I stepped over to the front door as quietly as I could and inserted the key into the lock. It was almost six o’clock in the morning on a Sunday, and my sister was right behind me. We were still slightly buzzed, and I had to steady myself before turning the key and opening the door. I tiptoed into the house, the early morning light shining in through the windows. We walked in, quiet as mice, and gently closed the door behind us. I felt a small sense of victory at the still silence of the house, telling me we managed to sneak out and not get caught.
“I’m gonna go get a drink of water before I go to bed” I whispered to my sister who nodded in agreement, and we continued towards the kitchen. We crossed the living and dining rooms before we stepped into the kitchen.
“Good morning kids” my mom said, nearly giving me a heart attack, and gave us a stern look. She was sitting at the table in her purple robe drinking a cup of coffee, her dyed red hair in a loose ponytail. Mia and I knew we were done for.
“Hey mom” I managed to say, trying to sound sober. My mother got up and gave my sister an I a look of disappointment and anger.
“Are you drunk?” she asked and took a step towards us. She could smell the alcohol on us and though its affect mostly wore off and we could think straight, we were both still slightly tipsy.
“No, not really” my sister said next to me and I wished she would have kept her mouth shut.
“Oh, is that right?” my mom asked, the anger creeping into her voice. “And do you mind telling me where you were?” she asked.
“At a party” I confessed and looked down at the floor, trying to escape my mother’s piercing gaze.
“And were you drinking at this party?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes” we both admitted shamefully.
“So, let me get this straight,” mom started saying while trying to keep her cool “you two sneaked out of the house, while you were grounded, went to a party and got drunk. And you did all this hoping you wouldn’t get caught?” she asked rhetorically, her tone raising towards the end in furry. We didn’t answer her, I just kept quiet and looked down.
“Well?” she asked louder.
“We’re sorry” my sister said from beside me. In truth we weren’t that sorry. It was one of Mike Allen’s legendary parties and there was no way we were going to miss it, even if we were grounded.
“You’re sorry?” my mother said sounding incredulous “I’ve had it with you two. No matter what I do, you keep causing trouble” she said, and she was right. Both my sister and I were quite the trouble makers. We were currently grounded for throwing a party while our parents were out of town. They caught us only because one of the neighbors called them to complain about the noise. Besides that, we would constantly break our curfew, fight amongst ourselves and skip school.
My sister and I were in the same grade, me being older than her by only two months. If the math doesn’t add up to you, you’re right. I was adopted when I was a month old and my mom, dad and sister were all the family I knew. As a psychology major, I could argue that my being adopted is part of what drove me to cause trouble, but I would often skip psychology class, so I could very well be wrong.
“Follow me” my mother said and walked over to the living room, leaving her coffee on the table, my sister and I obediently following her. “I guess that grounding you wasn’t enough to keep you in the house, so maybe this will.” she said and gave us a look that scared me. “Take your clothes off” she ordered in a firm voice.