Chapter 4

Carter walked outside wearing another one of her black bikinis. This one was a small string bikini. She stretched her towel out on her front yard so that her head was halfway down the hill. She loved to lay upside down. She'd been doing it since she was very small. Another thing she remembered was that there used to be a tree directly in her front yard. Her "Uncle" came over one day to chop it down. She and her sister used to wrap a rope around the tree stump and climb down the hill as if they were climbing a mountain. They had great imaginations.

Now there was no tree, no shade, and just the remains of a small stump. It was the perfect spot for her to get a tan.

"You are a horrible sister and you should rot in hell for what you called Melissa." Taylor's voice woke her up. She had been laying in the sun for a half hour now.

"What did I call Melissa?" She asked, holding her hand over her eyes to shield the sun.

"You called her a bitch and you made her cry."

Carter rolled her eyes. "Melissa would cry for a week if she almost broke a nail. And, she is a bitch." She answered casually.

"What else did you say to her?"

"How should I know? That was yesterday. And besides, she comes crying to you at least 4 times a week looking for a hug. She's a faker and a loser. Not to mention a snobby little ass hole."

"You know, just because you have no emotions what so ever, doesn't mean that other people don't."

"And I should just let Mel make fun of our mom whenever she wants too?"

"She's had a hard time since your mom died."

Carter sat up abruptly. "And I haven't?! You think it's all just fun and games for me? You think I laughed when she died?"

Taylor shrugged.

"Go away, Tay."

"Why should I?"

"Because you're contaminating my yard."

"It's my yard too."

"Not this side." She smiled up at him.

Taylor rolled his eyes. "I hope you fall down that hill."

"Not like I haven't done it before."

"I hope you crack your head open."

Carter shrugged and laid back down. "Done that before too."

"God, you're a freakin moron." Taylor threw his arms in the air in frustration and went back into his house.

"God, he's a freakin weenie." Carter laughed and closed her eyes again. The first thing she saw when she opened them again was Zac. "How long have you been there?"

"About five minutes."

"I didn't even hear you."

Zac smiled. "People usually don't."

"What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing." He sighed. "Trey and Ike just completed another one of their experiments."

"Zac-sicles again?"

"Yeah."

"Damn, when are they gonna stop shoving you in that big freezer just cause you're the only one that will fit in there?"

"You know, I asked that right after they closed the lid, but I don't think they heard me."

"Can't you just get out the minute they leave the room?"

"They don't. Trey sits on the lid until I scream."

"Oh. I think they've shoved me in that freezer before. It's kind of cold."

"Yeah." Zac laughed. "I think my big fleshy pistol has hypothermia."

Carter laughed and then rolled her eyes. "So what else did you do today besides freeze your ... nummies off?"

"I wrote something else." He shrugged and handed her a piece of paper.

Carter sat up and grabbed it from him. She read outloud.

Carter looked up at Zac.

"It's about your mother."

"I know. It's amazing. I don't know how you do it." She shook her head in disbelief.

"Put it to music. You've done it before. Please?"

"I don't know.. if I can." She shook her head slowly.

"Please? I want to hear you sing it."

Carter sighed and folded up the paper. "I'll try. Thank you."

"Anytime." Zac smiled.

Carter stood up and wrapper her towel around her waist. "I better go inside. I promised Melissa I'd help her clean our room."

"Cool. Does she still sleep in the attic?"

"Yeah. She hates it when I talk to you with the Walkie's."

"Too bad." He laughed. "See ya later."

"Bye." Carter waved and went inside her door. She closed the door behind her and went upstairs to her bedroom. She pushed open the door cautiously after seeing that it was open a crack. The next thing she felt was the crack against her face followed by the back of her head hitting the door. She stared at Melissa in shock. "What the hell..."

Melissa smiled evily at her and placed the thick black encyclopedia back on the shelf with the others.

Carter brought her hand down from her lip and saw blood. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"That was for what you said yesterday." She continued to smile as if she was proud of herself.

Big sisters have a way of beating up their younger siblings even more brutally than big brothers. Carter licked her bottom lip which was now bleeding more heavily. She stood up slowly as Melissa bent over casually to pick up some of the dirty laundry on the floor. She was so furious that she couldn't even fell the throbbing pain in her eyes, nose, and lips.

Carter grabbed Melissa by her shoulders and shoved her into the ground. She flipped her sister over in one quick movement and threw her fist into Melissa's face.

Melissa screamed. "DAD! HELP!"

Carter screamed louder. "YOU FUCKING BITCH! YOU HIT ME WITH A BOOK THAT'S BIGGER THAN MY HEAD!" She shook Melissa's shoulders furiously so that her head slammed into the floor over and over.

Tears streamed from Melissa's eyes. "STOP IT! STOP, CARTER! I'M SORRY!"

Carter didn't stop. She held Melissa's head hard to the floor. "ARE YOU?! ARE YOU SORRY THAT MOM DIED?! ARE YOU SORRY THAT YOU DON'T EVEN CARE?! ARE YOU?! ARE YOU SORRY THAT YOU'RE A LITTLE WHORE!?"

Melissa nodded her head and continued to cry. "I'm sorry! STOP!"

Carter lifted Melissa's head one last time before slamming it into the ground again. She stood up and wiped the spot of blood from her lip. She could tell that her eyes were already starting to turn black and blue. "I hate you. Don't you forget that." She muttered as she walked out the door and downstairs.

She walked right past her dad and stormed out the door. All she heard was his faint question. "What just happened?"

Carter stepped slowly over the banister and knocked on Zac's front door. He opened it and his mouth dropped open. "What happened?!"

"I just beat the shit out of Mel. Can I come in?"

He nodded. "Looks like she got you pretty bad too."

"She his me in the face with an encyclopedia."

Zac put his arm around her shoulder and led her to the kitchen to get some ice. "Want me to send Tay over there?"

"Yeah. You better. It's the only way to keep Melissa away from me."

Zac handed Carter a towel full of ice and ran upstairs to get his brother.

***I wrote this song when I was in 5th grade. I kind of just came to me. It's called "Glitter in the Sky". Hope you liked it. It was the first song I ever wrote. I've been writing poetry since I was 7. (Not good poetry, but it was a start.)

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