Fear gripped me as I forced the door to open. The light from the hall illuminated her small figure. She was standing in the middle of her room, clutching the sock puppet she slept with. I switched the lights on and went to go get her, letting out a sigh as relief washed over me. I stepped around the toys she had strewn across the room. "What are you doing Bee?" I cooed at her. She raised her arms in an attempt to be held. Feri stood in the doorway. Bimby the princess was pinned against his chest.
"Is she good?" he had the look of someone who fell down the stairs and ran back up. Her curly blonde strings of hair were matted down to her forehead. I nodded my head as she swung her arms around me. I watched Feri shift around. "I found Bimby," he helplessly held the stained doll towards Bee. She looked like he had offered her roadkill. She repeated the same babbling for a while.
"I get my food, yes I get my food." She was talking to the room, but it was a great take for me to feed myself.
"Maybe we should just get something to eat," He let bimby slide out of his hand and onto the carpet. "I mean we got to get to school, and find Dad." I started heading towards the hallway wanting to avoid his complaints. He let me past him. I tried to hurry to find a light switch with Bee trying to scramble up to my shoulder. It was a challenge to slide my hand along the bumpy cold paint with her clawing at me. I never felt Feri brush past me, but he switched on the lights, illuminating the small hallway and the pictures that hung on it.
"What were you thinking for breakfast?" He slid his hand along the wall until he reached the old squeaky door that led to the kitchen.
"I was thinking cereal," I said as I followed him into the kitchen. The kitchen had walls painted an egg color with obnoxiously bright green cabinets, the long table sat across the room, the kitchen almost always smelled like plastic, with the off chance of smelling of smoke. My father would usually be hunched over his breakfast typing away at something on an out of date laptop, but today he was nowhere to be found. I sat Bee down in her high chair, I made sure to push the high chair up to the table so I didn't have to put the tray on. Bee was babbling at me from the high chair as I climbed onto the counter. "Feri bowl or cup?" I had opened the dish cabinet to find only one cereal bowl, and a couple of those bank cups you get for free.
"Cup I guess," he said as he slammed the unbranded cereal onto the old wooden table. I turned on the counter letting my feet swing off, I threw the bank cup towards the table. "I got spoons but we need a plastic thingy for Bee." He set the cup upright on the table before turning to the fridge. He bent over into the open fridge swinging the milk towards the table with the drainboard spoons swiped from the counter, water still pooling off them.
"I got it Feri," I spread my legs wide enough to open the drawer between them. I pulled out a plastic baby bowl. He looked at his phone with a worried expression.
"We got like an hour to get all three of us ready, and find dad." He clicked off his phone and ripped open the bag of cereal.
"Maybe we could bum a ride from dad so we don't have to ride an hour surrounded by aggressive minors." I pushed the drawer shut as he mhhm'd me. "Can you catch it or do I need to get up." he held his hands up and I hurled it to him. The kitchen door creaked open as my dad stuck his head in. He threw it open the rest of the way and thumped his way across the kitchen. My dad, just like my brothers, is not a big man, kind of short and wiry. The only shirts I've ever seen him in are sweatshirts.
"How are my two triplets doing?" He asked, going over to the fridge to scour for some type of sweet snack.
"I'm doing as fine as someone who shares a room with Ami can be." Feri was shoveling food into his mouth as fast as he could. I flipped a rubber band at him from my perch on the counter.
"Dad, will you take us to school so we don't have to ride the bus?"
"If you get off of my counter I will." He ruffled Bee's hair and started talking at her as I slid off.
"Dad, have you heard anything from Jesse?" Feri was standing to put his dishes into the sink, leaving Be to put the odd bit of cereal in her mouth as she spoke. Dad went kind of quiet for a second before confirming that he hadn't heard a peep since we started living here last year.
"I'm going to go get my baby girl ready for the day, you two get ready for school you have like an hour and a half." He lifted Bee up and out of her high chair, carrying her down the hall and leaving us to our own devices.
"Well he wasn't very chatty was he?" Feri sighed glancing over to me standing awkwardly by the counter.
"He never is in the mornings."
"Or the afternoons."
"He's just kinda quiet I guess."
"Still kind of weirds me out though."
"Yeah me too."
"We better get ready before it's too late for a shower."
"You first, I gotta go find some clothes."
"You first.
"Go Ami it's your turn."
"Feri get in the shower."
"AFteR YOu."
"Feri I swear to god I'm gonna kill you, just go you crusty toe looking fuck."
"Ami quit bothering your brother and take a shower." He stuck his tongue out at me as he stalked out of the kitchen.
I hate it when he does that.