***
I was the first to wake up the next morning. The birds had started singing out the window. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clear blue sky outside. Then I counted my sleeping brothers.
Terell’s head was on my lap, one foot was on top of Kriston’s face. Tyrone was curled under a jacket. Terence was halfway under the bed. Austin was the only one missing.
I stared at Terell’s innocent little face, with those puffy brown cheeks, and sighed.
His behind was too tiny to have a needle pressed through it. What if his behind broke?
I kissed his forehead.
Suddenly the bedroom door burst open and Pop stumbled in.
“Where the . . . . I thought I’d gone crazy when I couldn’t find you!” he softly ranted. A mountain of wrinkles appeared above his eyebrows. “Well?” he demanded, waiting for an explanation.
I wiggled my toes trying to wake somebody up for support.
Kriston brushed Terell’s foot off and rubbed his eyes.
Terence sat up yawning.
Tyrone woke up and raised his head at Pop. “You should’ve seen it, Pop!” he started. “It was a big ugly thing! It came flying right in Justine’s window!”
My mouth fell open. How does he think these things up so fast?
“Get up, get washed,” Pop ordered. He lifted Terell, who was still fast asleep, out of my arms.
“Where’re you taking him?” I asked accusingly, leaping to my feet.
“To the bathroom.” Pop looked at me funny.
Terell’s eyes slowly opened. Once he realized who was holding him, he started screaming, “Aaaaaaahh! Justiiiiiiiinneeee!”
Everybody was up! “I’ll wash him, I’ll wash him!” we all cried out, grabbing Terell’s legs.
Confused, Pop finally handed Terell back to me and everyone relaxed.
I ducked around Pop and hurried toward the bathroom. After I pulled Terell’s pajamas off, I twisted the faucet handle. Then I grabbed his washcloth and submerged it.
Terell lifted his head up, watching the water flow into the sink. He looked so small and helpless standing there naked.
“Justine,” Terence called through the door.
“Yeah?”
He came in. “What’re we going to do?” he asked, sitting on the lid of the toilet. “How’re we going to get Terell out of this?”
“I don’t know,” I said, washing Terell’s chest and tummy.
A tear seeped from Terell’s right eye and was promptly followed by two more.
Tenderly I brushed the cloth against his cheek to catch them. I kissed his forehead.
“Did Pop say any more to you?” Terence asked.
“No,” I told him. “And I didn’t wait around for a discussion.” I patted Terell dry with a towel, led him into his bedroom, gathered his underwear and pants from the drawer, and dressed him. Then I scooped up his miniature backpack and took everything into my room. I sat him on my bed, removed another tear from his cheek, held his chin a moment to stop it from quivering, and threw my uniform on.
“Well you can’t hide him,” Tanya said as we rode the bus into D.C.
“I know,” I said.
“What kind of shots do they use for big kids that are different from babies?” Kriston asked.
“Might be bigger needles,” Clarence suggested.
“Will you shut up?” I blasted.
Everybody on the bus stared at me.
I didn’t care. I looked down at Terell. I felt worse than if I were getting the shot.
“When was the last time your uncle’s been by the house?” Courtney asked me.
I cringed at the thought.
“I don’t remember,” I said. “We don’t stay around much when we know he’s coming. The only time we see him is when we’re sick and you know what that means.”
No more questions came up.
All during school, I kept watching the hall at breaks and peeking into his kindergarten room to see if Terell was all right. He wasn’t playing much with the other kids; he just sat quietly at his table and on the floor during storytelling.
I felt the same distance growing between us that I had felt before with Pop and my friends, only this time I was seeing it from the other side. I was worried for Terell’s sake.
After school, we didn’t rush home. Instead, we hung around D.C. for a while, visiting the monuments, the memorials, and some of the museums.
My favorite was the National Air and Space Museum on Jefferson Drive. I liked the idea of flying, and the museum was fun. Aircraft were suspended from the ceiling. Models of spaceships were built large enough so people could walk through and see all the equipment inside. Sections in the museum really made you feel like you were moving through space. But Terell wasn’t having any fun. I held his hand and kept him close to me the whole time.
“Let’s hide him in one of the museums!” Kriston said.
“That won’t work,” I told him. “Who’ll take care of him?”
Kriston tapped his chin. “We could sneak food in to him every day?”
“But everybody will still know he’s missing,” I tried to explain.
We crossed the street and walked into the middle of the Mall. I looked around. I could see plenty of museums on both sides; maybe we could have hidden him in one. But if Pop found out we would have been in more trouble than we were already in for not coming right home after school. It was hopeless.
After our legs grew tired, we headed toward Alexandria. My blouse was drenched and my head was throbbing. I didn’t bother to wipe the drops of sweat still running down my face. I felt like crying.
When we reached the house, the van wasn’t in the carport. Just to make sure nobody was there, I approached the front door while my brothers waited by the curb. Barks echoed through the back walls as I unlocked the door and peeked inside.
“Dad!” I called, causing their barking to increase.
Soon the noise died down and I didn’t hear anybody.
I summoned my brothers.
We changed out of our sweaty uniforms and hung them neatly in our closets, a task Mom had been trying to enforce in us for years. We carried our book bags into the dinette. I turned the chandelier on and we sat at the table and pulled out our schoolwork.
“I know!” Kriston shouted. “If we promise to make him eat a whole lot of fruits and vegetables, maybe he won’t have to go. I mean, he made it this far without any shots, so why bother? Look at him, he’s healthy.”
I watched Terell lean his head against the table in true defeat.
“Yeah, but if he catches something later on, it might make things worse.” I said.
Terell turned his head, still on the table, to the side and looked up at me.
As we settled down I looked around at everyone.
Whatever kind of bond it was that brothers and sisters hold, we were holding ours pretty tight tonight.