This One is Deadly Read Free Page B

things. First off, my dad was not upset with me yet. He understood and he was secretly on my side, I think. He’d had to be blind to think Rebecca and Jenny weren’t always the instigator. The second was if I made a scene and called Jenny and Rebecca liars, even as they sat there and complained how Devin and I ruined their day, I would be in a whole heap of a lot of trouble.
    Somehow, Devin knew to keep his mouth shut as well. He didn’t even look up from his plate.
    Then Jenny said, “Kristen isn’t eating her peas.”
    I let out a soft, but defiant, “Yet.”
    “Eat your peas,” Mom ordered.
    All the effort in the world failed me.
    If my father was still on my side, it was only enough that he didn’t bruise my backside as he walloped me over his knee.
    I shouldn’t have flung the peas at Jenny. I should’ve dipped them in mash potatoes first, so that they actually stuck to her, rather than littering the floor behind her. Plus, then I wouldn’t have had to clean up the mess after everyone else finished eating.
    I could’ve found ways of bathing Jenny that would’ve humored me. But I doubt they would’ve given me the pleasure. I made an effort to remember to use the mash potatoes next time.
    “You’re dead,” Jenny said later. She’d been wearing a pretty ugly looking grin since dinner.  I tried to stay calm and remember that if she kept making that face it would stick and then everyone would know she was smug and mean. She followed me into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She stood too close. So I put an elbow in her rib.
    She didn’t tattle.
    And that’s what worried me. She just said, “You’re really dead now.”
     
    Like all family trips, this one started out with a bit of yelling, some pouting children and everyone being told to stay on their side of the station wagon and keep their hands to themselves.
    Two hours was spent wisely. We bickered and racked up enough warnings from both parents that any further act was likely to give one of them an ulcer. If anything, they’d realize that we were better left at home, watching cartoons, than trying to create memories for us by taking us camping.
    Old people forget things. That must be my parents’ problem. They forgot that when they were kids they would rather have just stayed home and played.
    We arrived at the river with our mouths unlatched, a truly miraculous occasion. We begrudgingly unpacked the station wagon. My mother’s eyes told us not to argue that chore. The way she held herself next to my father clued me into the idea that he might snap at any moment—and then we really would have some life-long memories. He had a beer as soon as he parked the car. He downed it like it was the only thing he’d drank in a week. He crunched the can to announce his success and then went about fiddling with the tent.
    My mother sent Devin to assist him. Which meant standing at attention and holding whatever object my father needed next, while never holding it the way he wished you would.  My father’s displeasure was marked by soft grunts, loud sighs, and the way his head shook.
    “Mind your own business and get back to helping, Kristen!” Jenny yelled at me for watching my father and Devin. “You have to help too. Mom said so.”
    I looked at her like I would kill her. At least that’s what I wanted her to think. She flashed her patented ugly smile and raised her chin, begging for my best right hook. I often thought of grabbing her bottom jaw and ripping it right off. If I had super strength that’s the first thing I’d do. I’d put the whole thing under my pillow and wait for the tooth fairy to bring me some money.
    “You’re lucky Mom and Dad are here,” I said.
    “So are you. You have to unload the car. You have to do everything I say, not just because I’m the oldest, but also because one day I’m going to be the boss of you and everybody. And you’re all going to have to do exactly what I say. If I tell you to jump off a bridge,