Don't Tell Mother Read Online Free Page A

it! I’d had enough!
    “Time to shove my fist in your face.” I lunged at Mike, clawing and punching at whatever skin I could find.
    Unfortunately, my brother was a skilled fighter. He’d had fourteen years of practice holding me down and farting in my face. Before I had time to stop him, he had my arm twisted behind my back and my face pressed into the wall.
    “Allison Jenette,” Mother screeched as she came flying down the hallway. “That is no way for a lady to behave.”
    I pushed Mike off of me and faced my mother, rubbing the sore wrist he had squeezed too hard. “What about him?” I yelled.
    How did I know this would all be my fault? Didn’t she see I was the one in the headlock?
    Suddenly, Mike’s chest deflated and his shoulders dropped. His blue eyes were as wide as saucers, making him look like an innocent schoolboy. “I was coming out of the bathroom and she attacked me.”
    “Yeah, right,” I fumed. “Like you were doing nothing wrong?”
    “She called me a pig.” He pointed an accusing finger, batting his lashes and turning his lips in a pout.
    As if I could hurt his feelings! The maggot had no feelings! “You are a pig.”
    “Young lady, that’s enough.” Mother’s hands were on her hips, her stern glare sending me warning signals. I’d seen that look thousands of times, right before I got my stereo taken away or I was put on social probation.
    “Why does he get to stay out late on a school night?” I demanded.
    Mother gave Mike a doting smile, right before turning her eye darts back on me. “He has to keep his grades up.”
    “Yeah.” Mike folded his arms across his chest, tilting his chin. “It isn’t easy being so successful.”
    “Are you going to get her to do your homework like all your other girlfriends, or is she doing other favors for you?”
    Mother stepped back, fingers splayed across her chest, looking like I had just belched at the table. “I can’t believe you are talking like that with your mother present.”
    I hated it when she spoke in third person, and the way she used the word “mother” like she was referring to a queen.
    Mike was laughing under his breath and making faces at me from behind her. Such a child. How could girls like him?
    Anger returned with a vengeance. “Do me a favor and die, Mike.”
    “Allison, that’s a terrible thing to say.” Mother whimpered like a wounded animal. Her bottom lip trembled, and there was a hint of a tear in her right eye. “Don’t ever wish death on anyone. What if he died tonight? Wouldn’t you feel bad?”
    Would I? At the moment, I didn’t think so. I’d have the bathroom all to myself. No more zit juice on the mirror or Vaseline smeared all over the toilet seat. Not to mention my life would no longer be a living hell!
    I decided to be the mature one in the situation and bow out. “I’m getting in the shower.”
    “Good,” Mother scolded. “Maybe you should wash that mouth out with soap.”
    I shut the door on her before she finished speaking. I knew that would really make her mad, but I couldn’t trust my temper a minute longer. My friends knew I spoke whatever was on my mind and then some.
    I swore as I drew back the shower curtain. Mike had left the shampoo cap off; the bottle had tipped over, leaving a gooey mess dripping down the center of the tub. What a waste. Now, there was barely enough left for me. Pig .
    No use complaining. Mike would say I did it, and Mother would side with him—like always.
    I groaned, thinking of what she must be telling my step-dad, Ted, about me. How I’d attacked my brother, told him to die, and then shut the door in her face. Mother always complains to my step-dad that I don’t care about her feelings and that I intentionally act up to make her life hell.
    Thank God Ted doesn’t always believe her. I don’t know what I’d do without his support. He was the only family member I could tolerate.
    If Mother knew what I thought sometimes, how really aggravating she