what you think! Do you like the plot? Is it moving too slow? Is it seeming like, what's the point here? I need to know these things.

Gracias! <3 vb123321

Chapter Eleven

After dinner Sunday evening, I tried to duck out of the house to run over to Mal’s, but my mom caught me.

“Danny!” she called sweetly. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

I paused in the doorway of the mudroom. “Um, no?”

“It’s your night for the dishes, dear.”

Of course it was. Exhaling in annoyance, I came back into the kitchen and looked forlornly at the stack of dishes covering the counter. My dad always said he never wanted to see my mom doing dishes, not after she worked so hard cooking the meal, and since I was the oldest home, I was usually stuck doing them.

“I swear it’s Caleb’s night,” I protested, but my brother had already disappeared. Funny how quickly the kids vanished when there was work involved.

“It’s not that difficult to do the dishes,” said my dad impatiently. “Jack never used to complain when he had to do it on your night a few times.”

Well, naturally he hadn’t. Jack wasn’t capable of complaining, was he?

I could sense the usual lecture about dishes coming, so I just rolled my eyes and grumbled, “Fine, I’ll do them. Whatever.”

“Thank you, honey.” My mom gave me a smile as she said to my dad, “Let’s go for a walk; it’s so nice out. Danny’s got the kitchen under control.”

Scowling, I turned on the tap to fill the sink with water as my parents got on their shoes and put Mo in the stroller before leaving for their walk. I popped open the dishwasher and started loading all the cups with ill grace. Just as I was wondering if I should call Mal, the back door opened and she strode in.

“Hey, I was just going to come ask you something,” I said, grinning.

“I’m actually a mind reader,” she informed me, kicking off her sneakers. She wore running shorts and a ratty cross-country tee, both of which looked pretty damp, and her brown hair stuck to a sweaty headband.The sound of my dog’s feet clicking on the floor came down the hall as she padded into the kitchen to greet Mal, who gave her a hug.

“Hi, Harley,” she cooed, scratching her ears. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“It’s been, like, a week,” I said, rolling my eyes.

Mallory looked over at me and said, smirking, “Look at you working. What’d you do to get grounded?”