Nutterâs face scrunched up like he was about to vomit. âI hate chicken pie,â he complained.
âWell itâs what weâre having for dinner. So dig in,â Dad said with a big smile. He clearly didnât care.
âWell Iâm not eating.â Nutter crossed his arms.
âFine.â
Nutter started to cry. âYou
want
me to starve?â
Dad ignored him. âSkip, itâs your turn to wash the dishes tonight. After dinner I need to spend some time working in the basement. Iâm making a masterpiece.â
âSo whoâs the new dulcimer for?â I asked very casually.
He took a swig of water. âNobody special. Iâm just experimenting with a new design idea.â
Liar, I wanted to say. I stuck my fork into a chunk of white meat.
Dad asked Skip how school was. While Skip chattered on about what he saw in his teacherâs desk drawer, I stared at the square of chicken on my fork. Normally I would pop it into my mouth, but tonight I couldnât. Every time I looked at the little piece, I kept seeing a live chicken staring back at me. How could somebody chop up a live chicken and bake it in a pie?
I pushed my plate away.
âFrankieâwhy arenât you eating?â
âI canât eat it,â I said. âIâm a vegetarian.â
Dad dropped his fork. âSince when?â
âSince now.â
He shook his head like he wanted to stick us in a box and ship us to China. âTwo out of three not eating. You guys have no idea how annoying you can be.â
âWhatâs wrong with being a vegetarian?â I asked. Your darling Ayanna Bayo is a vegetarian, I wanted to say, and I bet you donât yell at her for it.
Nutter wailed. âIâm not annoying. Iâm starving. Nobody cares that Iâm starving?â
âYou canât starve, Nutter,â Skip said. âYouate the rest of Frankieâs birthday cake right before dinner.â
Instead of getting mad at Nutter for eating the cake, or at Skip for tattling, Dad turned his attention to me. âFrankie, why on earth did you let Nutter have cake before dinner?â
âI didnât give it to him.â
âArenât you supposed to be watching him after school?â
Nutter sniffled and hugged his koala backpack to his chest. âSheâs
supposed
to make me a koala costume, and all she did was e-mail.â
âShe was e-mailing Ayanna Bayo,â Skip blurted out.
The truth came flying at me like an ice ball in the face. âYou skinny little creep!â I shrieked, and threw down my fork. It bounced off the table and almost hit Skip.
My anger shut up everybody for a second. Then Dadâs voice became as tight and thin as a wire. âFrankie, that is way out of line.â
âWhy donât you tell Skip to mind his own business? Why donât you tell Nutter to stop being such a baby?â
Nutter ran from the table.
I got up, and Dad grabbed my hand.
âSit down,â he said.
âForget it.â I pulled away.
âDonât talk to me like that, Frankie.â
âWhat are you going to do? Nail me to the chair? You donât care about me anyway.â I ran up to my room and locked the door.
He pounded up the stairs and knocked. âFrankie, you canât keep locking yourself in there.â
âWhy should I talk when all you do is yell at me?â
âWhatâs this about e-mailing the woman from the zoo?â
âNothing. I had some questions about her stupid naked mole-rats. Thatâs all. She sent her e-mail address with that book and said if I had any questions, I should e-mail her. Is that a crime?â
He was silent. With any luck, heâd believe me.
Nutterâs voice came through. âIs that naked rat lady coming here?â
âNutter, Iâm talking to Frankie now. Okay? Frankie, will you please open the door? This is ridiculous.â
Nutter wailed.
Sharon Kleve, Jennifer Conner, Danica Winters, Casey Dawes