Tagline: There are times, when you are just too late. Her name is Ramona.

She is 19 years old. This is a story. Her story. Part 1 Ramona! Where are you? Evelyn placed a bowl of mash potatoes on the dinner table. Ramona! God, where is she? She should be home by now. Evelyn continued preparing the table for dinner. Her husband was out of town. He was always out of town. Samantha and Amanda were running around the house. Amanda was trying to catch Samantha with her one hand holding a Barbie doll. Caleb is nowhere to be seen. He is just probably outside somewhere on the surface of earth making new discoveries to be contributed in the science field for better future generation. Nobody knows. Alright now, thats enough girls. Go get yourselves ready. Were having dinner in five minutes. Call your brother inside. The world can continue its rotation without him for half an hour of dinner, wouldnt it? Evelyn called to her two daughters. But Mom, Ramon is not here yet. We cant have dinner without her. You always said nobody can skip family dinner. Amanda is the mayonnaise of the family. She keeps them together. It will always be rainbows and hearts with her. Just to top everything up, she is the youngest in the family. Yet, no one can make more sense than her. Why dont we wait for her? Yes, honey, I know, but I dont think shell be back for dinner tonight. This is not her first time anyway. Now, clean up your toys and call your brother in. The doors open. Geez, thanks a lot Mom. What a fond memory youre feeding my sister about me. Ramona was just back from her friends house. She had been spending a lot of time outside these days. She could not seem to stay too long in the house. She felt doing so was somewhat suffocating. I can come back in time for dinner, just so you know. Its just that most of the time, I dont want to. Its not like this is a real family dinner anyway. If it is, Dad should be here. Honey, your Dad has to work. How many times do I have to repeat myself about this? Evelyn could not seem to make her daughter understand about his husbands work issue. Richard had not been able to hang on to a steady job. There is always a problem. And always, each time, he has to work far from home. This had been an issue sometimes before Ramona was born. Now, Ramona is already 19 and still, Richard had not changed. Evelyn did not know what she could do. They have been moving around a lot. She knew this situation bothers Ramona but she had not been making it into a big deal

before this. Usually, she would just adapt to the new environment and make new friends. She had also been very good, inviting her friends to come over for dinner and such. Cut it out Ramon; dont make it so hard for Mom. Lets just eat. Caleb heard them argue almost about everything, almost all of the time, almost especially about Dad. At first she was okay, having Dad working away from home doesnt seem to bother Ramona so much. She did not cause so much trouble but somehow things started to change when they moved to this neighborhood five years ago. Ramona was 14 years old at that time. Since then, trouble was her middle name. Ill pass. Suddenly I dont have the mood to eat anymore. Suit yourself. Come on Mom, lets eat. Come Samantha, Amanda, we dont want to let those fried chicken wait for us, dont we? No longer caring, Evelyn seated herself at the dinner table. She could not deal with this, at least, not for now. Ramona thought this is not hard for her. Ramona thought that having her Dad working far from home was easy for her. Evelyn, kids, Im home! The door was opened and closed. The living room was empty. Richard took off his coat and headed for the dining room. Daddy! Daddy! Daddys home! Samantha and Amanda screamed at the same time. They got off their chairs and jumped on their father. Hi there sweethearts, how are you? Daddy is so sorry. Daddy comes home late. He hugged his two little daughters and mouthed something to Evelyn. Shes upstairs. Evelyn answered Richard and shake her head. Richard knew that was not a good signal. He put the two girls down. Caleb went to his Dad and hugged him. Hi Dad, I thought youre not back until this weekend. Oh yeah, well, about that. Actually I have great news I need to tell all of you. Why dont you go get your sister to come down? Meanwhile, Ramona was upstairs in her room listening to everything that is happening downstairs. She quickly ran to her bed and pull out an I-dont-care expression. There is a knock on the door. She left the knocking to go on. Then, it stopped and the door opened and Caleb was already at the end of her bed. I didnt give you permission to enter my room. Wheres your manner? Ramona enjoyed annoying everyone around her.

Wheres yours? I havent seen one for a long time. Look, I dont have time to play Whos Remarks are Smarter okay? Dad is downstairs. Hes back and he has something to tell all of us. Caleb knew all these rebelling acts were just pretence. His sister could do better than this. If only he knew what had caused her sister to do so. I dont care. Ramona was not going to give up. Well, I do. So you better come downstairs with me right now or Ill Or youll what? Or Ill post those vain pictures of yours in Facebook and add all your friends and then tag all of them and make your social life a living hell. Caleb knows thats a very stupid offer of blackmailing he is doing. But who cares, Ramona will go downstairs anyway. Gosh, I didnt know youre capable of doing that. You seem like an innocent dork. Ramona loves teasing her brother. She doesnt get it anyway. Why would Caleb bother doing all those scientific experiments? The world will end one day anyway. Why not just make most of it. Oh well, youve got the wrong impression of this dork. Those evil things youre doing, you got some of them from me and as much as I want to keep this conversation going, Mom and Dad are waiting for us downstairs so make your choice fast. Whatever. Ramona gets off her bed and heads for the door. She climbs down the stairs and then stops. Caleb was just right behind her. And darling, dont try to fool me. There are no vain pictures. Those things were me 6 years ago and me 6 years ago is gone, along with those pictures. Next time, dont ever try blackmailing me again. Youre a lousy blackmailer. You can never be me. And besides, I dont think mine could be more humiliating than those other vain pictures that are already posted on Facebook. Just walk. He knows what she is talking about. He himself does not understand why people could put the same pictures of themselves in seven awkward positions. As if he didnt know all of those pictures were self captured. This is what camera phones do these daysencouragement of narcissism. The others were all at the dinner table. Richard could not wait to tell them the big news. He was sure the news would make them happy, especially Ramona. Hi, Dad. Ramona greets her father.

Hi, honey, you look great. He hugs her but she doesnt hug him back. It was awkward, but to be expected. He was not expecting Ramona to jump on him. She allowing him to hug her is good enough. Yeah, lifes been great. Richard noticed that tone. He was going to make it right. With the news hes going to tell, he was sure that everything is going to be alright. Well, nice to hear that. Now, why dont we sit down and eat. Then Ill tell you my big news. Cant wait. Ramona seats herself beside Samantha. Ramona just cant put off her sarcastic tone. She sits down anyway. Truth be told, she really wanted to know what the big news would be about. Still, she acted all tough and cold. Richard finished his meal and said, Okay guys, here it goes. Im moving back. I got a job here and Evelyn, this one pays a lot more than my last one. This is it. It is going to be great. Were all going to be together again. Wow, Richard, thats good news. I cant believe this. This is so great. You dont have to go away anymore and our kids, they can see their father every day. Isnt that great, Caleb, Ramona? Yes, Mom, this is great! Isnt this great Ramona? Caleb gave her a stern look. The look that says you-better-agree-with-me but Ramona was not going to make things easier for them. This was big news to her. But it was not a good one like Richard had assumed. Ramona did not know what to think. She did not know how to act. She could not even tell what she is feeling. This was all too much for her to take. She just left the dinner table while Samantha and Amanda were hugging Dad and Mom at the same time. Youre 17 years late. She mumbled to herself.