Free Kitchen Chaos by Deborah A. Levine

please, Mommy, we’ve got to do it!”
    â€œFrankie, you crack me up, you know that?” My mom laughs. Then she speeds up for the last few blocks of the walk home.
    When I get there, the door to our house is open, but my mother’s still standing on the top step just staring inside. I slide past her and step into one of the most massive messes I’ve ever seen—and trust me, I’ve seen a lot. Our house isn’t filled with antiques or anything, but we do have some nice furniture that my grandmother gave us when she sold her brownstone and moved into an apartment building. Apparently, Nicky and The Goons decided it would be a good idea to transform the living and dining rooms into an indoor skate park by turning the furniture into ramps and half-pipes. Every chair, table, and sofa has been tipped upside down, or at least on its side. Nicky’s entire collection of LEGOs is spilled out all over the carpet to make a “hazard area” that the three of them are trying to avoid as they “skateboard” in their socks and crash into the couch cushions like total dweebs.
    I hear what sounds like a cross between a whimper and a growl and kneel down to peek under an overturned side chair. Of course it’s Rocco, who clearly can’t decide whether to defend his turf or run for his life and has chosen to hide out under his favorite chair instead. I feel a hand on my shoulder and look up. My mom doesn’t look angry, upset, or even annoyed, and I decide she must be in shock. “Frankie?” she says.
    â€œYeah, Mom?” I reply, standing up.
    â€œWhen did you say that cooking class starts?”
    I smile, crossing my fingers on both hands. “Saturday.”
    Without saying a word to my brothers, my mom puts her arm around my shoulder, grabs her purse, and leads me out of the house. She doesn’t look back or even bother to close the door. “I’m in,” she says. “Let’s go over to that studio and sign ourselves up.”

CHAPTER 12
Lillian

    My mother is an ox. Not literally, of course (although she does look a whole lot like one when she’s mad). I mean she was born in the Year of the Ox. According to the Chinese zodiac, oxen are hardworking, driven, and strong-willed—probably the first three words most people who know my mother would use to describe her. Not only is she an ox, she’s also a Taurus, so no matter which zodiac you believe in, MeiYin Wong is one stubborn woman.
    I, on the other hand, am a goat—creative, wandering, and disorganized. I’m also big on sleeping, watching TV, and just hanging out. I’m pretty much the polar opposite of my sister, Katie (a dragon, a born leader), and as you can imagine, none of my goatlike character traits go over very well with my mother. Still, I am her daughter, and sometimes, on very rare occasions, I summon the ox that lives deep down inside of me, too, and you’d be amazed how strong-willed and stubborn a lazy little goat can be.
    Convincing my mother to take the cooking class with us is definitely a job for my inner ox. Luckily, he’s super bored from not having been called on for so long and is ready to lock horns with a much bigger, more powerful beast. When Frankie and I got the text from Liza with the news about needing an adult, I was surprised at how determined I became to win the battle and sign up for the class. We have to be able to do this, and I have to help make it happen. I guess spending a month trying to fit in has made me kind ofdesperate—not exactly an oxlike quality, but powerful in its own way.
    I’m helping my mother with the dishes when I mention the class. Our new house came with a perfectly good dishwasher, but my mother’s not satisfied with the way it cleans, so she’s ordered a new one. Until it arrives, she insists on doing the dishes by hand rather than using an appliance that isn’t up to her standards. So we’re