The Dome Chronicles: Lies

Three

Once we get all of the kids across the crosswalk and into the main parking lot, I realize that I forgot where we parked. 

“Well, that’s just great,” I mumble. 

“Forget where we parked again?” Peyton asks, as if this is a regular everyday occurrance.

“Yeah, wha----how did you know?” I turn around and see her holding onto one of the rings, with a smirk on her face.

“Freaya, I’ve known you for a looong time. I just know these things.”

I frown. “You’ve known me your whole life.”

“Exactly.”

“And why are you holding onto the ring? That’s only for the kids, you know,” I say with a slight chuckle.

Peyton shrugs. “I don’t know, so I don’t get lost. But apparently that isn’t doing me any good, because you ended up getting us lost, anyway. In a parking lot.” 

“Stop being so dramatic, I didn’t get us lost. I just lost the minibus.”

“Wait, isn’t that it over there?” Toby interrupts our argument by pointing to the left. Sure enough, there it is a few rows over.

“aHA! Thanks, Toby.” I yank the rope a little so the rest of the kids follow me to the left. This morning put a kink in their sleep schedule; usually, they are out of bed at 8:00 at the earliest. Frankly, I’m surprised that none of them fell over on the walk back out to the bus.

I pull out the keys and unlock the minibus. As if that was their cue to let go of the rope and sprint toward the bus at full speed, many of the kids do just that, and nearly get hit by a passing car. 

The car screeches to a halt, but the kids barely even notice. I start jogging behind them, and give an ‘I’m sorry’ wave to the car that nearly killed my siblings. The driver just gives me a mildly dirty look and keeps driving once we get to the other side of it.

“What did I tell you guys about letting go of the rope?” I yell as soon as I have all the kids in my sight.

“To not to,” Tauren says mockingly. 

“I don’t need your sass right now, Tauren.” I let out a puff of air and run my hands through my hair, as I do about seventeen times on a daily basis. Ever since my mom was put on bed rest, I have been solely responsible for helping out with the kids, and frankly after these past couple of months I’m not sure if I want to have my own.

“Okay, change of plans; I’m not going to lecture you here, I’ll do it on the bus. Everybody get on. Now.” I unlock the bus and open the doors, and all of the kids file in one by one.

Toby and Peyton help me strap everybody in and then promptly sit down themselves, a smidge of fear in their eyes.

I walk back up to the front of the bus, close the doors, then turn the air conditioning on and turn to face my siblings. I can tell by the scared looks on their faces that they know what’s about to go down.

Taking a deep breath, I look down at the floor and clench my fists. Why are my palms so sweaty all of a sudden? “As your older sister, I try to be rational. I try to be understanding. I try to be...not mean. But when one of you does something like letting go of the rope in the middle of a busy parking lot, then it becomes really hard.” I gradually glance back up at my siblings, all of whom are staring at me, mouths closed.

I’m about 99.9% sure that has never happened before.

“All I’m trying to say is, mom and Nicholas raised you guys to respect your parents and older siblings, so when you do something like that, it makes us feel...feel as if we’re not respected and that hurts our feelings.” I nod and sit back down in the drivers’ seat, feeling as if I’ve made a valid point.

The ride home is silent for the most part, because some of the little kids have fallen asleep. I don’t blame them. I’m starting to get tired myself, but that’s mainly Peyton’s fault.

Ten minutes later, I pull into the garage and put the van in park. When I look at the backseat, almost everybody is asleep, including Peyton. Toby is playing on his phone silently, and Tauren and Ronan are sitting next to each other, whispering quietly. I take a second to get used to this eerie silence, because there is a good chance this might never happen again. When my mom and Nicholas bring the babies home, I’m going to wish I could turn back time.

I make my way back to where Toby’s sitting and tap him on the shoulder. 

He looks up from his game. “What?”

“Can you help me get the kids and bring them inside?”

He puts his phone back in his pocket. “Yeah, sure.” He squeezes past me to grab Devyn, and I go the other direction to wake Peyton up. 

“Rise and shine, sleepyhead.” I shake her gently. I see her twitch and let out a deep sigh, so I know she’s awake; she’s just ignoring me.

She groans. “Five more minutes.” 

“I need to get the kids back inside, so...no. I’m not giving you five more minutes. Go grab Charlotte and bring her inside.”

Peyton opens her eyes slowly, and uses them to give me an “I’m not happy you interrupted my peaceful slumber, but I guess now I have no choice but to wake up and act like a civilized human” look.

I slap her on the shoulder. “There we go, that’s the spirit! Up and at ‘em!”

She stands up slowly and glares at me. “You’re currently not on the top of my good list, just so you know.”

“It’s not even close to bedtime, though!” I shout after her. “It’s not even noon yet!”

“It’s always naptime if you try hard and believe in yourself!” she yells back as she picks up the sleeping Charlotte and descends the steps of the bus.

“Peyton, that doesn’t make any sense.” I start to unbuckle Faith from her carseat, and she opens her eyes slightly. 

“It doesn’t have to,” she responds as she enters the house through the garage. 

“Hey there, girl. Whaddya say we go get some lunch, hmm?” My sister perks up at the idea of having lunch, and I grin. A girl after my own heart.

I grab her hand and lead her off the minibus, double checking to make sure nobody was left behind. I don’t want to accidentally forget a kid and give my mom the idea that I can’t babysit my siblings. Every time my mom has a baby, Nicholas pays me to watch them while they’re in the hospital. It’s a pretty sweet gig, and one that I don’t want to lose if they have any more kids.

Hopefully that won’t happen. 

Once Faith and I are off the bus, I close the doors from the outside and shut the garage door before entering the house. Everybody’s still pretty tired, so they’re all just lounging around, waiting for me to come in and make them lunch. I get Faith settled in her chair and then wander into the kitchen to see if we have anything worth eating. 

Hmm, let me see here. A couple gallons of milk, mustard, a bag of shredded cheese, ketchup, some pickles, barbecue sauce, sour cream…

Why do we have so many sauces? 

I start to move things around, hoping I can find something resembling a meal. All I find are a few cans of pop and even more sauces. 

Okay, backup plan. I shuffle over to the pantry and find a pack of five boxes of mac and cheese, a few bags of chips, some crackers, and multiple boxes of cereal, among other things. 

I decide that I’m going to stand there until somebody taps me on the shoulder and says, “Freaya, I’m hungry.” 

Not even ten seconds have passed before this happens, except the one who taps me on the shoulder isn’t who I expected. 

“Hey Freaya, what do we got to eat?”

I spin around on one heel and find Toby standing there, with serious eyes and a blank face.

“Mac and cheese,” I respond, and grab about four boxes. “Can you get the milk and the butter?” 

He groans. “Why do I have to do that?”

“Because you made the choice to come into the kitchen and ask me what we’re having for lunch, and if you really want it that bad, you’ll help me make it.”

The next twenty minutes consist of Toby and I working together trying to find a pot that’s big enough to make twelve servings of mac and cheese while simultaneously making sure our siblings don’t kill each other in the next room. That sounds morbid but it’s also very possible.

We end up finding two decent sized pots that will be able to hold two boxes each. I fill both pots half full with water and set them on the stove, turning both burners on high. How did I get to the point where making lunch was the most exciting part of my day?

I look behind me, and realize that everything has since gotten suspiciously quiet. I scootch back into the living room to check on the kids, and find them all snuggled up on the couch, watching a movie. Smiling, I walk back into the kitchen, knowing that everything is under control.

A thought occurs to me while I’m waiting for the water to boil. Not only is watching water boil currently the highlight of my week, but I’ve come to the realization that it may be the highlight of my year. I’m a teenager; why am I not doing teenager-y things?

I should be going to movies, hanging out with my friends, maybe even causing a little trouble. Instead I’m inside my house 24/7 watching my siblings. It’s like I’m skipping over my teenage years and going straight to motherhood.

I feel a buzz in my pocket and pull out my phone. The group chat is lighting up. I sigh and put my phone back in my pocket without even seeing what they’re talking about. There’s no use looking at it, because I already know what my response is going to be.

It buzzes again, and I ignore it. When it buzzes a third time I finally take it out and open the messages. All of my friends are asking about the babies. Apparently my mom and Nicholas were on the news again because of the triplets. 

Surprise, surprise.

I scroll back a ways to read all of the messages. They mostly say things like “Freaya, turn on the TV ur parents are on TV again,” and “Nicholas is spouting propaganda about the upcoming election, what a surprise.” I chuckle softly. If there’s anything that can get him reelected, it’s media footage of him kissing babies.

Wait a minute. 

I feel like my brain is about to explode. Is that the reason they keep having kids? So that he’ll always have a baby to kiss and he can maintain a strong image in the public eye? 

Of course it is.   

I can’t believe I haven’t realized this before. That’s exactly what he’s doing. 

But wait-- if they have any more kids we’re going to bust at the seams. Not to mention I’ll never get any freedom. 

I have to figure out a way to get inside that tiny mind of his and convince him that what he’s doing is wrong.

But how?