“Dinner is ready!” My mom shouted. Ugh. What was I doing on a hot Saturday night at home. “If you don't come down this instant you'll have to prepare your own dinner!” Whatever. I can prepare myself my own dinner. Nevertheless, I ran towards the beautiful smell coming from downstairs.
My last days with my sister were over, she had been talking about it all summer. About her days of her independence. And indeed they were, just across the corner. Everyone was so excited about it. Except me. I was glad that she was leaving and all, but what about me? A big change was coming for me too. What was I going to tell my friends about this? Oh yeah. My sister just left to Madrid because she was tired of this place. I couldn’t help wonder why Eva wanted to leave this place so much. She had the love of her family, friends and could go to college easly. Or at least that’s what I thought.
As I stumbled on the stairs and came back to my senses, I received a welcoming greeting by my parents: “You’re late.” My father complained. “Again.”
I ignored him. I didn’t want to fight at this moment. Not today. I walked towards the counter where the remaining slices of pizza laid. Hawaiian, I thought. Her favorite. When I sat down everyone, which includes my parents and three sisters, were halfway through their pizza. “Get going or it will get cold,” Daniela said without looking at me.
As the minutes passed in the night, I noticed something strange. The atmosphere of the kitchen felt peaceful and warm, yet it was silent as a funeral. I suppose everybody was thinking about the leaving. I was deep into my own personal thoughts. Again. “Pass the milk” Eva said disrupting me. I hesitated.
“Magic words?”
“Oh, shut up.” Then she stretched her arm towards the milk box. I snickered. I had finished the milk already. When she realized it, she threw the box at me. Once my mom ordered me to pick it up, my sister threw an evil smile at me. Then everything went back to silence. The last dinner. In silence. Comfortable silence.
As I layed back again in my bed that night I questioned if Eva was going through those big steps in life. Of course this is not about me. I was aware of that. For the second time, she disrupted my thoughts. This time, with a knock on the door.
“Who invited you to the party?” I blew.
“What? Like you get invited to parties at a saturday night. Besides,”
I answered back. “Actually, I was invited to a special party tonight, but thanks to you I couldn’t attend.”
“Yeah right. Why would I hold you back from a party”
“Umm. Because-”
“Because you know you will miss me and you wanted to spend some time with me” she interrupted disrespectfully.
“No I didn’t!”
She acted as if she didn't hear me, and with a smile on her face she left my room.
I woke up early in the morning to the sound of music coming from next door. What is it now? With a rising temperature, I walked towards my sisters room. “What are you doing?” I shouted, opening the door.
“Good morning Luis, we’re going out on a morning jog. Wanna come?” Daniela asked.
“Are you crazy? it’s 6:00 am in the morning! You’re gonna wake up Mom and Dad”
“Don’t worry about Mom and Dad, they will be coming too” Eva said coming inside the room with her running shoes in her hand.
I wasn’t surprised about the act of waking up in the morning at 6:00 am, but about the act of my sisters planning this without me. Not that I wanted to go anyway. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“We would tell you if you were here 15 minutes ago when Daniela thought of it.” Eva said answering my question.
“Where’s mom and dad?” I said pretending to ignore Eva’s response.
“They are waiting for us at the car. So if you want to come, you’ll have to hurry up.”
I sighed. I was angry at something other than my sisters, but I didn’t know what it was. “Forget it, I won’t go. Im too tired.”
“You sure?” Daniela shouted. Already running down the stairs.
“Yeah, i'll go back to bed.” And with everything settled I walked back to my room.
As I heard the door shut, I felt as though I’d been stabbed in the back. I regretting not making the sacrifice of going out on a run. And with the intuition instinct, I shouted at the air. “Hey wait for me!” Halfway up my pants and halfway down the stairs I saw my dad waiting for me with a look of approval and satisfaction. “What?” I said with a smile on my face.
“No nothing. Just get in the car.”
I was glad for my sister. She was going to experience something totally new. Her whole life was going to change. Eva was going to become a bigger and stronger person. It was her decision of making whatever she wants to do with her life. Even if it meant flying away to the other side of the planet. And I would try to alway be there for her. For now, all I had to do was enjoy the ride. And with a smile on my face, I got in the car. To enjoy my last day with Eva. One more day till Take-Off.
By Luis Santos
