the floor and kicked them around with his foot.
âWe have to make it look lived in,â he said. âWeâll just turn out the lights and . . . Supperâwe didnât clean up after supper! The kitchen is still a mess! We have to clean it or Mom will kill us!â
We rushed to the kitchen. There were dishes everywhere. Weâd figured weâd have plenty of time to clean up sometime between getting home and getting to bed. We hadnât figured on not getting home until two in the morning.
Jack filled up the sink and rubbed the cloth against a small piece of dish soap. I frantically started scraping the plates off and tossing them into the water.
âIâll wash, you dry and put things away,â Jack ordered. âWipe down the counter and the table.â
I grabbed a cloth from the sink and started to follow his directions, beginning with the table. I wiped part and then moved dishes to the sink, returning to wipe down another section. Soon both the counter and table were clean, so I took a tea towel and started to dry part of the growing dish pile. Weâd never cleaned up so fast. Jack finished scrubbing out thecasserole dishâMom had made us a casserole for supper and all weâd had to do was heat it up. He then took a broom and began to sweep the floor.
âWe donât usually sweep up,â I said.
He looked at me, then the broom, and shrugged. âYouâre right. Iâll help you finish that up, and then we gotta be in bed before Mom comes through that door or weâre dead. Sheâll have old lady Henderson sitting us starting tomorrow.â
Jack hadnât meant that as a threat but it certainly made me move just a little bit faster. Jack had gotten another tea towel and pitched in. Within a minute I was drying the last of the cutlery and dropping it into the drawer.
âGreat, now letâs get upstairs andââ
The door burst open. âBoys, Iâm home!â Mom called out.
We were dead.
Mom rushed over and to my complete shock threw one arm around me and the other around Jack, pulling us close to her. My eyes caught Jackâs. He looked as surprised as me.
âIâm so sorry, boys! It wasnât my fault Iâm so late. You must be worried sick!â
âWe knew there was trouble with the bus,â I said.
âYou did? How did you know that?â
âUm . . . I . . .â Of course there was no possible way I could have known.
âWe figured it must be trouble with the bus,â Jack said, jumping in to rescue me. âYou know how youâre always saying how broken down it is?â
âYes . . . I guess I have mentioned that a couple of times . . .â
âSo is that what happened?â Jack asked.
âYes, butââ
âI told George that was all that happened. He didnât believe me, but I told him not to worry, that youâd be home soon.â
âI thought youâd both be frantic,â she said.
âCome on, Mom, Iâm fourteen and in charge. There was nothing to worry about,â Jack reassured her. âI tried to send him to bed, but he was too worried, so thatâs why weâre still up. Thatâs okay, isnât it?â
âThatâs all right,â Mom said. She gave me a little kiss on the cheek and then did the same to Jack. âI thought youâd be worried, especially after I wasnât able to call you on my break like I always do.â
âWe were so busy cleaning up the kitchen that we didnât even notice you didnât call until later,â Jack said. âYou know thereâs nothing to worry about as long as Iâm in charge.â
âYou really are the man of the house,â she said, giving him another kiss. âNow, I think itâs time that all of us got to bed.â
We said our goodnights and then headed for our bedroom. I snuggled down into the sheets while Jack turned off the
authors_sort
S Mazhar
Karin Slaughter
Christine Brae
Carlotte Ashwood
Elizabeth Haydon
Mariah Dietz
Laura Landon
Margaret S. Haycraft
Patti Shenberger