I screamed in frustration as I tripped over a toy car in the middle of the living room floor.
"Jose!" I yelled "How many times do I have to tell you, pick up your toys!"
I could hear Antonio coughing in the next room. Pushing my still unbrushed hair out of my face, I walked into the bedroom to find the seven year old still in bed, even though it was two in the afternoon. I immediately noticed the slightly greenish color his skin had now taken.
"How are you feeling?" I asked him
"Cold." he said, shivering underneath the thin covers
I felt his forehead, surprised at how hot it was.
"You're burning up." I told him, scrambling for something that would bring the fever down.
"Here." I put some Tylenol in his mouth "Chew that."
I put my hands over my face, hoping he wouldn't throw them up like last time. Hoping, praying, that this was the last of Antonio's seemingly endless illnesses.
"Gaby, Gaby!" a small voice came up next to me
"What, Gloria?" I asked as gently as I could manage, turning my attention to her
"Look at what I made!" she giggled, handing me a piece of paper with unidentifiable blue, green, and yellow crayon marks all over it.
"Beautiful." I smiled at her "This belongs on the wall."
I walked into the hallway, facing the once white wall. It had pictures taped all over it, drawn by all the kids through the years- Ana, Ricardo, Maria, Carlos, Jose, Antonio, Gloria, and Roberto. I quickly wrote "Gloria, age 4" on the paper and taped it in a clear spot on the wall.
"There." I said
Gloria giggled again, then ran off. I turned around to return to Antonio, and nearly tripped over Jose and his toy car in the process.
"Jose!" I yelled, glaring at him
"Sorry." he frowned unhappily "I'll move"
"Take your car with you." I told him
'He's nine.' I reminded myself 'He'll grow out of it.'
"Wait, Jose." I said.
"What?"
"I'm sorry I snapped at you." I smiled "I'm just trying to... oh, everything's just crazy." I laughed
"It's always crazy, Gaby." Jose smiled back "I'm going to take this in the other room now." he said as he left the hallway and went into another bedroom.
'Okay, back to-'
"Gaby?" I heard Ana's voice interrupt my thoughts
"Just a minute!" I called back
I jogged into the bedroom where Antonio was still in bed, and I kneeled down next to him so that we were at eye level.
"I'm going to be heading off to work in a little bit, but Ana will be here, okay? And Ricardo should be home soon if you're really in a pinch." I told him, smiling at the thought of the forgetfull thirteen year old.
"Okay." Antonio said "I love you, Gaby."
"I love you too, sweetie." I smiled, brushing my fingers through the thin black hair that was universal in all of us kids, though his seemed to be even thinner. "Everything will be okay, I promise you. I will always be here to take care of you, I'm only a phone call away if you need me."
"I know."
"Gaby?" Ana's voice called again
"I've gotta get going, kiddo." I kissed him on the forehead just before I left "Bye, feel better."
"Bye."
I closed the door quietly behind me after I had left the room and walked quickly to the kitchen where Ana was.
"Yeah?" I asked her
"It's quarter of." Ana said
"Crap." I mumbled
"Do you think mom's coming home tonight?" Ana asked
I thought for a moment, knowing that she was only asking out of habit. My mother never came home unless she needed money, and Ana knew that. I didn't know exactly where she went on her little trips, but I had decided long ago that I didn't want to know. Things were better when she was gone anyway. When she came home, she usually brought a "boyfriend" with her. Most of them were harmless, at least when they were sober. I'd had to dodge my share of drunken men trying to put their hands all over me, though, and I know Ana did too. Or there were the really bad ones- like this one guy a couple of years ago who truly believed that children should be seen and not heard, and enforced that rule for all he was worth. I still had bruises from that. I couldn't completely hate him, though, because he was Roberto's father. At any rate, she was probably out with some random guy, getting high or getting laid, forgetting the fact that she had eight children to take care of.
"Probably not." I sighed, grabbing a warm soda out of a nearby cabinet "Antonio's sick again." I told her
"What else is new? He's always sick." Ana rolled her eyes
"I have to get going in a few minutes..." I muttered to myself "You know the drill, take care of the kids while I'm gone, make Ricardo help you, and call me if it gets too out of control. I get off at eleven tonight, so I should be home around eleven thirty."
"Yeah, I know. When is Ricardo getting back, anyway?"
"About five o'clock in 'Ricardo time', so expect him at about eight or nine."
"Check." she smiled at me
I stopped for a minute, thinking.
"You can handle the kids, right?" I asked
"Yeah, they're angels most of the time. You know that."
"I know. It's just... I worry about you sometimes. Mom gone, me working, you alone with six kids not counting Ricardo..."
"I'm fine, Gab. Don't worry about it. We all do what we have to around here, it's the way it works. You took care of all of us growing up and now that I'm grown up I help take care of the little ones."
"You're not grown up, you're fifteen."
"You're only a year older than me, Gab, don't forget that."
"I know."
"Oh, before I forget, Erik called. He wants you to call him."
I rolled my eyes.
"As if I have time. I love the guy to death, but he's pretty stupid sometimes." I laughed "No idea what the word 'responsibility' means."
"And he's selfish, and conceited, and-"
"Don't start." I interrupted
"The guy is bad news, I can feel it, Gab."
"Well, I'm not going to worry about it now, that's for sure. Have you seen my uniform?" I asked, looking around
"In the dryer. You asked me to remind you, remember?"
"Right." I nodded, grabbing the still warm outfit from the dryer "Gotta run." I said, quickly kissing Ana on the cheek while pulling the uniform over my clothes.
"Have fun." she smiled
"Yeah, right. Fun. Give the kids hugs and kisses for me, will ya?"
"Of course."
"Bye!" I called, shutting the door behind me
'Here we go.' I thought to myself as I hopped on my bike and pedaled off to yet another life.