Page 36 - Reason To Sing by Kelita Haverland

Reason To Sing

“What? What are you talking about?” I ask timidly, half in
shock.
Billy barks back at me. “Just do what Mom says, Kelita.”
Huh? What does he know that I don’t?
“I don’t understand. What are we doing?” I pester further.
Vian is even more confused. “Mommy? Where are we
going?” My little sister is almost in tears.
“Do you need to go to the bathroom or not?” Mommy
glares at us both, her voice emotionless.
“But I don’t understand. Where are we going?” I am
relentless. And afraid.
“Right now, I just need you to do as I ask,” she commands.
“Quickly. Please, hand me all your books.”
I dump my armful into her hands. My pencil case falls to
the ground and all the coloured pencils roll out. I dive to pick
them up.
“Don’t worry about those, I’ll get them.” Mommy gathers
the crayons and continues to issue orders. “Kelita, you go and
use the bathroom down the hall. Vian, you can use the one
here. Billy, I need you to help me with that laundry basket. It’s
going in the trunk.” My mother is on a mission!
As I sit on the toilet, half-panicked and half-frozen, I
remember our conversation from last night. She was speaking
quietly as she washed dishes.
“Kelita, I need you to bring home all of your books from
school tomorrow. Bring all of your supplies as well. You’ll need
to go to your sister’s home room and help her do the same.”
She sounded matter of fact. But I was confused.
“I don’t understand. Why do you need to see our books?”
“I just want to see everything you’ve been working on, that’s
all.” She wasn’t looking at me. Just cleaning up the after-dinner
dishes like usual.

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