Prologue
“Dammit, Hayley.” Karen said, covering her nose as she tossed her backpack onto the living room floor. Her sister turned to her for a moment before quickly fixing her eyes back on the T.V.
“Don’t ignore me!” Karen yelled, as Hayley’s face turned around, permanently this time.
“What?” Hayley asked non-chalantly
“You pooped again, didn’t you?” Karen said. The fourteen year old rubbed her forehead in exasperation at her little sister.
“No,” Hayley replied, the seven year old returning to watching her programming as if the question obviously did not need asking. Karen marched over to the couch, roughly grabbing her sister by the arm as she pulled her off the couch.
“HEY!” Hayley yelled, as her body was wrenched upward, and the dark stain on the couch cushion beneath her exposed. She felt the load hanging slightly from her behind as she pulled her arm out of her sister’s grasp.
“You idiot, I can always tell.” Karen said venomously, “Why do you always lie, it stinks up the whole fucking house!”
“Shut up!” Hayle screamed, running down the hall, as bits of poo her out her pants leg onto the floor. Karen heard the sobbing begin as she angrily picked up the cushion and took it outside, spraying it with foaming fabric cleaner. It might not get it all out, but hopefully the house wouldn’t stink as bad.
She ran through the house, spot treating the carpet before it made permanent stains and opening windows as she heard the quiet sobs of her sister emanating from the bathroom. She ignored the sobs, it had become a practice. Her mother had taken Hayley to every doctor in town, as far as they said there was nothing wrong with her. So now she wasn’t coddling the stupid little kid anymore. Not like her mom did anyway.
Hayley sat on the toilet, feeling the mess in her panties, sobbing to herself. She knew she had done it again, right in the middle of her favorite show. Had she felt it coming? She wasn’t sure. She just knew when the first poop came out it wasn’t worth trying to hold in the rest. She gotten up, but it was wet and had already gotten into the cushion. What else could she do? If she waited until it dried, maybe she could turn the cushion over and hide her pants. Of course, her big sister had known right away. It wasn’t like Karen didn’t know she pooped her pants, but the anger on her big sister’s face tore through her every time.
By the time her mom came home the house smelled somewhat fresh again. Karen was working in the dining room, getting homework done for the next day. She hadn’t heard from Hayley since, but she was assuming the girl was still sulking in the bathroom.
“Hey honey, where’s Hayley?” Sheryl, her mother, asked as she set her purse down.
“Probably still in the bathroom crying.” Karen replied disgusted.
Sheryl turned her view down the hall, hearing the muffled cries, “What happened?”
“She shit all over the couch again. I told her off.” Karen replied.
“Why are you so mean to her?” Sheryl asked sadly.
“Why aren’t you!” Karen yelled, standing up and pointing down the all. “She craps on everything! Even in my room last week and she knows she’s not allowed to go in there. It’s like this every day and she –always- lies about it. I’m the only person in the world with a seven year old sister who shits herself everyday!”
“You will not speak to me that way.” Sheryl said in a dark tone. Karen took a deep breath and sat back down as she heard Hayley’s sobs renew. “Don’t worry, I’m coming to clean you up sweetheart,” Sheryl called as she started down the hall towards the bathroom. She glanced back to Karen, “We’re talking about this later.”
The family dinner was silent and somber as Karen munched on her food angrily. Her mom always took Hayley’s side, and Hayley was causing problems for everyone. Hayley just sat there eating slowly, Karen couldn’t help but think of her as a poop machine with a soon to be likely-hood of her messing up the house more. How it didn’t get her mom angrier was beyond her.
“Girls, we need to talk about today.” Sheryl said, finally cutting through the silence.
Karen just raised her eyebrows as Hayley pointedly ignored her mother and continued playing with her food.
“Hayley, why don’t you use the toilet.” Sheryl asked pleadingly, finally getting a response from her youngest daughter as Hayley noticeably stiffened.
“I do.” Hayley said quietly.
“When was the last time you pooped in the toilet?” Sheryl asked
“Yesterday?” Hayley asked quizzically.
“Unless she poops three times a day it’s been more than a week.” Karen snapped back.
“Karen, back-off,” Sheryl chided, “Honey, why aren’t you using the potty?”
“I dunno” Hayley said, and made a motion of going back to eat.
“Karen, it’s almost summer. How am I supposed to let you two go at it all day. I was going to pay you to watch Hayley this summer since you’re fourteen now, but I can’t do that if you’re going to treat her like this.” Sheryl said.
Monetary figures, fun times with no school danced through Karen’s head as she analyzed the possibility. Then the clean-ups came back and Karen grimaced.
“You couldn’t pay me enough mom.” Karen said, “I am not going to run through the house all summer picking up poop. Stick her in daycare.”
“I don’t want to go to daycare!” Hayley begged suddenly, “Please, let me stay home with you?”
“Isn’t there anyway you can do it?” Sheryl asked, “You know how much you hated daycare when you were Hayley’s age.”
Karen sighed, looking at her little sister. She hated her. She loved her. She and Hayley had had a pretty good relationship until about two years ago. She’d always been lax about her potty habits, but that hadn’t been too out of line for a five year old. When their dad had died, it was like Hayley had given up entirely. She felt bad for her sister, but it wasn’t her fault dad was dead. She was dealing with it too. And now she was apparently going to be picking up shit all summer.
“Okay, one condition,” Karen said as her mother and sister looked at her expectantly,
“Sure honey, what?” Sheryl asked.
“She wears diapers the whole time.” Karen said, “I can even change her, but I’m tired of trying to get it off of everything she’s playing near or around. She wears diapers or you get someone else to watch her.”
“NO!” Hayley said aghast, “I’m not a baby!” She looked frantically between her sister and mother but saw no sympathy from either. This was entirely unfair. She didn’t try to poop her panties, it just happened. Sometimes she helped clean it up too. It’d just been too messy for her to handle today. “I promise I won’t p…”
“No,” Karen cut her off, “I’ve heard that one a million times. Summer break starts in two weeks. You’re wearing diapers, you don’t have to use them, but I’m not risking the clean-up.” Karen replied with finality.
“Sweetheart,” Sheryl said, rubbing Hayley’s back, “I think it’s a fair request. Your big sister shouldn’t have so much trouble cleaning up after you.” She turned to her older daughter, “You’re not going to make fun of her or be mean about changing her, right?”
“How much money we talking?” Karen said in a mock businesslike manner.
“Well, it’d cost $600 to put her in daycare for a month, is that enough?” Sheryl asked, watching her daughter’s eyes go wide with greed. She neglected to mention how much extra should would probably have to get someone to watch a pants-pooper, but if her daughter didn’t know about market rates, so much the better.
“You’re on.” Karen said happily,
“Okay, but you’ve got to be a really good big sister. If Hayley wants to go to daycare instead, you lose your job.” Sheryl replied, happy that she had balanced her family again, if only for a little while. Things were so hard without Tom, but she honestly didn’t know what to do with Hayley. Karen’s diaper suggestion wasn’t that outlandish. The three couches they’d gone through in the last half-year was testimony to that. A summer would see whether it was a solution or a detriment to the overall problem.
“Sounds good,” Karen said, and pressed with the threat of daycare, Hayley grudgingly accepted as well. It was better to spend the summer in diapers with a T.V. than in daycare being bored as hell with little kids.
So, good job so far.