Everyone began to get up and follow Zac toward the practice room. The younger children were thrilled that they were able to get up and move after Isaac’s twenty minutes speech and Taylor’s ten minutes speech and song. They stood in front of the mural that Zac had painted. They were all taken aback.
“Well, like Isaac, I decided that the best subjects were my family. I really don’t have a speech for this or anything. I didn’t know it really required a speech.” Zac shrugged. “But I did it in black and white because I figured anyone could do color but it takes time and patience to do it in black and white and to do it right. To make the right gray and make the shadows perfect.” He said looking at his family. “Well, that’s it.”
“That was wonderful, Zachary.” Diana said. She marveled at Zac’s creation. “Okay Alex, it’s your turn.”
“We can stay here or we can go back in there I don’t care... Well, why don’t you all get comfortable on the couch.” She said finally.
They all did just that.
She pulled one of the kitchen chairs into the center of the family room where her family was comfortable. Zac on the floor on his stomach; Taylor on the lazy boy with his legs tucked up underneath him head resting on his arms on the arm of the chair, Isaac sitting on the floor with Zoë in his lap her pulling on his curls. And her parents seated on the love seat very close to one another; while her two sisters seated on the couch Indian style waiting patiently for their sister to begin her tale.
Alex sat in the chair that she had selected for herself after giving a copy of her story to her mother.
“Okay.” She took a deep breath, “Well, I wrote a short story. It’s not the greatest but I tried.” She smiled and looked down at the paper.
“In Japan about 1600 after Christ, Akiko sat at the table her four talented brothers and her three beautiful sisters….” She finished the tale of a young girl who her parents didn’t live because she was ugly, and how the oldest brother had always showed pity on her and had grown to love her. He took her with him when he wed to a beautiful woman who didn’t like Akiko but her brother would never allow an evil word spoke against her in his house.
“…Akiko’s brother sat with her as the opium coursed through her veins. He held her hand tightly as she closed her eyes never to open again.” Alexandra looked up and saw her brothers in actual tears.
Taylor had them streaming down his face and had removed his glasses to wipe them from his face. Isaac starred at her wide-eyed. I think he understood that this was about them. She thought. Her parents were moved to tears and her sisters said nothing. Zac however was the first to clap.
“Wow. Alex that was wonderful.” Diana said. “I told you that you could do it.” She whispered into her daughter's ear.
At bedtime Alex felt special, Mackie asked her to tell him a story, not a story book story but an Alex story. What amazed her most was that he didn’t ask for the boys to sing his song for him like he usually did before bed. She liked being thought of before the boys for once.
The boys were in bed but they couldn’t sleep. The crickets by their window was the only thing that could be heard aside form the light breathing from all three boys. However, if you could have heard the thoughts going on in the boys' mind the room would have been anything but quiet. Zac finally broke the silence. He propped himself on one elbow and looked up towards Ike’s bunk.
“Hey Ike, did you notice how the eldest brother in her story was an awful lot like you?” Zac saw some shifting on the top bunk and then Ike’s head appeared, he like Zac, was propping himself on one elbow.
“Yeah kinda… do you really think she feels like that?”
“I don’t know. Do we really leave her out as much as the brothers in the story left Akiko out?” Zac asked.
“I don’t know I just keep thinking about that one part where Akiko was forgotten about when the kids went to the market place. And they got sweet treats and they came home laughing and eating them and there was none for her. But the eldest brother handed her what was left of his own because he realized that he had forgotten about his baby sister.”
“Why does that stick out, Tay?”
Taylor sat up on his bunk his blurry vision tried to focus on the wall behind Zac’s head. “Because we did the same thing to her.”
“Huh? When?” Isaac asked climbing down to his brother's level.
“Well, remember a couple of months ago we were home for a short time and you rounded up all of the kids and we went out for ice cream and somehow we forgot about her and we went anyway. When we came home you gave her the last scoop of your ice cream.”
“Oh yeah, I remember. Mom and dad said I had hurt her feelings by forgetting her. I felt so guilty after that.”
“So did I. I mean there are four older kids but we act like it’s only the three of us and that she has no feelings.”
Isaac sighed, a sign that this conversation was troubling him. “Well, we better go to bed.”
“Okay.” They all got comfortable in their respective beds. Each lying there, contemplating what the other two had said.
