Chapter 5: Tail Up

 Oliver hated being in Noah's room when Noah was there, too. Noah moved around it like it was familiar. Like his whole life hadn't been changed. Oliver was jealous. So jealous of everyone else who had a regular life when his was so changed. He didn't know when he and Zoey were going, or where. He didn't know if they''d live with their other three sisters or not.

He stared at the ceiling, zoning out. It was all he seemed capable of doing these days. The blank space above his head was quickly filled with Christmas morning. Could that have been just yesterday?

Zoey had been up and down since 2 AM, because she was so excited about Santa coming. She had sneaked out to the Christmas tree and seen all the wrapped presents. Oliver had let her stay in his room on the condition that she promised to try and sleep until it was light out.

She made it until 6:00 and then was going to the room she shared with Sage and woke her up. McKenzie and Royal were next. Oliver listened from the hall as Zoey had jumped on their dad, still asleep.

“Daddy! Santa came!”

“He did?” Dad said sleepily. “Well, let's go see what he brought!”

It had been perfect. Oliver had been in his own house with his own pajamas and his dad and sisters. His presents had been for him, given by his family who knew him best. He got a Notre Dame shirt and sweats. A new fishing rod and tackle box, and a helmet for boarding that he would actually use because it didn't look ridiculous.

Zoey had been over the moon, too. She had gotten tons of My Little Pony stuff, but still wore that scrap of pink blanket around her like a cape. She'd had that since she was a baby, and nobody could get her to give it up.

They were just sitting down to breakfast – cereal and oranges – the same as it was every Christmas. Dad was wearing the new watch from all of them. Oliver had been saving his allowance forever. He didn't have anything to spend it on anyway. His dad made sure he had everything he needed. So he had most of the money for the watch and he had encouraged all of his sisters to split the remaining cost with whatever they could set aside from their allowances. He couldn't believe they'd actually done it.

A few days ago, Dad had taken them all shopping. They had drawn each other's names out of a hat. Only Dad didn't know they were all shopping for him. They went to the mall and Oliver offered to take everybody around and to be back by their agreed on time.

He walked up to the counter with the watches and found the one he'd seen advertised online. With the money they'd saved, they had just enough. They walked through the stores, talking about how much Dad would like the watch. How surprised he'd be.

They'd made Zoey promise she wouldn't blow the surprise. She crossed her heart and everything.

This morning, after all the presents were opened, and Dad hadn't opened any, Oliver had gone to his room and taken the wrapped watch out of its hiding spot in his closet.

“There's one more thing,” he'd said, dropping the package in his dad's lap.

“What's this?”

“It's from all of us,” Royal said, smiling.

“We got it when we went shopping,” Sage added.

“We tricked you,” McKenzie laughed.

“It's a secret, Daddy. I know what it is but I'm not allowed to say,” Zoey added, right in Dad's face.

Dad opened it and his eyebrows raised way up. “Kids... You didn't have to do this...”

“Yeah we did,” Oliver said, tucking his hands in his pockets.

Now, the watch looked just right on Dad's wrist as he peeled Zoey's orange. His cell phone rang, and he said hello.

Oliver shook his head. That was the beginning of the end. It had been his and Zoey's turn to go with Dad on an errand. The other girls had stayed behind with the promise that they would be back in fifteen minutes. But they hadn't.

“Fifteen minutes,” he muttered.

“What?” Noah asked.

“What?” Oliver said, surprised.

“Fifteen minutes 'til what?” Noah prompted.

“Oh. Nothing.”

Oliver hadn't known he'd spoken aloud. That kind of thing was happening more and more lately and Oliver wished it wouldn't but he didn't know how to make it stop.

“Thought you guys were supposed to get picked up today,” Noah said, distracted looking at something on his phone.

“I guess not.”

“Huh.”

Just then, Zoey started screaming, and Oliver didn't have to think, he just took off.

–

Emma had been about to check the contents of the box and talk to Liv about the day's events when Zoey's screams made her jump.

Liv sighed. “I've got her. I'll probably end up relocating her and Oliver out here for the night,” she said apologetically.

Oliver ran by and was down the stairs before Liv even got to them. Emma sighed and started putting the papers back in the box. She glanced up at the sound of a door opening.

Carter darted across the hall and into the bathroom.

“Okay...” Emma said to herself and grabbed her crutches. She stood outside the closed bathroom door and waited. “Carter? You're supposed to be in bed, buddy,” she called. Emma caught herself as Dudley passed right beside her, bumping her crutch with his body before he nosed his way into the little boys' room.

From behind the door, she suddenly heard the unmistakable sound of someone getting sick, followed by Carter crying.

“Carter? Can I come in? I wanna make sure you're okay...” Emma said.

“No!” he wailed. “It's gross!”

“It's okay. I've been around a lot of gross things, I promise. I wanna help, okay? Can I please come in?”

“Okay...” Carter sobbed, stopping only to be sick again.

Gingerly, Emma turned the knob and found Carter on his knees in front of the toilet. She felt grateful that he got there before the vomiting started. She made her way toward him, ready to lay a hand on his back once she could get in the right position for it, but before she could, Emma saw him flinch.

On instinct she stopped, and though it was awkward, she made herself back up a few steps. “I'm not gonna hurt you,” she promised, confused. He'd never reacted this way to her, and Emma wondered what had changed for him.

He kept crying and Emma stood by, not knowing what to do. She'd left her phone on the couch so she couldn't text Liv.

Out of ideas, she went to Noah and Oliver's door and knocked.

“What's up?” Noah asked, sounding irritated. Emma didn't blame him.

 “Carter's throwing up and—”

“Again?” he asked, seeming more annoyed then alarmed.

“What do you mean, 'again?'” she asked softly, aware that Josh slept a few feet away.

“I mean, he gorges himself on food and eats until he's sick. I kinda expected it when he put away four tacos and loads of chips at dinner tonight. He'll be fine. He just needs to sleep it off.”

Tentatively, Emma made her way back to the bathroom door which still stood ajar. Carter looked pale and miserable. Standing in the hall, but careful not to block the door, she called, “Are you not feeling good because you ate too much dinner?”

“Yes, but I can't help it,” Carter insisted, tears still falling.

“Okay. Let's get you cleaned up and back to bed. I'm gonna come in and get a wet washcloth for your face, is that okay?”

“You're not mad?”

“I'm not. I promise.”

Emma managed to urge Carter to wipe his face and was behind him on the way to his room to tuck him in again when he screamed and fell to the ground.

Josh woke up, startled and crying, and Noah came out into the hall again. He flashed accusing eyes at Emma.

“What happened?” he demanded.

“He ate it all!” Carter bawled as Dudley slunk by them, part of a granola bar hanging from his mouth.

Emma did a double take. The boys' carpeting was strewn with water bottles, crumbs and peanut butter and jelly stains.

“That's 'cause you can't keep food in your room,” Noah explained. “You know this, Carter. Why would you do something so stupid? Either the dog was gonna eat it or Josh would.”

“You're not helping,” Emma reasoned. “I've got this. You can go back to bed.”

“What on earth...” Liv asked, walking up the hall to see Carter in a ball on the floor crying, Josh crying and their floor a mess. Recovering fast, she asked, “What can I do?”

Behind her, Emma was aware of Oliver and Zoey now in the living room.

“I can take Josh,” Ari said, appearing in the hall. “We'll go somewhere quiet, huh? Maybe I can turn on Daniel Tiger in the living room and we can watch that?”

“That sounds like a great idea. Thank you, Ari,” Liv said.

“Daniel,” Josh said, his voice breaking, rubbing snot and tears into his stuffed toy Daniel.

“Yeah, we'll watch Daniel, okay? You want to?” Ari asked, kissing his head.

“Yes. Want to,” Josh said sadly.

When Ari, Josh, Oliver and Zoey were settled in the living room with Daniel Tiger sang on TV and Liv was on her hands and knees with carpet cleaner, Emma kept trying to calm Carter down.

“Can you take a deep breath for me?” she asked.

“No, or I'll puke again,” he cried.

Emma sighed and got down beside Carter, tentatively stroking his back through his ninja turtle pajamas. “Listen to me, okay? I want to help. I want to make everything okay. But I can't help if I don't know what's wrong.”

“Everything!” Carter sobbed, his voice hitching.

“Food's important to you,” Emma recalled, desperately trying to think of a solution. “And you worry about food, right? You said so in your other note?”

[Image is a note written in teal marker.  It reads: "Food hav it Carter"]

Carter nodded.

“And you said what would help is to have it. So what if we kept some food somewhere that was just yours, but somewhere Dudley couldn't get it?”

“Grace did that,” Carter hiccuped calming down a little.

“That's right,” Liv said, still cleaning. “You had a drawer in the kitchen with a few things in it, didn't you? What happened to that?”

“Grace was cleaning it when Zoey and Oliver came and she didn't put anything new inside,” Carter wiped his eyes.

“Let's do that now,” Emma said softly. “We can get you a new granola bar and some other things. What do you usually keep in there?”

She walked behind Carter as he made his way to the kitchen and began to methodically fill his drawer with a pudding cup, chips in a Ziploc bag and granola bars, among other things.

“Your crutches are scary...” he said softly. “You were mad with them after Zoey kicked me. I thought you were gonna smack me with them...”

Emma stopped short. “I only use them to walk. I would never hit anyone with them. I never have.”

Carter shrugged, shutting his drawer. “I just thought you might. Can I go to bed?”

“I'm not sure Liv's done cleaning.”

“It's okay. I just need to lie down,” he said, sounding exhausted.

“Okay. Good night. See you tomorrow,” she said as he walked to his room and closed the door.

–

Ari breathed a little easier now that things were calm. Now that Josh was actually in her arms and moving around like usual, not stiff on the ground, doing that thing.

Daniel Tiger was way too babyish for her but she decided to be nice this one time since Zoey and Josh were scared. Plus, helping meant she got to stay up later. It was almost 10:00 now and her bedtime was 8:30. It felt good to do nice things. She wished she could do it more often, but she usually ended up making bad choices.

It wasn't long before Josh was asleep. Thankfully it was after Olivia had run the vacuum, so he wouldn't be startled awake. She didn't know what Carter's deal was but she was glad he wasn't losing it anymore. It made her nervous.

When Olivia came back out and took sleeping Josh from Ari, she knew all her fun staying up late was over.

“Thanks for all your help tonight. I really appreciate it and I'll be sure to give you a ring for it just as soon as possible,” she said.

“You don't have to,” Ari said. “Night.”

She went downstairs again and was immediately distracted by the TV on in the den. She spotted Charlie sprawled on the carpet watching Pretty Little Liars.

“You are gonna be in so much trouble,” Ari warned, but she couldn't keep the smile off her face. Charlie was so bold. Ari kind of admired it.

–

“No, I'm not,” Charlie said calmly. “TV was on upstairs. So I should get to watch what I want, too.”

Charlie knew William and Grace didn't like her watching this show, because they thought it was too mature, but Charlie was mature. She would be six in exactly one month. “Wanna watch with me?” she asked, waving Ari in. “Harper didn't want to.”

“Excuse me?” Emma's voice said and Charlie jumped. “What do you think you're doing?”

“Watching TV,” Charlie said, in case Emma didn't know.

“No. You are in bed because it's late and you need to sleep. Both of you, right now.” Charlie rolled her eyes and clicked off the show. She only did it because she'd seen this one a bunch of times and knew she could watch it whenever she wanted.

She shoved past Emma, making her catch herself, and shut the bedroom door hard before Emma could barge inside and boss them.

Besides, Charlie was the real boss.

--

The next morning, Noah woke up at 6:00. He guessed his body knew it was Sunday and was thinking he must have to go to church, even though it was still vacation and his mom and William weren't here to make them. But, this could totally work to his advantage. He threw on some clothes and crept out of his room and past Liv, Oliver and Zoey who slept in the living room. Then he slipped downstairs and out the back door where his bike was.

“What are you doing?”

He jumped a foot.

“What are you doing?” Noah challenged. If Harper was planning to blab to Liv and Emma then all his plans were gonna be ruined. But her answer surprised him.

“I'm going to Lexie's before they tell me I can't,” she said, tipping her chin.

“Ooh, what a rebel,” he teased as she climbed on her bike.

“If you're back before me, tell them I'll be back by nine.”

“I won't be back by nine, so you can tell 'em yourself.”

“Where are you going?” she asked as they rode around the house and down the street.

“Out.”

“Whatever. I know you're going to Henry's,” Harper said and he could hear the smile in her voice.

“Henry's an ass.”

“He's your best friend, though. What happened? You guys have a fight? Is it about those guys at school? When Noah didn't answer, Harper kept trying, “Back by ten right?” she asked and he wanted to scream for her to mind her own damn business.

“Shut up,” he called, and kept riding.

The truth was, he had no plans. He just needed to get out. He'd hung around home all day yesterday, taking care of Josh and he deserved a break. He'd been good and involved and everything. Now, he just needed to breathe and think. He had way too much going on, and no one to talk to about it.

He knew Liv and Emma would say he could talk to them but he'd seen firsthand just how busy they were with the other kids. They didn't have time for him. And now Noah didn't have Henry to bounce things off of either. 'Cause he'd rather hang out with Jordan, Nick and Marcus, who made it their duty to make Noah's life a living hell.

Noah hoped that Harper never found out what they were holding over him. That they had taken video of his real dad on their phones and used it to get whatever they wanted from Noah.

“Give us the money you have on you or it's going up on YouTube. Then the whole school will know what a loser your dad is.”

“You never said you and your mom ran away from him in the middle of the night. That's so sad.” A punch landed in his gut. They were the only ones left in the locker room after gym and Noah hadn't noticed.

When he was far enough away that he could be sure no one was around and he was surrounded by grass and trees, he took out his phone and scrolled til he found the message.

Say anything and it goes up.

It was from a random number but Noah knew it was them.

A headache started just behind his eyes. This would be enough for anybody. His mother was really well respected. A lawyer. What would it to do her reputation if it came out that she had been knocked around by her husband?

Plus Noah still hadn't heard anything about his grandma, plus when he was hanging out in Josh and Carter's room for hours yesterday, Carter had said some pretty messed up stuff. He'd been playing, but still.

Noah remembered how chills had risen up on his arms as Carter acted out all the superheroes being dead from poisonous gas and how the mommy chased the little boy with a knife and the daddy tied him up so he wouldn't make messes when they went out.

He'd been taught to tell his mom immediately if one of the kids disclosed abuse. This wasn't exactly a disclosure but he'd be stupid not to take it seriously. He'd tried to reach his mom, but his calls kept going straight to voice mail. He'd normally confide in Liv as she was family, but he knew how personal it was to admit abuse. The fact that Carter felt safe enough around him to even play about it around Noah let him know he couldn't break the kid's confidence by sharing it with other adults who couldn't actually do anything about it.

He was stuck. And he for sure would tell if he was stuck in that house one more minute. Not just about Carter but about everything. And he just couldn't risk it.

It was better like this. Better to just put his best face forward at home, and get out of there fast when he couldn't pretend anymore.