Freeing Carter

Chapter Four

This is my perfect chance to mess with Kira, and I don't intend to let it pass me by. "Me? I think it's the other way around. English, Art, the basketball court, and now my mom's store? You know I have a girlfriend, right?" A girlfriend I'm mad at, but still.

"Carter!" Mom gasps, but Kira is smiling. Somehow I knew she'd be okay with the joke.

"I'm teasing her, Mom."

Mom shakes her head, but she's smiling too.

"Well, now I'm not sure I can get a job here. I'm already in charge of keeping you awake—"

Please don ' t say in English. Please don ' t say in English.

"—when you're supposed to be practicing. Not sure I can handle it at work, too."

Thank you, Kira, for saving my ass! "Nah, if you're here, that means I don't have to be. You can work, I'll sleep. I like that deal."

" I'm pretty sure she wasn't talking about you sleeping on the court, Carter." Mom's eyebrows rise. Busted.

"What? I'd never fall asleep in school. Nothing like a quality education." I smile at Mom and walk behind the counter with her. These are my favorite times, where she's not just Mom, but she's also not guilty Mom. She's Sara's mom and in these times, I can almost forget about the rest of it.

"Sure. And I was born yesterday." She pats my cheek.

"So, how was your first day of practice?" Kira asks. "Are you brushing up on your skills so I won't mind going to the games?"

I cock my head at her, trying to figure out why it gives me a rush that she asked about practice. It's a joke; I know she's playing off what I said to her yesterday, but I like it.

Before I can reply, Sara comes barreling over, wrapping her arms around Kira. She once did the same thing to Mel, who froze, not knowing what to do. Kira hugs Sara back.

I don't have time to keep comparing the two because then Sara is reaching up. "You're pretty. I like purple. I want purple hair." She touches Kira's braids.

"No, no," Mom says to Sara. At the same time, I reach over the counter.

"Just because I'm allowed to pull your hair, Twig, doesn't mean you can touch other people's hair without their permission."

"I don't mind." Kira turns to Sara. "I had red in it last time. What do you think I should do next? Too boring to keep the same style for very long."

Yeah. Yesterday she looked like she belonged in the 60's in a rainbow bus and with a name like Springwater, and today she's wearing a school girl outfit. Not that I noticed or anything.

"Orange!" Sara claps, jumping up and down.  She's so happy I have to look around to make sure there's not a purple dinosaur here.

"Orange?" I ask. Orange hair doesn't sound very appealing.

"What's wrong with orange?" Kira counters.

Oh, she wants to play this game, does she? I'm in. "Nothing. But why stop with mixing in? I'm thinking you should go all orange. That would be pretty, wouldn't it, Sara?"

Sara nods so hard I'm worried her head might fall off.

Kira doesn't flinch. "Orange it is."

The bell over the door rings. Mom slips around the counter. "I'm so glad your mom came today. I'm excited to have you on board, Kira. We'll see you soon."

Mom walks over to help the customer and Kira with her purple hair and school girl skirt is right behind her. "Catch ya later, Sleepy," she tosses over her shoulder and just like last time, she's gone, leaving me with the want to catch up with her.

***

"No! Mommy, Carter! Help!"

I'm already scrambling out of my bed, tripping over a shoe in the dark before Sara can yell again. I tear my door open and jog down the hall to her room. Mom's already there, rushing to Sara's side.

"Mommy! Carter!" she yells again. I get a twinge in my chest, dropping to the floor by her bed. Mom has Sara pulled into her lap, shushing her, but I can't help but touch her hair too, just so she knows I'm here. Even if she had her glasses on, her eyes are full of too many tears for her to see.

"Hey, Twig. Shh, it's okay. I'm here."

Sara's had bad nightmares like this her whole life. We're not sure why. They take a lot out of her. She wakes up scared something's after her...or something's after me, and it always takes half the night for us to calm her down.

"Closet." She grabs Mom's neck tighter.

"There's nothing in there, Twig. You're my little sister; no one will mess with you because they know I have your back." Still, I get up to investigate the closet. Sara gets a little smile on her face, but has her death grip on Mom, who reaches for Sara's glasses and puts them on her.

"Here, I better grab this just in case." I grab a purple blow-up bat, holding it in one hand like it's a weapon, and then pulling the closet door open with the other. "See? Nothing there."

"In the back."

With my air-bat at arm's-length like I'm scared to get too close, I push the clothes around. "Nope...nothing there."

"Just a bad dream, baby girl," Mom whispers against Sara's forehead.

She makes me look under the bed and behind the curtains just in case. Once my hunt for bad guys is over, Mom says, "It's late, Carter. Why don't you go to bed? Sara, you want to sleep in Mommy's room with me?"

Bed sounds better than anything right now.

"No, no, no. Carter, Carter!" Sara says. I try not to groan because I really need a good night of sleep after the couple days I've had.

"You want me to sleep with you, Twig?"

I get one of her big, head-fall-off-her-shoulders nods.

Her bed is a twin and it really sucks to try to share a twin bed with a little sister. "Scoot your butt over."

Mom looks up at me. "You can go to bed, Carter. We'll be okay."

I shake my head. Mom gets up, bringing Sara to the bathroom while I crawl into her bed and pull a Barney blanket over myself. After they're done, Mom tucks her into bed with me. "Straight to sleep, you two. There's school tomorrow."  Sounds good to me.

We're quiet for a few minutes and I hope this will be a rare night Sara falls asleep quickly. My eyes won't close though. I keep them on the door, seeing Mom in here with her. This is why Mom would never drink when Sara's home. She'll always be ready to take care of my little sister whenever she needs it, which is what really matters to me.

"Story," Sara whispers.

"Can't sleep?"

Her head shakes against my shoulder. Another groan tries to crawl up my throat, but I push it down. I grab a few books out of the basket by her bed, along with the flashlight she keeps on her table. There's a nightlight, too, but it's not bright enough for me to read. "Don't tell Mom or we'll get in trouble." Which is a lie since Mom keeps a monitor in here, so I know she'll hear us anyway. Sara tries to reply, but it's one of her too-happy-to-speak-mumbles.

And, of course, it's a Barney book, but I don't care. I read her six of them until she finally falls asleep.

***

"Do you have plans after practice today?" Mom asks as I shovel a bite of Cookie Crunch into my mouth. Whoever the genius is who thought of turning chocolate chip cookies into cereal is my hero.

"I don't think so. What's up?"

"I have to go see your grandfather tonight. I didn't plan on it, but one of the nurses called me. She wants me to come in and talk to her."