They arrived at their aunt’s house that day. Rachel and I didn’t know what to expect, since their parents didn’t talk much about her. I sensed something happened between my mom and her because every time I asked my mother about her, she never really answered. She would say ask your father, it’s his sister. My dad would tell stories about when they were younger, but nothing really much about the last twenty years.

A slender, shorter woman appeared at the porch when the car pulled up. She was nothing like the photograph I seen of her. She had grayish brown hair, and piercing brown eyes. Therefore, that was the only resemblance was her eyes. She looked like she was about fifty instead of forty-two. I did know she was that old because she was two years younger then my mom and three years younger then my dad. She was wearing a pale blue dress, which was just hanging on her.

I looked in the corner of my eye at Rachel who was as shocked as I was. The woman walked towards us, her teeth glaring now. A chill ran down my spine. I didn’t know if I wanted to stay with this woman. I knew since my parents got into that car accident that I really didn’t have much of a choice. I knew something was wrong this morning when they weren’t in their beds. It surprised me why they waited until morning to come get us. That part would always baffle me.

"Tuscany, and Rachel," the man who brought us here said, "This is your Aunt Carmen," he said. He said boldly with no life to it. It was cold, and stern. Rachel was shivering slightly. She was feeling at ease.

"Hi," I muttered at the woman. She let out an evil grin. It could have been just my imagination, but she did grin. I looked beyond her at the house. It was a plain, sensible house. It was white, with white windows. The front door was a forest green. It stood right out. Trees surrounded the property, the grass nicely landscaped, a scooter, laid up against the tree, left of the house. She must have kids, I thought, if so I would get to meet my cousins.

The two adults brushed us aside to go chat. I felt like a small child, even those I was fifteen. I considered Rachel a child since she was only ten. She was small for her age, and she was very shy as well. We stood there until they stopped talking. The man got into his car and drove off, and our aunt approached us.

"Why don’t you two come inside," she said, as she headed for the door. I had my book bag. I didn’t have much with me so I didn’t know what I would wear from this day forward. We followed her into the house. The porch, led to the living room. The living room was small compared to the porch. The porch was a little bigger then the living room. There was nice hardwood in the porch leading into the small living room. A small bench sat, beside two cement end tables. There wasn’t a television in the room, which helped the size of the room.

Carmen, walked up the steps, and we followed her meekly. Rachel was shuffling her feet; her bag was slightly dragging along the hardwood floor. I entered the kitchen to see marble counter tops, oak cupboards, and a large big oak table. It was similar to the ancient table that my uncle possessed. It was a little older, but it must be at least one hundred years old. Carmen sat on the chair around the table.

"Come now, sit down," she said in a lower voice this time; we sat down. "Jack, Julianna, and Jade will be home soon," she said

"Are those your kids?" I asked, soon realizing that was a stupid question because there was no other reason they would be coming here if they weren’t her kids.

"Yes, they are," she finally answered after a few minutes of silence. Her lips were curved, she looked puzzled, but then she smiled. This time her smile was a lot smile, and Rachel seemed to loosen up from what I seen. "You want something to drink?" she asked

"No thanks," I said politely, and then Carmen went to look at Rachel who was just staring at her. She didn’t say anything. "She don’t talk much, she is shy," I finally blurted out. Carmen nodded and smiled heading for the fridge to grab her self something to drink. When she opened the fridge a bottle fell out shattering on the floor. Carmen closed the fridge staring at it for a minute before bending down to clean up the broken contents. I stared at her, my blood curdling now. I felt bad for not offering to help clean it up but I was sure I would the next time.

"Well, Tuscany, and Rachel," she said when she finished cleaning it up. "Why don’t you two go down the hall to the far bedroom? Make you at home while I start supper," she said turning her back to us. I walked into the living room that leads to the hallway. We walked to the end where we saw the bedroom she was talking about. I gave the door a little shove to get it open. Dust flew in the air, and I realized the room hadn’t been used in awhile.

A bed stood in one corner. It looked very uncomfortable in the corner of the room. The metal frame was staggered; the mattress looked flimsy, covered with a brown blanket. This was a real shocker compared to the rest of the house. In the other side of the room, another flimsy mattress laid on the floor, this time with ugly snot colored blanket. I sat my bag on the mattress on the floor, so Rachel could have the actual bed. Rachel sat on the bed, staring at the floor.

"Rachel," I called, when she looked up at me. Her green eyes were a little moist, and her brown hair was beginning to tangle. I put my hand on her shoulder, and she jerked a little.

"I want to go home," she whispered to me, the first words I heard her say all day. She never really spoke much but when she did it was for something important, and occasionally because she wants to get something off her chest.

"I do too," I said "Try to make the best of this. Carmen seems like a nice person,"

"I know, but this isn’t home," she began her words were very low, and had a crying feeling to them. "I just want mom and dad to be okay," she said

"They will be," I said, looking out the window. I preyed they will be all right and this stay was only for a couple days at most, but she couldn’t look forward to it because it may not be the case. I wanted to at least see them but they told me that it was better that my sister and I didn’t. Rachel wanted so badly to see them but I think she would probably fall apart.

Carmen stood at the doorway. She had changed out of her ugly dress into another ugly dress. It was a lavender strapless dress with yet no life to it. It was too big, and the shoe she was wearing with it was a deep navy. This dress made her look like she was sixty, even older then the one before.

"You two come into the kitchen," she said, "They are home and it is time to sit and do some school related work," she said, as we followed her out of the room. The anticipation was rising as we walked to the kitchen.

The first person I saw a boy. I knew right away that was Jack. He looked about eleven or twelve years old. He had short brown hair and brown eyes like his mother. He was slightly taller then his mom. He too was wearing the ugliest clothing ever. He was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans with a too big white t-shirt. He looked sloppy in the clothing, and the two girls that we next saw didn’t look better.

The one girl was shorter then Rachel, had long brown hair in too lifeless braids down her back, and was wearing a pale blue dress that had a stain in the front. She looked about seven or eight but it was hard to tell because she was dressed poorly.

The older girl who was closer to my age looked the best. She had on a strapless green top, and a pair of loose fitting sweat pants. Her hair was in a big ponytail that went down her back. She had a few freckles on her face, and a few pimples.

"Okay this is Julianna," she said pointing to the younger girl, "This is Jack," pointing to the boy, "And this is Jade," she finally aid pointing to the older girl. "Kids this is Tuscany and Rachel," she said with less emphasis.

"So how old are you," Jack blurted it out rudely

"Jack," his mother said sharply, "That is no way to treat our company,"

"I’m fifteen almost sixteen," I said. "Rachel is eleven in almost three weeks," I said

"So around Christmas I suppose," Carmen stated

"December 21st," I said

"So why doesn’t the girl answer for herself?" Jack asked

"She is shy son," Carmen said, "Go on to your room. I gave you far warning,"

"I aint do nothing wrong," he said

"Now," she said sternly, and he got up and stumbled out of the room. Julianna and Jade remained for a second before Jade finally spoke.

"Don’t mind him; he takes awhile to get use to new people,"

"That’s fine," I said

"Now, girls," Carmen said looking at her two girls. "Show Rachel and Tuscany how to set the table, they will be responsible for it tomorrow," she said

"It takes two people to set a table," I blurted out, realizing I shouldn’t have.

"Well," Carmen said a little shocked. The expression on Jade’s face was priceless. She didn’t say much but I looked at Rachel who wasn’t shocked. Julianna stared at her.

"Are we going to stand here and gawk at each other," Rachel finally said sternly. I looked at her, as did the other two. I could tell that Rachel wanted just get the table set already. Carmen finally came forward.

"She is right. Let’s get the table set already," she said just throwing in the finish diced onions into the pan. She already started onto slicing the tomatoes. It did smell good as too what she was making. I was a little worried because Rachel didn’t like onions or tomatoes at all, and I didn’t know if she was going to eat it or what not. Rachel was just born a meticulous eater; Jade finally walked passed to the cupboard to grab a stack of plates, and brought them over to the table.

"Watch carefully," she said, as she was carefully placing one plate by each chair. They were in a straight line; she did the same with the glasses, cutlery, and napkins. I felt like they were treating us as outcasts. I knew how to set a table, so did they think I was stupid. Just a stupid girl who was spoiled; I didn’t quite know as of yet those. Jack entered the kitchen.

"Can I come out now mom?" he asked. He changed into nice clothing now. He was wearing a pin striped dress shirt, and a nice pair of dress pants. I was confused to why he was wearing that.

"Yes, just be ready to go into town with your dad when he gets home in a few minutes,"

"Okay," he said, heading into the living room. I wondered what Carmen’s husband was like. I hope he was a little livelier then Carmen was. Her kids were all like robots, so I didn’t know what to expect. Jade, Julianna and Rachel were staring at me.

"What?" I said in confusion to why they were staring at me.

"We have other stuff to do," Jade said. I felt a little bit overwhelmed. I didn’t really want to do anymore.

"What kind of stuff?" I asked

"We have to clean up the basement before we eat supper," she said

"Don’t you have a cleaning lady come out to clean your house?" I asked

"No," Jade said, "Not everyone needs to pay someone extra to come in and clean their house for them,"

"I don’t get why people spend there whole day cleaning when there are people who do it as there full time job,"

"Those people are consider to be lazy," she said offensive, "When you go back to your house you can have someone cleaning for you, but here we clean," she said. I stopped there because I didn’t want to cause an argument. I respectively disagreed with her. We followed them into the basement.

The basement also had hardwood, and the place was nicely put together. There were a few things on the floor, and that was about it.

"Rachel and I will pick up and wipe down all the end tables, and you get Tuscany help you get the mop bucket ready to mop the floor," Jade told Julianna

"Okay," she replied with a smile. It wasn’t a total shock that she chose Rachel to help her. I had to be on bad terms with her as it; I wasn’t sure as how much Carmen heard. Julianna pointed me to cupboard.

"We need to get it ready," she said

"Okay," I said taking it from the cupboard. "Do you like cleaning?" I said as I started to fill up the bucket with warm water.

"No, not really," she said, "We just do it because we are expected too,"

"Oh!" I said, expecting that answer. This was already becoming extremely weird to me.

We finished cleaning the basement. I thought the basement was clean already and it didn’t to be mopped. When we ended up in the living room, again Carmen was sitting on the couch. She had changed yet again. This time she was wearing a vibrant silky yellow dress and high heels. I was confused as to why she was dressed like that. I remembered Jack was dressed nicer too.

"Tuscany and Rachel do you have any nice clothes to change into?"

"I have a skirt I can change into, but nothing else," I said

"Okay, you go change into that. Jade take Rachel upstairs and try to find her something nice to wear,"

"Okay mom," she said. They took Rachel and went upstairs, while I went down the hall to the bedroom. I pulled out my white knee length skirt that my dad bought for me a few days ago. I brought it to school to show my friends. I always liked to show off the new clothes I get. I felt a little guilty at first because it costed one hundred and thirty three dollars but my dad reassured me that I earned it.

My parents are generous, yet a little strict. They see no problem in buying us nice stuff, but we need to earn it. My dad is strict with education. He isn’t satisfied with a just a passing mark. They have to be in the eighties at least. I once brought home a test that I got a sixty-nine percent. I was originally grounded for two weeks. He wasn’t impressed at all but my mom convinced him to lower it to one week. I guess you can say she demanded leniency.

I walked back into the kitchen where I saw Rachel. She was wearing a pink dress that matched Julianna’s. I really hated it but I didn’t say so; it just made her look a lot younger. Jade was wearing a blue dress, the same style as her mothers. She had her down in a tight bun. I stood there looking out of the ordinary since I was still wearing my casual skirt and very casual skirt.

Carmen stared at me and so did Jade.

"Mom why did she get that skirt. That is the same one I wanted," she cried

"She probably saved up her money for it, didn’t you?" she asked me

"No," I said, "My dad bought it for me because I got a ninety three percent on my math test," I said

"Oh!" Carmen said, "If Jade wants something like that she has to buy it,"

"I guess everyone is different," I said

"Let’s eat," she said quickly changing the subject. We sat at the table just as Jack and another man walked in. He was a tall muscular man; he was balding a bit but looked at least ten years younger then Carmen.

"Hey Honey," she said smiling

"What is for dinner?" she said

"One of your favorites,"

"So these are the kids," he stated boldly. I wanted to shout at him, as to referring us as "kids" and not as his guests.

"These are Kevin’s kids," she said again

"They look alright to me but why is the older one dressed like that?"
"They didn’t have any other clothing on them, but I managed to find something for Rachel," Carmen said

"We will run to their house so they can get some suitable clothing. This will not happen again," he said in an angry voice.

"What is wrong with what I have on?" I asked

"It isn’t proper for eating. It is good for a party and going out in town but not when you work, and eat in this house,"

"Oh!" I said.

"Now enough talk!" he said. We all ate in silence, except when he was talking about his day. I soon learned his name is Robert.

Robert seemed rough to me at first. He was somewhat bossy and he didn’t even thank Carmen for making the meal, like my dad did for my mom everyday. Robert sat on the bench with Jack as the rest of us did the dishes. I didn’t think it was fair that we had to do the work and they sat and did nothing.

"What are we doing tonight?" Julianna asked her mom

"We are going to go to where Rachel and Tuscany lives so they can get some suitable clothing.

"Okay," she said

At around seven o’clock, we were loaded up in their minivan. Carmen once again changed back into one of her ugly dresses and so did everyone else in their clothing. They drove the long one-hour and a half drive to the city to where we lived. They were driving down the street when I told them where to stop.

They all got out and followed Rachel and I to the front door. I didn’t know if they were allowed to do this but I felt glad to be back home even if it was briefly. I put my key in the key hole and the door swung open.

I took off my shoes and walked upstairs and down the hallway. Carmen stood in the middle of the hall staring at a picture of our family. It looked like she was specifically looking at my mom. I wanted to asked Carmen about that but I didn’t want to make her feel at ease.

Jade followed me into my bedroom. She stood at the doorway shock on her face. My room wasn’t anything out of the ordinary to me. I had my bed, a couple posters on my walls, I had two dressers, makeup, my laptop, and my television set. I never did see her room so this could be a shock.

I opened up my closet and pulled out a duffel bag. I took the black dress that was hanging in my closet, folded, and set in the duffel bag. I took some random matching outfits from my drawer and put them in there too. Jade mouth was wide open. I opened the top drawer of my dresser where I set my photo album into my duffel bag. I zipped it up.

"Why do you have a laptop?" Jade asked

"I use it on a daily basis to check my e-mails," I said

"We don’t have a computer or even a television in our house,"

"I don’t watch much television though," I said

When I walked back into the hallway, Rachel was carrying her duffel bag. I had my purse and mine. I knew from the look on Rachel’s face that she wanted to bring her guitar.

They didn’t stay a minute longer then they had too. I locked the door and we were on our way back to their house, and we left ours behind.