The Eraser In My Brain Moved And My Sister Disappeared Chapter 03
Dad sat up all night, but I never came home.
Mom came out of the bedroom.
“That damn girl still isn’t back?”
Dad sat at the table, smoking.
“I asked a few neighbors this morning. None of them saw her.”
“She’s probably hiding in some corner just to punish us for scolding her.”
Mom threw the dirty bedding in her hands onto the floor. “Isn’t that what she does best? Every time she messes up, she acts like she lost her memory and plays dumb so we’ll feel bad and go easy on her.”
“She almost got Sunny killed this time, and she’s still trying that act? Just wait until we drag her back. I’ll break her legs.”
Sunny was sitting on a little stool playing with blocks. When she heard that, she looked up.
“Mom, don’t hit Sienna.”
“Sunny, sweetheart,” Mom said at once, switching to a gentle voice. “Sienna made a very serious mistake. She almost let you freeze to death. When someone does something wrong, they have to be punished, okay?”
Sunny nodded as if she half understood, then lowered her head and went back to stacking blocks.
Dad sighed and put out his cigarette.
“This town is only so big. Where could she run? She probably felt wronged last night and stayed over at someone’s house.”
Before he could finish, Mrs. Walker’s booming voice rang out from the yard.
“Dave! Time to meet by the old oak for the New Year’s remembrance ceremony and the fireworks setup!”
Dad stood up in response.
“Everyone has to be there for the ceremony,” Mom said as she untied her apron. “If she shows up, just watch me beat the hell out of her.”
Then Mom turned and saw the unfinished rag doll on the couch.
It was my doll, the one Mom had given me.
A few days ago, Sunny had ripped its arm open, and the stuffing had spilled out.
Mom had promised she would sew it back together for me.
But in the next second, Mom suddenly strode over, grabbed it with both hands, and yanked hard.
There was a sharp ripping sound.
The already fragile fabric tore wide open, and stuffing poured out of the split seam, scattering all over the floor.
My whole body trembled as I tried to stop her, but I passed through her again.
That was right. I was already dead.
All I could do was stand there and watch Mom throw the ruined scraps of fabric into the trash.
“She’s too old for this babyish crap. All day long, all she does is put on that helpless act, and she cares more about this doll than Sunny.”
The doll’s button eye fell to the floor, rolled a few times, and stopped beside Sunny’s foot.
Sunny picked it up and held it tightly in her palm.
“Let’s go,” Dad said, standing up. “She might be hanging around the old oak, watching all the commotion.”
“That’s right. We can’t let her off easy this time. Isn’t forgetting things her favorite excuse? I’ll beat this lesson into her so she remembers it for the rest of her life.”
They locked the door and led Sunny toward the edge of town.
“Sienna still hasn’t come back?” a neighbor asked.
“She’s spoiled rotten,” Mom replied at once. “We only scolded her a little yesterday, and she ran off in a tantrum and stayed out all night. She’s a teenage girl, but she has no sense at all.”
“You have no idea. That illness of hers, who knows if it’s real? She forgets everything she should remember and remembers everything she shouldn’t.”
“Last time I scolded her, she forgot it the second she turned around. Then she smiled at me and asked what we were having for dinner. Tell me that wouldn’t make you furious.”
“Oh, come on. The girl is sick. You should cut her a little slack.”
“Slack?” Mom’s voice suddenly rose. “If we cut her any more slack, she’ll think she can get away with anything. This time, she is going to learn her lesson.”
I followed silently behind Mom, unable to stop my tears from falling.
So that was what Mom really thought of me.
Quite a few people had already gathered beneath the old oak at the edge of town.
Memorial ribbons were tied around the trunk.
The memorial table had been set beneath the tree, and candles flickered in the morning light beside flowers and plates of food.
Mom’s gaze swept over the crowd, and her face grew darker and darker.
“Why isn’t she here?”
“She’s probably hiding because she’s too scared to come out. Once the ceremony is over, we’ll search every house. I don’t believe she can disappear into thin air.”
I blinked.
Mom, Dad, I was right here in the hollow behind the old oak.