The Hours We Have

chapter eleven

It was a rainy Saturday morning. 

Mikeal had left early this morning without saying a word. I knew he often worked weekends for overtime pay but I wasn't aware he was working today. I supposed he didn't have enough time to pause and actually communicate with me. I had given him my share of money for the electricity bill this month and he had looked stressed then. 

I wondered if he had something going on that I didn't know about. It wouldn't have surprised me but I wished he would just talk to me. I mean, we weren't as close as I was with the twins, but we were still siblings. That had to mean something, even if we had lost the meaning of family. Besides, as far as I knew, Mikeal didn't really have friends, just coworkers, and us. 

I hadn't seen Ezra leave but I discovered his room empty when I made my morning round for waking the twins up. I was scrambling some fresh eggs when I heard the front door open and close. I glanced around the wall and I didn't see anyone, so someone had left. I furrowed my brows, why was everyone leaving? 

"Whatcha making?" Julian's groggy voice made me turn. He slumped into a chair at the counter and rubbed his sleepy eyes with a long yawn. He wasn't usually a morning person. "It smells good." 

"Just scrambled eggs," I answered, stirring them around in the pan so they didn't stick, "Who just left?" 

"Roman," He yawned again, "Said something about meeting with friends, I dunno." 

I hummed. "I guess it's just the two of us then." 

His hazel eyes sparkled with a grin. "That's not a problem, more for me!" I smiled a little. It was kind of funny that we all seemed to have different eye colors. Mikeal was the only one who inherited our father's blue eyes. Ezra and I had characteristically dark brown eyes like our mother, and the twins were in between with matching hazel eyes that sometimes had a touch of green. 

"How's school been going?" I asked casually, dishing the steaming eggs onto two plates. 

Julian groaned. "It's Saturday morning, can we not talk about school? I'd rather listen to nails on a chalkboard." 

I set a plate down in front of him, chuckling, "Okay. But I'm still waiting for your report card, didn't you get it last week?" 

His eyes suddenly stuck to the plate, refusing to meet mine, "Uh... yeah about that. I kinda lost it." I rolled my eyes and sat down next to him with my own plate. I sprinkled some shredded cheddar cheese over my eggs. 

"No, you didn't," I replied nonchalantly and scooted the bag of cheese towards him, "Come on, your grades can't be that bad." 

"They're nothing like yours." 

I paused, "Don't say that, it's not a competition." 

"I guess," He shrugged and that was all he said. 

We ate in silence after that and I watched the steady rain beyond the kitchen window. In a way, it was peaceful. There wasn't any thunder or lightning and it seemed like the world was sleeping beneath the darkened sky, waiting to spring back to life when the sunshine came out. Julian placed his empty plate in the dishwasher and then he headed into the living room. 

I grabbed the pan off the stove and placed it in the sink. I froze when I saw something dark and hairy quickly skitter across the drain. A spider. I jerked my hands back, clutching them to my chest, and then I spun around to fly into the living room. Spiders were creatures from the very depths of hell and I would probably be scared of them forever. 

Julian was flipping through channels on the television. I simply walked over and grabbed the sleeve of his shirt. "What?" He frowned up at me, "What's gotten into you?"