I was pacing back and forth as I looked up and down the street for my mom’s car. She had never once been late before in picking me up from my academic institute, and she wasn't picking up the phone. I bit my lip as I imagined all sorts of horrible scenarios. Was it a car accident? Or just stuck in traffic? The fact that she wasn't picking up her phone was what worried me the most. 

Brrrrrrring!!! My phone suddenly rang out. 

“Hello?” I answered

“Where are you?” my brother asked.

“I’m in front of my academy waiting for mom to pick me up, but she’s 20 minutes late,” I replied.

He then calmly said, “Don’t worry, but mom was in a car accident. I’m coming to get you right now in a taxi. Wait out front.”

Tears streamed down my face as I waited for my brother. When the taxi finally arrived, my legs were as wobbly as a newborn fawn so my brother had to help me get in.

“What happened?” I demanded to know.

“Someone rear-ended her car. I think it’s pretty bad because an ambulance took her to the hospital. Dad is heading over there right now,” he said.

“Let’s go over there right now!” I screamed.

“Calm down. Due to COVID-19, the hospital doesn’t allow visitors except for one guardian. So we just have to head home,” he told me.

As we stepped into our empty home, it was as eerie as a crypt. My mom quit her job and became a housewife after she had children, so she was always at home taking care of us. I have to admit, as the younger sibling she took extra good care of me and never even made me do one chore. To suddenly have her away from the house made my hands shake. 

“Listen Grace,” my brother said. “I’m not sure how long mom is going to be gone, so we have to step up. Dad’s always busy with work and comes home late, so it’s going to be just the two of us for a while. 

“Who's going to take care of us?” I asked meekly.

He looked at me confidently and said, “We are going to take care of ourselves and this house. I’m about to be a senior and you’re a rising freshman about to start high school next month. It’s about time we took on some responsibility, right?”

Holding back tears I lied and said, “Right, I can handle it.”

The next few days were a nightmare as I had to do everything since my brother took the opportunity to stay out with his friends all day and night. The laundry was piling up, but I didn’t know how to use the laundry machine. Trash piled up as the remaining family members just ordered food for every meal and I didn’t know where to throw away the trash outside. My dog was pooping everywhere and crying as she missed my mom. At least if there was school I would be gone half the day, but it was only the end of July. Thus, I spent most of my day at home looking at the mess enlarging itself like a growing tumor.  Feeling helpless, I called my mom.

“Mom, please come home. I need you, “I pleaded.

“Why, what's wrong?” she asked. 

“Everything’s a mess,” I sobbed. “I thought I could do it and my brother would help me, but he just ran away.”

“Stop crying! I know this is tough right now, but you can do it. It’s my fault for not teaching you anything about the house, but you have to get yourself together. I’m counting on you,” she told me. 

She then instructed me to write down all of her directions for the house. My mom had never told me that she was counting on me before and something in her voice made me snap to attention. My heart was pounding, but I would give it a shot.

The first thing I did was face off with the laundry machine. She told me to separate the colors and the whites, but I just piled everything in. I followed her directions exactly on which buttons to push and the machine actually rumbled to life as it whirred and swooshed! Next, I washed the dishes, emptied all of the overflowing trash cans into one huge trash bag, and gathered the cans and plastics. Then I took it all to the underground level of our parking lot and found the trash drop-off area. It smelled horrible there, but I separated the recyclables with a smile on my face. I went back upstairs and used this fluffy thing my mom told me about to dust every room. Finally, I took the vacuum machine out of the closet and vacuumed the entire home. 

After sticking some clothes in the dryer and hanging others up, I was done after about three and a half hours. Sweat poured down my face as I sat back on my dad’s recliner and took everything in. I did it. I really did it. I wanted to call my mom and tell her everything, but I didn’t. A mature and responsible person would not brag about doing their job. So I just sat here with a big smile on my face and then ordered some food as my dad would be home from work soon. 

That night my brother came home real late and woke me up.

“Hey, who washed my stuff and folded it all up?” he asked.

“I did,” I replied groggily.

“Why and how? That laundry machine is more complicated than calculus” he questioned.

“Because I didn’t want you to go out on dates smelly. Now get out!” I yelled. 

For the next four days, until my mom came home, I tried to keep up the routine by taking out the trash every day and making sure my dog didn’t poop all over the place. The day that she came back, my alarm clock yelled at me to get out of bed at 7am so that I could dust, vacuum, and do the laundry one final time. As I awaited her afternoon arrival, I was amazed at what I had accomplished. Maybe for others, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal, but for a girl who had never washed the dishes before, this was momentous. Though it was only about a week, I really felt like I grew up and matured. I was no longer the helpless little girl who couldn’t do anything around the house. 

Two years have passed since the accident and I am proud to say that I have kept up the routine. I wash the dishes after dinner every weekday and on the weekends, I do the laundry. I used to be such a mess, but now I can’t stand it when my brother leaves a towel on the bathroom floor or my dad leaves his dirty dishes on the dining room table. I give them an earful and demand that they tidy up their stuff. I feel like a new person as I’m on “cloud nine” when the house is sparkling. To top it all off,  my parents have never gone on an overnight trip without us before and now they are planning to go on a trip for three days and two nights in a few weeks. Guess who'll be in charge? Just a hint, it’s not the older sibling.