top of the bookshelf Indigo is above her perched in the rafters like an owl The dinner table is completely overturned The dinner is on the floor Dishes and mashed potatoes and lentil curry are everywhere And in the middle of it sits Mom clutching her ankle Her face is twisted with pain Mom What happened I ask Where were you I told you I needed help with the twins Did they do this I’m suddenly so angry I want to break something But it looks like there’s nothing left to break I turn toward the rafters and shout Indigo Did you do this Violet was trying to catch me he says quietly He’s not crying or anything but I can tell he’s upset As bratty as they are the twins love Mom I turn to Violet Mom was trying to catch me she says Neither of you should have needed to be caught I yell Why can’t you just settle down 6
It’s all right Blue Mom says It’s not all right I shout They’re not chimps They need to start acting like human beings But we’re not human beings Violet says sweetly Enough I bellow making her twitch The bookshelf wobbles under her Enough of your fantasies Look what you’ve done I’m furious now I know it’s partly because I’m worried about Mom But I’m also really mad at the twins for always being so wild For taking up all of Mom’s time All of her attention For the first four years of my life it was just me and her We were doing great I had started preschool Mom was studying She was going to go back to work Then these two lunatics came along and ruined everything Including tonight’s dinner Indigo swings under the rafters and seems to float down to the floor Violet jumps from the bookshelf and lands as softly as a cat They stand in front of me holding hands 7
We’re sorry Blue they say together I want to rant at them some more but Mom whimpers as she tries to get up Can you stand I ask I don’t think so she says holding her ankle again I think it’s just sprained though Take the phone up to the road Call Mrs Chen She can drive us to the clinic We’ll get pizza in town The twins start to cheer but stop when I glare at them You two I say grabbing Mom’s phone If you don’t clean up this mess by the time I’m back They both open their eyes wide But I can’t think of any way to threaten them And I don’t really want to They might be monsters but they’re annoyingly cute And I can’t help but love them If you do clean this up by the time I come back I say instead I’ll read you the first chapter of The Hobbit Then the little brats do cheer 8
Chapter Two It turns out Mom’s ankle is broken It’s just a hairline fracture But it is enough to make Indigo and Violet calm down for a few days I think they are actually ashamed That’s progress Truth is I’m ashamed too If I hadn’t been hiding in the woodshed the accident would never have happened I’m paying for it too Even though Mom got a walking cast she has to take things slow The twins 9
