Another Today, Another Tomorrow - C3

3

‘Michael, I’m getting worried.  Mom’s still not back yet.’
Kitty had come into his room and parked herself on the chair.  Surprisingly, even Michael had become tired of his computer games, and was lying down on his bed with his arms stretched out behind his head.
‘Don’t worry Kitty.  I’m sure everything’s ok.’
‘Do you think something’s happened?’  Kitty looked down at her fingers.  A horrible knot was forming in her stomach.  ‘I mean…you don’t think she’s had an accident or anything like that, do you?’
Michael bit his lip.  He remembered clearly the day the police tapped on the front door at the old house and broke the news that his father had been killed in a car accident.  They said he had swerved off the road and into a ditch while making a phone call on his mobile.  That the emergency workers had tried everything possible to save him, but he had died on the way to hospital.  Michael was upstairs at the time, and he heard every word.  When he came down his mom was sobbing uncontrollably in the kitchen below with two sombre looking police officers beside her.  It was an awful day, one he would never forget.
‘She’s probably running a bit late.  Wasn’t she getting you a book or something?’ he said.
‘I guess so.’
‘She’s probably choosing one right now.  Stuck in the queue down at the shops.’
‘Probably.’  Kitty still wasn’t convinced.  ‘Wish we could call her.’
‘Me too.’  And he did.  Michael wasn’t just saying that to keep his little sister happy.  He really did want to call her to make sure everything was all right.  But after what happened to dad, she didn’t like mobile phones and had never used one since.
‘She might even be buying me a new computer game,’ Michael went on teasingly, ‘which would be better than a cruddy old book any day.’
‘Don’t think so!  Least you learn more from books.’
‘Yeah, well at least you get better reflexes from playing computer games,’ he said, and lobbed a pillow in Kitty’s direction.  It promptly bounced off her head and they both laughed.
Kitty picked the pillow off the floor and was about to throw it back when she caught side of some papers on the edge of the desk.  Handwritten at the top of the first page in big red letters were the words:

Good try Michael, but not enough research!  4/10

‘What’s this?’ said Kitty, picking up the papers.
‘Nothing.  Just some stupid assignment I had to do for school.  Leave it alone.’
Kitty started reading.  It was a report on World War Two, and though Michael had tried to make it neat and presentable, it was full of spelling mistakes and factual errors.
‘Oh Michael, there are so many things wrong in here.  And that’s just the first paragraph!  Has mom seen this?’
Michael nodded.  ‘Least I gave it a try.’
‘I know, but-‘ Kitty continued to read.  ‘Even I know that the war started in 1939, not 1935.  Where on earth did you get your information from?’
‘The internet.’
Kitty put her hands to her face.  ‘How could you have possibly got that date wrong?  Not even the internet has such bad information, surely!’
Michael sat up and shrugged his shoulders.  ‘I was playing some online games and got chatting in one of the chat rooms there.  Guess whoever told me didn’t know either.’
‘Or maybe they decided to trick you because you beat them,’ Kitty replied.  ‘Somehow I think that’s what really happened.’
‘Guess so,’ Michael murmured.
‘You don’t like history much do you?’
‘I don’t like school much.  Not everyone has to be like you, you know.’
‘My teacher says that a good education will help you in life.  It will let you get a job you really like.’
‘Yeah well I’m going to be a computer programmer.  Don’t need to know much about history to be good at that.’
Kitty chucked the pillow back at Michael and missed.  ‘But you have to be good at Math…and I know for a fact you’re rubbish at that too!’
Kitty prepared to defend herself against another flung pillow, but she was distracted by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway.  Kitty raced to the window.  ‘Mom’s here!’ she cried.
They ran down the stairs in unison, and as Julie came through the front door, Kitty was first to throw her arms around her.
‘Mom!  Where have you been?  We’ve missed you!’
Michael was more reserved, but equally curious as to why she had been gone for so long.  ‘It’s way past five, mom.  Surely lunch with an old bunch of girls couldn’t have been that good.’
‘Enough of your cheek, mister,’ Julie said, kissing Michael on the head and ruffling up his hair.  ‘And yes, actually lunch was that good.  I had a very long talk with Aunt Mary, and she wants you to come visit her these school holidays.’
Michael and Kitty looked at one another.  ‘Tell me you’re joking,’ said Michael.
‘No I’m not.  We’ve arranged everything.  She’s looking forward to seeing you, and I’m looking forward to having the house to myself for a little while.’
Alarm bells rang in Kitty’s head.  ‘You mean you won’t be coming?’
‘We hardly know her,’ added Michael.
‘Even more of a reason to go and visit and get to know her better.’  Julie turned to Kitty.  ‘And to answer your question- no, I won’t be coming.’
‘What have we done to deserve this?’ Michael asked.  ‘Can’t we go stay with grandma or grandpa instead?’
Julie hung up her keys and took a deep breath.  Aunt Mary had told her to be patient but firm with Michael and Kitty, and under no circumstance to give in and let them win.
‘No, Michael.  I want to get you two out of the city for a while.  I think it will do you both some good to spend time in the country.  And Aunt Mary is a lovely lady.  We should see her more often than we do.’
‘Then why don’t you come along mom?’ whined Kitty.  ‘You should, you know.  Don’t you deserve some time out in the country…?’
Another deep breath.  ‘Because I still have to work.  And anyways, I would like to have some time by myself.  I know it might seem a bit selfish, but I just want a week of…of time-out, ok?  I can’t remember the last time I had a night without you two.  And I’m not trying to sound harsh or that I don’t want to be around you, ok?  I just want some mom-time…without being a mom!’
‘Will I be allowed to take Mr Boots with me?’ said Kitty.  ‘And my dolls and my books- even if I’ve already read them?’
‘And my laptop?’ Michael butted in.  ‘I don’t care about anything else, but if I have to go to some stinky farm out in the country, then I’m definitely taking my laptop with me.’
Julie was finding this harder than she imagined.  ‘No.  No cats, no dolls, no books.  And definitely no laptops or computer games.  I want you two to completely forget about all the material possessions you have here and…well, enjoy yourselves as children should.  Breathe some fresh air for a change, run and play in the fields, and climb a tree.  And when you’ve finished climbing, fall out of the tree!  Look, I want you to appreciate the environment, not stay couped up in a house all day like you do here.’  Julie paused, then as an afterthought, said to Michael, ‘And besides, it’s not a stinky farm.  Aunt Mary has a nice old cottage which is warm and cosy even on the coldest of nights.’
‘Too bad it’s not the middle of winter,’ said Michael, scorning that he wouldn’t be allowed to take his laptop with him.
‘Look, I know this might sound like I’m being hard, but I really think you both need a reality check.  And Kitty, I’m sure Aunt Mary has plenty of books to read if you really get bored of things to do.
‘It’s only for a week- less if Aunt Mary is struggling to cope with you.  But I’ve already promised her that you’ll be on your best behaviour.  And who knows- you might make some new friends.  I’m sure there will be other kids your age visiting their aunts and uncles for school holidays.’
Kitty looked as if the wind had been taken out of her sails.  ‘I really don’t want to go, mom.  Not if I can’t take Mr Boots with me.’
‘I’m not going either,’ said Michael.
‘I know you don’t.  That’s why I’m telling you now so you’ll have the rest of the week to get used to the idea.  By the time Friday comes around, you won’t be able to wait until school finishes so you can come home and pack your bags.’