Mina knew that what had happened yesterday was worse than any of her other unpleasant accidents, which was why she kept the list. She hoped to one day find hidden a link between these disasters and figure out what made her mother want to move.
For now she was lucky that her mother wasn’t close to any of the moms from school. If she was, Mina might already find their small apartment packed up in boxes and a moving truck in the alley.
“Mina?” Sara peeked her head into her daughter’s room, the door almost immediately stopped by the piles of teenage debris. When Mina didn’t answer, Sara braved the obstacle course of clothes and magazines and walked into her daughter's dark room to open the blinds and window.
“Ahhhh, MOM!” Mina answered, throwing the comforter back over her head to protect herself from the onslaught of fresh air and light, both of which were toxic to a very sleepy teenager. Grumbling, she curled up under the covers and tried to ignore her mother’s movements throughout her room. All she wanted was to lie in bed comatose for another few hours as she gathered strength to face another day at school. Was that too much to ask? When Sara stubbed her toe on an unidentified object, she let out a gasp of pain but held back any forthcoming remarks. Mina bit her lip guiltily under the covers knowing she really needed to clean up her room. She was grateful that her mother never harangued her about it.
“We’re leaving now. I have to pick up a few things before taking Charlie to school. I’ll be late coming home, after I drop off a packet at the Carmichaels’ residence. Be home for dinner, okay?”
“Wait! The Carmichael’s? No way.” Mina shrieked, sitting up in bed and throwing the comforter behind her. “I mean, don’t they have live-in maids? Why would they want to employ another company?” Mina knew that whatever happened she could not let her mother go to the Carmichael’s. What if they told her mother about what happened at the bakery? What if they tried to thank Sara? Or worse, what if her mother became the Carmichael’s maid. No. Mina could not let that happen.
“Well, maybe they heard what a great job we do and want to hire the best. We definitely could use the extra money.” Sara looked at the piles of clothes and sighed wearily.
“What if I do it?” Mina shot out without thinking.
“Do what, honey?” Sara nudged a pair of dirty socks with her shoe over to what she assumed was a dirty clothes pile.
Mina had to think fast. “I lent Brody my notes, so I have to go over there today anyhow. So give me the Happy Maids packet and I’ll drop it off for Mrs. Carmichael.”
Sara thought about it. “Well, that would work, because then I wouldn’t be late to the Brown’s. Why, thank you, Mina,” Sara smiled.
Mina tried and failed to return her mother’s smile when she realized the full implications of what she’d volunteered to do. Mina was an idiot.
Sara put the packet on the kitchen table and Mina watched as she and her younger brother, wearing a Superman cape, headed out the door. Mina ran back to her bedroom, grabbed a purple pillow off of her bed and screamed into it, dancing around the room.
Green movement captured Mina’s attention and she froze when she realized that her mother had opened her window and blinds. Mrs. Orn, the eighty-year-old cat lady from the building next door, was watching her with one eyebrow fully raised. She happened to be watering her window box full of daisies when Mina had made her dancing debut, and was now likely drowning them.
“Sorry, Mrs. Orn,” Mina called and dashed to the ledge to close the window and blinds.
Looking at the clock, Mina was glad to see that she had woken up with plenty of time to take a shower. Grabbing her robe, Mina flung it over the top shower bar and began to work on the infinite twists and turns of the shower spigots. It was easier to crack a double combination safe than it was to coax hot water out of these ancient pipes. Mina said a quick prayer to the god of plumbing and bathroom fixtures and, after a few spurts of murky brown water, hot water eventually began to rain down.
After a quick and refreshing shower, she donned her blue terry bathrobe and slippers and pulled on the ancient porcelain bathroom door. She must not have prayed hard enough to the god of bathroom fixtures because the bathroom door handle came off in her hands.
“NO….No..no..no. This can’t be happening!” Mina pounded frantically on the door and called for help before remembering her mother and brother had left early. Mina desperately tried to reattach the door handle but all she succeeded in doing was pushing the other one out the other side.
Mina bit back a scream of frustration. Getting on her knees, she tried to look through the bathroom hole and find out what sort of lock it was. After assessing the situation, Mina discovered she had no clue what it was or how to get out. Frantically, she began to pull out drawers and open cupboards to look for something she could jam into the hole and turn the door. She tried several different things: her mother’s tweezers, and her hairbrush, which was too thick. She had nearly given up her search when finally her eyes fell on the toothbrush holder.
Would it work? Should she try? Grabbing the fattest toothbrush, which happened to be Charlie’s, Mina inserted it handle first and gave it a few turns. It pulled on the lock a bit, but not enough to release the catch. Opening up another drawer Mina grabbed a nail file and inserted it between the door frame and the catch. If she could budge the latch enough to push the nail file through, she’d be free.
For the next few minutes she pushed the file against the catch, carefully twisting the toothbrush back and forth until eventually she felt the door slide open in response.
Mina could almost have cried in relief, another reason to talk to her mother about getting a cell phone. But this latest debacle had made her late for school. Grabbing a violet zippered hoodie, Mina ran out the door and across the lawn, having to double back only once to grab the Happy Maids’ packet from the kitchen table.
After pedaling for two blocks on her bicycle, Mina heard a slight mewing noise. Looking down she saw an orange tabby cat keeping pace just to her right. Mina swerved a few feet to the right to avoid the cat and almost ran over a large dog that was now on the left of her bike.
“Yikes!” Mina stood up and tried to pedal harder to outdistance the animals, but after a few more labored breaths, she looked behind her and they were still there.
“Go away! Shoo!” Mina was worrying that the dog and cat would continue to follow her and get hit by a car. They sped up and seemed to be chasing Mina. Who would have thought a dog and cat together would be chasing her on her bike?
A loud screech and the large colorful object flying toward her head was the only warning that Mina had of a rooster propelling himself from a nearby fence. Ducking, Mina swerved and almost lost control of the bike.
“What the…?” This was the oddest thing that had happened to Mina in a while. She turned her head to see the rooster land behind her next to the dog and cat, and it seemed to join in on the chase.
Turning her head, Mina had only a split second to register that there was a large animal directly in her path, and slammed on her brakes. Too late, Mina lost control and flew headlong over the handlebars of her bike to land crumpled on the sidewalk. In that instant, Mina recognized the animal that caused her wreck but she couldn't believe it. It was a donkey, in the middle of town. And was it wearing a hat?