My So-Called Family

by Courtney Sheinmel

  “We’re okay, Mom,” Avery said.

  “Good,” Lori said. “I don’t have time to help you anyway. I have to pack because Dad and I are going away for the weekend.”

  “You’re going away?” Avery asked.

  “Uh-huh,” Lori said. “Some bigwig from Dad’s office decided to invite us to his country house in East Hampton. I’m betting we were invited because another couple canceled, but you know Dad—he never turns down an invitation to mingle with those corporate guys. I know it’s the last minute, so I hope you’re okay with it. I already talked to Chase, and he said he’d keep an eye on you.”

  “Mom,” Avery said. “I’m practically fourteen. I don’t need Chase to keep an eye on me.”

  “Fine,” Lori said. “Then you can keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t have any wild parties or burn the house down. Also, we have those tickets for the Broadway matinee of The Lion King tomorrow, so you can each bring a friend. Chase is bringing Lizzie, of course—don’t tell your father.” Lori turned to me. “Have you ever seen a Broadway show?” she asked.

  “No,” I said. “We just moved to New York. I saw a couple plays in Baltimore, though.”

  “Well, now Avery has an extra ticket for you,” Lori said. “Trust me, there’s nothing like a show on Broadway.” I hoped Avery wouldn’t be upset that her mom had invited me to use the extra ticket. Maybe she’d wanted to bring Brenna or Callie. Lori said she’d be upstairs packing if we needed her.

  “So can you come?” Avery asked.

  “I think I’m free,” I said. “Is that okay?”

  “Yeah, of course,” Avery said.

  “I’m free too,” Charlie piped up. “Do I get to go? The Lion King is my favorite!”

  “I thought Willy Wonka was your favorite,” Avery said.

  “They’re both my favorites,” Charlie told her.

  “Well, you’re lucky because you get to watch them both when we get home,” I told him. Sometimes the best way to deal with kids is to distract them. I knew if I mentioned watching the movies, Charlie would forget all about the play.

  “Will you watch with me?” he asked.

  “Sure,” I said. “Now help me put the chocolate chips into a bowl.”

  “Oh, cool,” Charlie said. I opened the bag and handed it to him. He poured the chocolate chips in slowly and carefully. He spilled only a couple and I let him eat the ones that didn’t make it into the bowl.

  When Charlie and I got home that evening, we carried a package of fresh-baked cookies. They were still warm from the oven, and I could feel them through the tinfoil as I carried them into the house. “I think they’re still gooey,” I told Charlie.

  “Can I have one?” he asked. He’d already had three cookies plus a few chocolate chips back at Avery’s house.

  “You’d better ask Mom and Dad,” I told him. Even though I call Simon by his first name when I’m talking to him, I call him Dad when I’m speaking to Charlie.

  “Mom! Dad!” Charlie called.

  Mom and Simon told Charlie he’d have to wait until after dinner for another cookie. I went upstairs to drop my backpack in my room and get started on my homework. I know it’s kind of dorky, but I like to at least get started on my homework on Fridays so I’ll have more of the weekend free. I pulled out my math notebook. There was enough time to finish my math work sheet before dinner.

  Later on, when Mom called me for dinner, I picked up the letter from Charlie’s teacher that I’d stuffed into my backpack and headed downstairs. There was a box of pizza on the table and paper plates instead of our regular dishes. Mom never cooks when she’s on a deadline, which is fine with me since pizza is one of my favorite meals. “Don’t get too used to this,” Mom said. “My book is almost done.”

  I sat down in the same chair I always used. Right when we’d moved in, I’d claimed it for myself. It’s the chair that’s positioned kind of in the corner of the room, up against the back wall. If I tilt my head in the right way, I can see the screen of the television in the next room, and no one can even tell. Sometimes Mom and Simon forget to turn it off, and then I can watch TV while I eat, although I have to be careful not to look like I’m watching TV. Technically I’m not allowed to watch TV during a family meal. Now I could see The Lion King movie playing in the other room. Charlie must have started watching it without me.

  We each took a slice of pizza, and Mom reached over to help Charlie cut his into bite-size pieces. “You guys got a letter from Charlie’s teacher,” I said. Since Mom’s hands were busy, I handed it to Simon.

  “What’s it say? What’s it say?” Charlie asked, bouncing up and down in his seat.

  “Settle down,” Mom told him. She slipped a piece of pizza into his mouth. “So?” she said to Simon.

  Simon read the letter to himself. “Chuck,” he said. Simon’s the only one who calls Charlie “Chuck.” “It looks like this month is Family Month at school and your class is going to do a big project on families.”

  “I know,” Charlie said. “Mrs. Trager told us. First I have to interview you and Mom, and then I have to interview Leah, and then I get to make a big poster of the whole family. It’s called a family tree. Each person is a branch.” Charlie held his arms out like a tree. “Like this. I’m a branch. Isn’t that funny?” He threw his head back and laughed. Mom says he has the deep-throated laugh of her father. I remembered Avery saying Charlie looked like a little man.

  “You’ve got two branches there,” Mom said. She traced her fingers along each of his arms, and then poked him in the belly. “And a trunk,” she added.

  “How many branches on my family tree?” Charlie asked.

  “Well,” Simon said, “there are four for us. And then Grandma Diane and Grandpa Willie, and Uncle Eric and Aunt Amy and all your cousins.”

  “What about my other grandma and grandpa? Do they get branches even though they’re dead?”

  “Yes,” Mom said. “Grandma Leah and Grandpa Izzy get branches too.”

  I pictured Charlie’s tree in my head, with all the branches from Simon’s side of the family on one side of the trunk, and all the branches from Mom’s side of the family on the other side. I was glad I didn’t have to make that kind of thing when I was in kindergarten, or else it would have been a lopsided tree. Things like that would always be easier for Charlie, and I was jealous. I bet he would never have to worry about his family being normal.

  “Are you going to help me with the poster?” Charlie asked Mom.

  “Leah can help you,” Mom said. “She’s a much better artist than I am.” It’s true. Mom may write well, but she never illustrates anything she’s written. She says she’s just not creative that way. But drawing is one of my favorite things to do.

  “Oh, yeah,” Charlie said. “Leah will help me.”

  “Oh, yes,” Mom corrected him.

  Charlie turned to me. “Can we start tomorrow?” he asked. “Daddy can take us to buy poster board. Right, Daddy? It’s Saturday, so you don’t have work.”

  “Sure thing, Chuck,” Simon said. “And we can get started on those interviews, too.”

  “I could interview everyone at the family reunion!” Charlie said. Simon’s family always has a big reunion in the spring. There are a lot of people in the Ross family, and they all sit around on picnic benches and pinch all the little kids’ cheeks. Simon’s brother wears a big chef’s hat and barbecues about a thousand hot dogs and hamburgers. Then all the cousins run around and chase one another, and Mom says how fabulous it is to be married to Simon and be a part of such a big and wonderful family. Of course I’m supposed to agree with her about that. But the truth is that I don’t really like going, since Simon’s family clearly likes Charlie more than they like me. After all, he’s Simon’s real kid—the one they’re actually related to.

  “Well, the reunion’s not for a few months,” Simon said. “But you can interview everyone over the phone. You know how Grandma loves to talk to you on the phone.”

  “U
h-huh,” Charlie said. “And then Leah and me can make the poster tomorrow.”

  “Leah and I,” Mom said. “And yes, you can.”

  “Except I’m busy tomorrow,” I said.

  “What are you doing?” Mom asked.

  “My friend Avery invited me to a Broadway show tomorrow,” I told her. “Her parents can’t use the tickets, so I’m going with Avery and her brother, Chase. He’s driving us into the city.”

  “Is the show at night?” Simon asked.

  “No, it’s during the day,” I said. “Her mom said it was a matinee.”

  “So you’ll be home for dinner?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I think we’re going out for dinner after the show.” Actually, I hadn’t even thought about dinner, but I figured it was safer to tell Mom and Simon that I wouldn’t be home.

  “I don’t know about this,” Mom said. “You barely know your way around Riverdale. I’m not sure I want you wandering around Manhattan.”

  “Mom, please,” I said. “We’re not going to wander. Chase’s going to drive us straight to the theater. He’s a senior and he’s a really good driver.” I had no idea what kind of driver Chase was, but I didn’t think Avery’s parents would let Chase take the car if he were a bad driver.

  “What do you think?” Mom asked Simon.

  “I think we should let her go,” Simon said. “As long as she’s home before curfew.” I never had a curfew when we lived in Baltimore, but then again I’d never gone into a major city without my parents or other grown-ups around.

  “So, what’s my curfew?” I asked.

  Mom and Simon said they would have to discuss it and they would tell me in the morning.

  The next morning Mom and Simon told me I could go as long as I was back in Riverdale by nine thirty. “I don’t care if you hang out at Avery’s house after that, but I don’t want you guys in Manhattan so late,” Mom said. “That should give you plenty of time to go to the matinee, get an early dinner, and drive back to Riverdale. Deal?”

  “It’s a deal,” I told her. “Thanks.”

  “And you’ll take your cell phone? And you’ll call when you get there? And you’ll call on your way home?”

  “Yes, yes, and yes,” I told her. I would have agreed to just about anything because I was so excited—my first trip into Manhattan without my parents and my first Broadway show all in one day. Simon handed me forty dollars and told me to have fun. I went upstairs to get ready. Chase and Avery would be on their way to pick me up soon.

  chapter four

  I wanted to wear jeans, but Mom said since I was going to Broadway I should try to look a little nicer. She thought I should wear a skirt, but we compromised and I put on my black pants that stop just above my ankles, and one of my nicer-looking T-shirts. I went back downstairs to wait for Avery. Mom followed me down and kept reminding me to take my cell phone and call her when we got into Manhattan. I heard a car pull up outside and then a horn honking. “I bet that’s Avery,” I said.

  “I’ll walk you out,” Mom said. I think sometimes she gets so used to Charlie being a little kid that she thinks of me as one too.

  “I don’t need you to walk me out, Mom,” I told her. “I’m not a baby.”

  “I know, I know,” she said. “I just want to make sure you’ll be home by nine thirty.”

  The horn honked a second time. “I’ve got to go,” I said. “I’ll tell them about the curfew and I’ll call you later. I promise.” I pecked her on the cheek and ran out to the car. It was a sports car, and Chase had to get out of the driver’s seat and move the seat forward so that I could squeeze into the back with Avery. The music was blaring—much louder than anything Simon or Mom had ever played in the car, and I knew it was better that Mom had stayed inside. I could see her peeking through the window in the front hall, but at least she couldn’t hear anything.

  Avery introduced me to Chase and Lizzie, who was sitting next to Chase. I noticed that everyone was wearing jeans, and I wished I were too. Avery had sunglasses pushed to the top of her head like a headband. Mom never likes me to wear my sunglasses like that because it stretches them out and then they can fall off when you’re actually trying to wear them as sunglasses. “By the way,” Avery said, “next time you see my mom, don’t mention we took the sports car. We were supposed to take my mom’s sedan.”

  “I love this car,” Lizzie said.

  “My father loves it too,” Chase said. “It’s his midlife crisis car.”

  “Do you think there’s a chance he’ll let you take it to college next year?” Lizzie asked.

  “Only if I’m at Yale,” Chase said.

  “Oh, forget Yale,” Lizzie said. “I hope this year lasts forever. I don’t want to even think about you being at Yale next year.”

  “You’re the one who brought it up,” Chase said. He reached over to turn the music up even louder. Lizzie turned away from Chase and looked out the window. We pulled onto the highway.

  I could see the clock on the dashboard from the backseat. It said 2:14. “The play starts at three, right?” I asked. I had to talk louder than usual because of the music. Simon had told me it takes about a half hour to get into Manhattan from Riverdale. But then we’d have to park the car and walk to the theater and find our seats. I hoped we wouldn’t be late. I’m the type of person who’s always on time for things.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Avery said. “There’s been a change of plans.”

  I was about to ask what she meant when Chase said, “That’s right. We’re going to Lizzie’s aunt’s house instead.”

  “How come?” I asked.

  “Because she’s not home,” Lizzie said.

  “But what about the play?” I asked.

  “Oh, come on,” Chase said. “It’s The Lion King. Do you really want to see it? It’s practically a cartoon.”

  “No,” I said, “I guess not.” I didn’t say it out loud, but The Lion King is one of the movies I actually like watching with Charlie.

  “What if your mom asks about the play?” I whispered to Avery. Well, it wasn’t really a whisper; it was more like my regular voice that sounded like a whisper over the music.

  “It’s no big deal,” Avery said. “We’ve all seen the movie, right?” I nodded. “Well, how different could it be?”

  Simon was right about how long it takes to get to Manhattan. We got off the highway, and Lizzie turned the music down so she could give Chase directions. “Make a left on Eighty-sixth Street and then a right on Lexington. Now make another right. There, it’s the building there on the right.” We had to drive around the corner a couple times to find a parking spot, and then we walked back around the block to Lizzie’s aunt’s building. There was a doorman out front and a sign that said ALL VISITORS MUST BE ANNOUNCED. I thought maybe he wouldn’t let us in since we didn’t live in the building and Lizzie’s aunt wasn’t home for him to announce us to, but he smiled and tipped his hat when he saw us coming. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite visitor,” the doorman said.

  “Hey, Larry,” Lizzie said.

  “Your aunt’s not home, you know,” Larry said.

  “I know,” Lizzie said. “I have the key.” She pulled a ring of keys out of her pocket and swung them like a hula hoop around her finger. Larry held the door open for us, and we walked into the building. Lizzie pressed the button for the elevator.

  Now that we were officially in Manhattan, I knew I had to call home and check in, but I felt kind of dumb about it. After all, no one else seemed concerned with checking in with their parents. So when we got upstairs, I went into the bathroom and called Mom from my cell phone so no one would see me and I wouldn’t feel like a baby. The answering machine picked up and I left a quick message that we’d made it into Manhattan and that I’d call again on our way home. I flushed the toilet and washed my hands even though I hadn’t really used the bathroom, and then I walked back out into the living room. Avery was sitting on an ottoman. Chase was sitting on the floor with hi
s knees up, and Lizzie was on the couch with her legs outstretched, her feet resting on Chase’s knees. I sat down on the other side of the couch, wondering what we were going to do now that we were there.

  “I’m starving,” Chase said.

  “Okay, I’ll check out the kitchen,” Lizzie said. She lifted her feet from Chase’s knees. I watched him absently reach out and pat her ankle as she walked past him. A few seconds later she came back out. “There’s absolutely nothing to eat,” she said. “I guess they threw everything out before they went away. But we could go out and get something to eat if you want.”

  “No, that’s all right,” Chase said. “How about a tour of the rest of the apartment?”

  I started to get up but Avery stayed seated, and I realized we weren’t invited. Chase trailed behind Lizzie, and after a few seconds I heard a door close down the hall. “Well, I’m still hungry,” Avery said. “I didn’t even eat lunch. Did you?”

  “I ate at home,” I said.

  “I think I’m getting my period,” Avery said. “I’m starving even though I feel bloated. Do you have yours?”

  “Not right now,” I told her.

  “I meant, do you have it at all?” Avery asked. I nodded. The truth was I had only gotten it once, a few months ago. I wasn’t even sure it really was my period because it was just spotting. It didn’t even look like blood—it was more rust-colored than red, and it only lasted a couple of days. Mom said it could take a while before I actually got my period regularly, but she bought me a box of maxi pads to keep in my bathroom just in case. So far I hadn’t used them.

  “We could go out and see if there’s anything to eat,” Avery said. “You could get a snack or a soda or something.”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “What if Chase and Lizzie come out and can’t find us?”

  “We’ll leave a note,” Avery said. “We won’t be gone for too long, and they’ll be in there for a while. Anyway, I can’t think of anything better to do. Can you?”

  I knew Mom and Simon probably wouldn’t have approved of Avery and me walking around Manhattan, but I couldn’t think of anything else for us to do either. Besides, we were teenagers. I had been allowed to walk around our neighborhood in Maryland on my own, and I’d been allowed to walk around in Riverdale on my own. Avery didn’t seem to think Manhattan was any different. “You’re right,” I said. “Let’s go.”