Chapter 6

“Eve! We’re going to be late!” Dad shouted up the stairs. I could hear the sound of his hands impatiently drumming against the railing beside him from upstairs. I groaned as I struggled to multitask, trying to shove in my gold-hooped earrings, get a shoe on, and shove Ellie out my window simultaneously.

“Go,” I grumbled quietly, giving her a push to her back. Ellie scoffed, glancing back at me with sleep-hooded eyes. Sundays at my house were always rather chaotic. Mom always attempted to be put together and wake everyone on time, but it never ended up as she wanted. Instead, it usually ended in a lot of rushing and yelling and silent threats from Dad’s glare.

“I’m going,” Ellie grunted. She swung her legs off the ledge and grasped the branch of the tall Oak tree. She plopped herself down and turned to look at me as she scaled the tree. “See you at church.” She hummed.

“Bye-bye- I’m coming!” I bid Ellie and called to my Dad in a hasty panic. I shoved the earring in and slipped on my flat as I rushed to my door. I flung it open and began down the stairs before abruptly turning around. My long, floral dress swished around my ankles as I walked back to my room and snagged my purse off the door handle. I skipped back down the stairs and into the living room where everyone was gathered. “I’m ready, I’m ready.” I panted, smoothing down the front of my dress.

Dad looked at me and gave me his infamous glare, a squint of his brown eyes, and a purse of his lips that showed off his wrinkles. I wanted to roll my eyes, but I did not dare.

“Let’s go. We’re late enough,” Dad muttered. He opened the white-painted front door that squeaked on its hinges due to its old age. The house had been passed down from his great-great-grandmother or something. Dad said it was a ‘relic.’ “And Eve, you spray the pews.” He added.

“But I did it last time!” I complained, trailing beside him, dragging my feet. We had to disinfect the pews with this spray because Mom was freaked by germs. I was as well, though. She passed down many of her…things to me. Mental illness, disease, or whatever you want to call it. Dad called it an infection. I thought that was a mean word, but yet no one said anything.

“You’re the reason we’ll be late, so, spray duty,” He said plainly. It was a question, rather a demand. There were no further words spoken, I just dragged myself down the gravel driveway and pulled open the door to the family car. Ivy climbed in first and Kaylee respectfully second, in the middle, like the order of our birth—that and the fact Kaylee’s legs were much shorter than mine. I got on the end and closed the door, sighing as I placed my purse on my lap. I fooled with the zipper tassels, rolling them under my fingers as Dad started the car. The engine stuttered and revved, but it got there.

“Seatbelts, girls.” Mom reminded us from up front in her soft-spoken voice. Ivy groaned and tugged the thing over her, struggling with the buckle and shoving Kaylee away. Kaylee pouted and looked away dramatically, her seatbelt already secured over her chest and waist. Her red hair whipped as she turned her head, the white bow tied in her hair fluttering. I buckled my seatbelt as well, staring down at my lap.

“For the sake of your mother, be good.” Dad sighed as he put his arm behind Mom’s seat to pull out of the driveway. We all knew he meant for the sake of him, though, and the sake of us at his hand.

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“Stupid spray,” I muttered to myself. I walked down the aisles and sprayed down each of the pews before everyone arrived, the bottle spurting occasionally when it got jammed. Mom watched me anxiously, rocking on her feet and biting her lip – the ones that were always cracked and dry, and the ones Dad carried chapstick in his back pocket for. He and Mom were so very different and somehow they still ended up together. Madly in love, mother called it. I believed it, too, unfortunately.

Ivy and Kaylee sat up on stage as they each fiddled with the microphone. Kaylee would laugh and giggle and the sound would echo as Ivy tapped the cover. When I was finished with the ‘punishment,’ I trudged up the steps to where my sisters were and tucked the spray onto the shelf where Mother kept it.

  “Thank you, dear,” Mom said softly. She suddenly appeared behind me causing me to jump, looking at her with wide eyes as she laughed, a sweet sound from her lips. She and Ivy laughed similarly, in the way they smiled and their eyes crinkled, and the similarity in sound. Even right next to them, you couldn’t tell which of them it was unless you paid close attention. They talked similarly, too. Mom tilted her head, her bright blue eyes attentive. Her auburn hair – now nearly brown in her older age – flowed over her shoulders and along the blue dress she wore.

  “You scared me,” I laughed, despite the fact that much was obvious. “You’re welcome,” I murmured. I walked over to join Ivy and Kaylee in their mischief. Mom smiled as she watched me go, her hands clasped in front of her. Ivy didn’t pay me much attention as her nimble fingers fiddled with the mic and the mechanics of it. She was a music person, and Dad would probably cry if he saw the records she hid behind her cupboard. I recalled once when we listened to them all night as Mom and Dad were away on a trip. Kaylee cringed at the vulgar language as Ivy and I laughed and giggled at her. Kaylee wasn’t a music person, and she’s a total suck-up to Dad.

“Alright, girls, down. There are already people here, go take a seat.” Father’s booming voice cut through our fun as he walked up the steps. Ivy’s hand dropped from the knob and Kaylee jumped down from her stool, sauntering to the stairs. I glanced back at him and followed Kaylee and Ivy down the steps, each of our feet light on the carpeted stairs. “Ivy, be a doll and open the doors if you would.” He added as he opened his Bible on the podium.

“Be a doll, Ivy,” I mocked, assuming he couldn’t hear.

“Eve.” Dad said sharply. I went quiet, looking to the ground as Ivy smirked and shook her head in silent amusement.

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