Coming Home: Chapter two, part two (NEW COVER

Instructions

Beth is angry. Like, I have never seen her this mad. So is Vally. She stamps her foot and says, “We--he--just . . .WHY CAN’T HE GROW UP AND EXCEPT OUR HELP?!” Beth punches a wall, and yells, “THAT LITTLE NUGGET! WHEN I GET AHOLD OF HIM-” I stay quiet, sitting on the bed. I don’t think they heard the scream. If they had, well, I think they would be super sympathetic, not mad. I debate telling them about it but decide not to. If I tell them, they will just get mad all over again, this time at a different person--Err, spirit. It’s better to give them one thing to be mad at, wait for them to calm down, and then be done. Vally growls and stamps her foot. I lay back against my bed. I’ve learned sometimes it is best to let them have a go. Liza sits next to me, and we decide to wait it out. Not that Liza isn’t mad. She’s furious. I can see her eyes flashing. But she’s mad at the spirit, not Marcus. There is no reasoning with Beth and Vally while they are like this. And my parents . . .well, they can wake up early. I’m pretty sure they can hear the yelling. Beth and Vally yell, and rant, and curse a bit more, before they turn to me, noticing how quiet Liza, and I are. For we are silently seething, a technique they haven’t thought of. “How do we get back to where he was?” they ask me, quieting down a bit. I look up. I feel helpless, not knowing what to do. Normally I always have something up my sleeve, but this time I just don’t know... “Nati! You’re crying!” cries Liza. She glares at Beth and Vally. For some reason, my crying makes Beth more infuriated. And Vally soon gets mad again too. Vally paces, and shouts, “DANG I HATE MAR! I JUS’ HATE ’IM! AND NATI’S CRYING NOW, SO THANKS A WHOLE LOT, BRO! JUST GOING, PUSHING AWAY HELP, GOSH, IMA KILL HIM. HIM AND THAT SPIRIT TOO!” And then, and mention of the spirit, she gets all sympathetic of Marcus and mad at the spirit. Beth had a go at a pillow, letting loose a few er, colorful, but ok curses. “FOR PETE’S COLORFUL, STINKING SAKE! CHEDDAR!! AND PIFFLE! SNOWPUFF! DANG-NABBIT! DABNABIT! WHAT KINDA RUDE-OLE-POOF DOES HE THINK HE IS?! THAT GOSH DANG MAR!” I don’t know why I get mad. I just do. I feel my hands curling into fists, and I feel a rage boiling inside of me, eating up every thought against it. I stand up, and the tears dry on my face. Beth is beginning to get feathers out of the pillow, and Vally is making an indent in the carpet from her foot-stomping and pacing. They are both shouting, and soon my parents will come, and probably tell them to go home, but they won't believe m if I tell them what happened, and--and... And then I just crack. “SHUT IT!” I yell so loud the house shakes, I swear! Instant silence sweeps through the house. Everything stills. Even the air. The birds stop chirping, and the feathers that have been floating in the air from the pillow stop in mid-air. My friends stare. I feel shocked. Never have I ever had such a rage, such a loud voice, and . . .they must hate me now . . .how did I do that? Well . . .I have done it once . . .but I had vowed never again . . . never, never, never . . .I stare at the wooden floor in silence. “He didn’t--Didn’t mean to send us away. He’s in trouble. Did you see his bruises? And then you go and yell at him. You yell behind his back about how rude he was in sending us away when he did it for our--our safety! So please, stop yelling, and we can figure this out like civilized human beings!” I sit down, and the room is silent.