My Personal Hell, D. Richardson [ebook reader browser txt] 📗

maintenance. Ever tried to do yard work in long sleeves? Well, the shirt is basically ruined by the time you’ve gotten a couple of hours of work done.

As it was, here it was barely August and the nights were already getting chilly, while the days were moderate. So I had one long sleeve shirt. I would have to figure out how to get a few more actual t-shirts, things more suitable for the cold. I could probably just get a long sleeved over shirt that buttoned or something. I could still wear the other shirts and it would cover my back, and the colder temperatures.

I dressed quickly, when I had my new shoes tied, I stepped out of the room, and closed the door as softly as I could. I tested the air. I needed to find the girls and I had passed out before I found out where they were sleeping. And as weird as it sounds, I could smell them.

I can always smell them, it was just some weird way for me to find them when I needed too. I didn’t really question it, it was just something I could always do. And from what I could smell at that moment, they were close. I followed Kadi’s smell to a door caddy corner to the room I was in. The door was cracked slightly, and I peaked in. Kadi laid curled up on a small pink bed with her head barely peaking out from under the covers. She shifted slightly but didn’t wake.

Next I followed Lori’s smell. She was the next door down the hall from Kadi. I turned the knob softly and looked in. She was curled into a tight ball, but otherwise she was breathing evenly. I backed out closing the door.

Satisfied that they were okay, I went down stairs, still moving as quietly as I could. It wasn’t really a conscious thing, I was just used to doing it. I made it to the kitchen and it was empty. I guess these people weren’t early risers. I looked around the kitchen not sure what I should do.

By now I was already done with mine and the girls’ breakfast, but the last time I tried to cook I got yelled at. But I couldn’t just stand here doing nothing. Nothing was just not my thing. So I did the only thing I knew with certainty that I could do. I set about making breakfast.

I did a mental count of all of the people I had seen the day before, and sighed. This was going to take a while. I looked in the refrigerator to find that it was fully stocked for a large house. Again I sighed, but this time in relief. I grabbed everything out and set it out on the counter.

I did another mental count, but this time to see how much of which I would need. All of the men here were large so they would eat a lot. But at the same time every one had different tastes. Some people didn’t like bacon, while others didn’t like sausage or ham. The only way to be sure was to make it all.

So that’s what I did. The kitchen was actually very well set up. Either Becca knew what she was doing, or I was unnaturally good at finding my way around a kitchen. I was leaning towards the former. I almost laughed when I came across the hidden cabinet filled with junk food and sweets. Yep, definitely knew what she was doing. You don’t have a lot of kids without finding your own hiding spots.

The pots and pans were high quality, and everything was easy to use. When everything was almost done, I started the coffee. It was the largest coffee maker I had ever seen. Everyone in this house must drink it. Luckily I didn’t have to measure out the coffee. In the drawer right under the coffee maker were separated packs of ground coffee that I just had to put in the filter.

I set the table, and had just put all of the different types of food in the middle of the table, when the coffee finished. The smell made my mouth water. I hadn’t had coffee in so long.

I was just putting the syrup, butter, and a bowl of shredded cheese on the table when they all started showing up. Drake and Becca were first, closely followed by Asher, and Adrian. The rest followed closely behind with Lori and Kadi trailing. I stepped back, fully prepared for a tongue lashing for cooking. The girls came over to me.

“What is that heavenly smell?” Drake asked. He rubbed his eyes. It looked like he had just jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes. His button up was crooked as he had missed a couple of buttons. He put his hands down and caught sight of the table. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.

Becca stepped passed him and surveyed my work. She lifted her head and took a deep breath through her nose. Her eyes turned to the full coffee pot and she sighed. She looked to me as the girls stuck close.

“You’re lucky you remembered the coffee,” she grumbled as she ambled over to it. She filled her own cup, pulling some creamer from the refrigerator that I had missed. I made a mental note to remember where it was, so I wouldn’t forget it again. She filled a second cup, and handed it over to Drake, as he sat at the head of the table.

“This is…something else.” Drake said as he stared at the food. But regardless of what he thought he leaned forward to fill his plate. I had everything from fried eggs to scrambled. As well as, pancakes and cinnamon French toast, and everything in between. Aaron stepped into the room, as everyone else just continued to stare.

“Wow, Mom whose birthday is it?” he asked surveying the breakfast buffet. She shrugged as she started to fill her own plate, starting with the French toast.

“Ask the cook,” she said, nodding her head at me. Aaron turned to look at me, but dropped his eyes quickly.

“Is that cinnamon?” Camilla asked, taking the seat two down from her mother. I nodded but no one was really paying attention. Except for the girls who were still standing close to me.

“Why didn’t you wake us? We could have helped you,” Lori whispered to me. I shrugged keeping an eye on the group who were one by one getting their own plates.

“I didn’t know where you were.” I whispered back. Both of them gave me the look. The look that said they knew I was lying, even Kadi. It was their way of promising me that they would ask me again later. I glanced up to find several of them watching us. I couldn’t let them know about my odd way of finding people. With Lori and Kadi it was unavoidable. You can’t live that closely with people and them not figure it out.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Jen asked, staring at us. There were three empty chairs sitting on the other side of Camilla, with Aaron sitting on the other end of them. The rest of them, though with their mouths full to varying degrees, looked at us expectantly. I turned to the other girls and they just looked lost. We weren’t allowed to eat with the Others. I shrugged at them and we went around the table. Lori sat next to Camilla, and I took the seat next to Aaron, which left Kadi the seat between us. I grabbed her plate first and started to fill it.

Normally we just ate a simple egg sandwich, or plain scrambled eggs with toast. But since we were eating with them anyway, I filled her plate with as much as I thought she could eat. A couple pieces of bacon, one piece of sausage, a large scoop of scrambled eggs and a torn up piece of toast later, and I was reaching for the cheese bowl.

“What’s the cheese for?” Aaron asked. I sprinkled the cheese on her scrambled eggs so he could see what I was doing. I mixed it in until the cheese was melted, then handed Kadi her plate. Her eyes widened and she picked up her fork hesitantly. “That looks gross.” Aaron said as I started my own plate.

When I had my own cheesy eggs made I put a little bit on his plate for him to taste. He stabbed it with his fork and the eggs stuck together. He popped it into his mouth, and his eyes widened. Then he lurched forward for the eggs and cheese. He sprinkled the cheese on his eggs, but didn’t mix them. He took a bite and his face fell.

“I don’t think I did it right.” He mumbled. I felt sorry for him. I couldn’t help it, he just looked so sad. So I reached over and put a little more cheese on his eggs then took his fork and mixed it together. When it was all melted and mixed evenly I gave him his fork back, picking up my own.

“Where did you get that idea?” Drake asked with his fork halfway to his mouth. I shrugged, but knew he would want a better answer than that.

“I used to really like it when I was a kid.” I told him softly. He nodded, and thankfully, continued eating. It was actually kind of surprising that they hadn’t heard of it. I thought everyone knew the wonders of cheesy scrambled eggs.

“So school starts in three weeks, have all of you gotten what you need yet?” Becca asked, as she took a drink of her coffee. There were a few grumbled yeses, and I looked around. They were all only half way done with their meals. While me, Kadi, and Lori were already done. I stood and to take my plate to the sink with Kadi and Lori following.

“Oh, Mom, I still need to grab a few things, and I was wondering if I couldn’t do more shopping for a new wardrobe.” Jen asked.

“Yeah, me too.” Camilla chimed in.

“Cause we all know you two don’t have a whole store’s worth of clothes in your closets.” Adrian mumbled. Earning not one, but three horrified gasps. I turned to see Becca looking just as offended as the teenage girls.

“Some of my clothes don’t fit anymore. Besides, those are all last season. We need to keep up with the fashion. Do you want us to get laughed out of school?”

“It’s hardly that drastic.” Asher put in. For some reason Drake gave him a pained expression. A second later I knew why.

“Of course it is! Just because you have no fashion sense doesn’t mean the rest of us have to be as drab as you!” Jen yelled. I looked at Asher, taking in his appearance. He wore a simple black t-shirt, blue jeans, and combat boots. I couldn’t tell if he was wearing any kind of necklace or anything, his back was to me. But his long hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the back of his neck.

I didn’t think he looked bad. He didn’t look dirty or anything. I looked down at my own clothes. A plain black long sleeved t-shirt, with blue jeans and tennis shoes. I didn’t think it looked bad. I looked up when Drake cleared his throat. He was looking at Jen, and bent his head in my direction. Jen looked at me, taking in my clothes. Her mouth made that comical O shape.

“Oh! Uh, it’s not that I don’t like black or anything. It’s fine if you can pull it off. And I mean, of course you can. It’s just that, you know, I just like color more,” she stammered.

The rest of the table decided that they were suddenly interested in what I was wearing. I felt several eyes giving me the up down thing. Drake got that pained look again, while