I was in my room getting ready for school when mom stormed in with her angry face cemented in place. Oooo, scary. Watch out world. As she stared at me, I mentally ran down a list of all the things I could have possibly done wrong that she could have found out about.
�We had a deal,� she seethed through her teeth, pointing at me.
I cocked my head to the side and frowned. �I don�t know what you�re talking about.�
�I�m talking about the green and white vitamins I just found in the toilet.�
Shocked, I slowly shook my head. I hadn�t done that since I got caught. �I don�t know how they got there, but I swear, I didn�t do it.�
Okay, here�s the thing, I hate taking vitamins. They�re nasty. I gag when I try to swallow them and then I taste them for the rest of the day. The very smell makes the bile rise in the back of my throat. They�re chalky, then slimy as they start to dissolve in my mouth as my cheeks puff out with water. The panic pushed up, as I fight to calm down enough to swallow. Sometimes it takes three tries to get them down. Jen, who�s only nine, thinks it�s so funny when mom yells at me for �making a scene.� I hate that smug look of hers. She loves telling on me when I spit them out. One day I�m going to spit them out at her. Terri thinks it�s all a big game. She likes to pretend she�s choking and then bust up laughing. As the baby of the family, she acts like the whole world revolves around her and everything is done for her entertainment.
But dad�s a health nut and so we have to go through this every morning and take those stupid things. Or at least pretend to. I got good at pretending to swallow those nasty green and white pills and sticking them in my pocket. At the first chance, I�d flush them down the toilet. If I threw them in the trash, someone might see them. Pretty smart, huh?
One morning mom caught me slipping the vitamins into my jean pocket. She was pretty cool about it, which was surprising. We talked it out and agreed I only had to take one pill instead of all three. That I could deal with. I took my one vitamin as promised from then on.
�You�re grounded for this young lady.�
I dropped my jaw and stared at her dumbfounded. �But I didn�t do it,� I wailed. Honest, I didn�t.�
�So they just got there by magic,� she retorted.
�I don�t know,� I plopped on my bed bewildered. I had no clue what was going on. It had to be Jen or Terri, because I didn�t do it. Why is it they can get away with anything but I can�t because I�m the �oldest and have to set a good example for the girls.� Not fair at all. The babies of the family never do anything wrong. Why wasn�t she grilling them? One mistake and now I�m guilty for life. I�d been choking down those nasty things as I�d promised.
Mom looked at me suspiciously. �If you lie to me, you�re grounded for an additional 3 weeks.�
�I�m not lying!� I wiped the tears off my cheeks with the back of my hand.
�Jennifer, Terri!� She called my sisters into the room.
Great, now they could watch her humiliate me too. Jen wandered in with Terri skipping not far behind. I glared at them, scanning for guilt. Terri had her normal life-is-wonderful face. There were no in-betweens with her. She was either happy as can be, or yelling her head off. If she was guilty and didn�t fess up, I�d make sure that smile was gone. Baby or not, I was not going to be grounded for something she did.
Jen was missing the smug smile. I expected her to rub this in my face for days. She didn�t choke on the vitamins. Wait a minute; did she set this up on purpose? Rage growled in my chest. I squinted my eyes at her, daring her to smile at her cleverness. All I got back was a guileless smile and a shrug. Hmmm.
�Do you know anything about these pills being in the toilet?� They both looked up innocently and shook their heads. I couldn�t believe it. I didn�t do it, so one of them had to have done it. And I was going to pay.
�This is so not fair,� I said, the anger rising in my voice.
�Don�t you take that tone with me,� mom warned. �You admit it right now, or you�re grounded for four weeks. I will not tolerate lying.�
I stared at her, stunned.
�I�m not lying,� I shouted at her. �I�ve been swallowing those stupid vitamins every day. I don�t know who put those pills in the toilet, but I didn�t.�
She shook her head at me. �You leave me no choice. Four weeks.�
�It�s not fair!� I started crying again and buried my face in my pillow. �It�s not fair,� I mumbled.
�I did it,� a barely audible voice said.
I looked up cautiously. Mom spun around. Jen was looking at her feet, digging her toe in the carpet. She looked up at me, tears in her eyes. There was something about her face that hit me deep. I groaned inwardly.
�I didn�t mean for you to get in trouble. I just can�t stand those pills either.�
Everyone just froze there silently. Finally mom turned towards me and sighed.
�I�m sorry I didn�t believe you. But that�s what happens when you disobey in the first place,� she added.
�You,� she pointed to Jen, �to your room. We need to talk.�
Jen looked at me imploringly, chewing on her lower lip. �I really am sorry.� The guilt filled her voice as she turned and they all left my room.
I let out a big sigh and flopped back on my bed. I stared at the ceiling as the emotion slowly drained away. I wanted to be angry with her, but I couldn�t. She was my little sister. Maybe all that fuss at the table was to cover her own vanishing trick with the pills. Maybe we had more in common than I thought. I smiled. Besides, she�ll be cleaning toilets for a month and getting lectured by mom. That was punishment enough. I guess I�m not the only one who hates vitamins.