Maryanne
Yesterday, Angeline and I ate pizza and watched a lot of movies. She made me an ice cream sundae and she painted my nails and toes a sparkly purple color. I never thought I'd say it, but I had a fun time. I was comfortable enough to share some of my personal experiences with her. What I didn't expect was her telling me that she loves me. I recalled her saying it that night I eavesdropped on her rant with Dario, then again yesterday.
On to the bad news. Some stranger they call neighbor is coming over to 'babysit' me. It's ridiculous. I'm thirteen years old, I've survived living on the streets, so I think I can handle being in a house alone for a couple of hours. It's a lot safer than outside. If they are afraid that someone might to break in and kidnap me, then what's the point of having a security system.
"Please, don't give me those eyes, sweetheart. You are going to make me change my mind," she holds my chin up.
"Don't fall for it," He tells Angeline. I thought he'd change his mind too.
Rude!
"Mary it's only till nine. Would you rather have our neighbor come here or send you to their house? Those are your only options because we won't allow to sit here by yourself," he says.
"I won't be by myself, Lola and Frenchie are here," I attempt to convince him.
"That doesn't count. They may be big, but they can only do so much," he turns to the kitten in the corner grooming herself.
"Dario, please," I beg.
"No, bambina. End of discussion". And just like that I flop down on the couch. Angeline comes over to comfort me.
"Angie. She'll be fine".
"Okay," before she cease from rubbing my arm and kissing my face, She whispers in my ear. "I'll bring back dessert okay. It's just for tonight, honey". I nod my heady giving angry eyes at Dario. When did he become so mean.
"No pouting. Young lady. Gemma is coming right about now".
Just as he says it, the camera announced her presence then the door bell rings. Dario walks off to answer the door and Angeline gives me a sympathetic look. I hear greetings from afar then I'm graced with a tall, pale skinned and oranged haired girl. She's wearing a large olive green hoodie and baggy jeans and carrying a phone in her hand. Angeline gives her a hug and kiss her on both sides of her face.
"Thanks for coming to babysit our little one. How's your mother?" She ask.
Little one? I'm not two.
"She's a lot better. The doctor said that she be able to use the scooter once her leg heals a bit. I'm just happy to get out of the house. She's been driving me crazy. Our house isn't big enough for me to hide away from her". Angeline awes.
She acknowledges me and waves. I awkwardly wave back.
Angeline formalizes an introduction, "Gemma, this is Maryanne. Mary, this is Gemma".
Gemma grins, "Nice to meet you. It's about time we get more kids around here, all my friends live a lot further away". Okay, she doesn't seem too bad.
After making small talk, Dario announce that it was time for them to go.
"Gemma you know your way around so it would be much trouble. Just make sure she eats and don't worry about bedtime we should be back around nine," Angeline informs. I can go to bed at any time. It just so happens that ever since I moved here, I unintentionally fall asleep earlier than I used to.
"Of course, Mrs. Morello. Me and the little one will be great". I roll my eyes. I take back what I said. Angeline and Dario says goodbye and I watch them leave out the front door. Do they expect me to trust her right off the bat?
-||-
Gemma goes into the kitchen and helps herself to some orange juice.
Is she allowed to just go in there?
She opens the pantry and takes out a bag of the popcorn,"When, your parents described you as their 'little one', I expected you to be a toddler. But you're what...Eight?" She eases down on the bar stool.
"No. I'm thirteen and they aren't my parents. I stay with them and they take care of me," I say. I didn't want to come off as offensive, it just that hearing her call then my parents made me feel like I was replacing my dad.
I watch her make a weird face and take a sip of the juice,"Hey. Im sorry. I just thought they adopted you. I didn't mean to assume. You are tiny for a thirteen year old".
"I've been told. How old are you?" I ask. She looks about eighteen.
She flips her hair, then stuffs a handful of popcorn into her mouth,"I'm seventeen, I'll be graduating next year. What grade are you in? 7th or 8th?".
"I never been to school". But I dream about it all the time.
"Ever?". I shake my head. "I wish! school is so boring and stressful. So many rules and expectations..." she changes her persona from the anxious expression on my face. "-everyone has their own experiences. When I leave I'm not going to college. I'm going to be a full time social media influencer and travel the world".
"What's that?". Gemma raises both brows. She almost looks baffled.
"Ever heard of YouTube?". I come across it a few times. Whenever my dad rarely let me use his phone. And at this one shelter, they had computers. "You have to live under a rock if you don't know what YouTube is," Gemma starts tapping on her phone and stands next to me.
"See! I have 700k subscribers and I got over a million views on a video I put out last year. I post on other platforms as well, but YouTube is my baby," She shows me, while scrolling through her phone.
"What do you do on there?". I ask.
"I create content. I show my audience the good places to eat and shop, I show them where I go for vacation. I basically blog my life". She makes it sound so easy.
"And you get money for doing it?".
"It's one of the perks. Right now I'm working on a day in the life. Want to be in the video?". I shrug. She sets her phone and brings it up to her face, while I stand awkwardly in the background. She babbles on about her day, then turns the screen to me. I go with my first instinct and display a half smile. Gemma reviews what we recorded, puts her phone in her pocket and tells me she's going to the bathroom.
While she's away, I head over to the kittens' room and find them lounging in their flower cat tree. I grab on of their fishing pole cat toy, charming them into playing. First, their heads follow my movements then Lola raise her paw to touch the crochet fish at the end of the line, hitting it a few times. I was hoping to get more action. Gemma must have came back from the bathroom because I hear music in the background. I step out of the room finding her phone propped up on the coffee table as she dances in front of it. She's weird.
I end up watching tv and Gemma is infatuated with her phone. I'm not sure what her definition of baby sitting entails. She can be more entertaining if she wasn't sitting on her phone for hours. Kids these days. At least Elaine took me places. She is spaces away from me, giggling and talking to herself. Her fingers moving at an high rate.
"I'm craving a burger sooo bad," she groans. "Should I order some food and have it delivered?" She says to herself. A minute later, she ask me, "Mary, I'm getting food for us. What do you want? Angeline said to make sure you eat, so it's my treat".
"A burger?" I say.
"Me too-ah!" She goes off to place the order saying it will take up to fifteen minutes.
Afterward, Frenchie makes an appearance out from the cat door, going in the hallway . I fed her and Lola a snack, prior. I don't think Gemma is a fan of cats because she didn't bother to interact with them or help me feed them.
I had nothing better to do, so I sneaked off and followed her. She is much more entertaining than Gemma. I decided to pretend to be cat, going on my hands and knees. I follow her every move her long upright fluffy tail swishing. She stop to turns around, noticing my form.
"Lead the way, captain," I say. She ignores me and continue to walk in a zig zag line. I wasn't fixed on where we were headed, till I'm looking inside Angeline and Dario's bedroom. It's mostly kept tidy and neat, unlike my room, at times. The combination of perfume and cologne combined fills the air. I look for Frenchie and she disappears. I crawl over to Angeline's side of the bed and discover the lower half of frechie is exposed as her upper half is under the bed. My bed doesn't have space underneath.
"Are you hiding now?" I ask. I army crawl under the bed to see what she's doing. I hit my head against something. Coming from under, I use a little muscle to pull it out, revealing the silver trunk I discovered in their closet. Last time, I found it locked, however I see that latches are undone. I slowly lift the top, it has a design of small pink and blue flowers on a vine in the inside. As I look deeper, I see random baby items. A familiar item catches my eye. I stopped my search instantly. so-so? It's definitely a different color, but i don't care. I took it out squealing with happiness. I keep it in my hand, quickly sliding the trunk under the bed.
-|||-
It is night time, I'm siting on my bed writing in the notebook Dario and Angeline bought me. My hand writing is better than my ten year old hand writing. I stay in the lines and have a steadier hand. Angeline said I'll be attending school and I don't know what it entails. I need the practice! So far, I wrote a letter to Elaine in purple ink, but I don't know how it will reach her. I miss her a lot just as much as I miss my dad. I wrote him a letter too.
I left Gemma a while ago because she started arguing with her mother on the phone. She's not a very good babysitter. My ears listen for the sound of the security system signaling their arrival. Finally. I say to myself I check the clock on my bedside table. It reads Eight-thirty. They are early and I'm happy about it. I hear Dario and Angeline's mumbled voices before two pair shoes make their way into my bedroom.
"Hi Honey! You're still awake?" She struts in my room coming over to me.
"Hey, bambina," Dario placed his hand on my head.
Angeline cups my face, showering me with kisses."We missed you!". Im getting used to all of this attention. I still get fuzzy, but it takes more than a few kisses. It's weird how my brain and body works.
"Well, I wanted to stay longer to finish watching the game, but a little birdie begged me to leave early. When it didn't work they threatened me," He utters out. "You owe me," he smacks Angeline's butt. She pushes his hand away with a stern look.
"What are you working on there?" She looks at my notebook, analyzing it.
"I'm writing." I say before closing the page.
"Oh, okay. Dessert is in the kitchen sweetness," she takes my hand and I pull back.
"Gemma?" I ask.
"She just left. She thought you were sleeping," Dario states.
"She said that she enjoyed watching you and that you were well behaved and quiet".
Good for her.
"I'll keep her in mind the next time we go out again".
No to infinity.
I shake my head. Vigorously.
●●●
"How do you know, someone is looking for her?" the man asked. He was pacing, holding the phone tightly to his ear.
"You heard from who?-" he listened to his friend on the other end. "There are a lot of girls in this area that look just like her," he argued. His heart started to pump faster.
"Did you know who they are? what they look like?...It's a private investigation...Well, what am I supposed to do, I can't let them take her away I'll--She's standing next to me," he whispered then looked at the young girl, playing with a tiny stuffed rainbow leopard from a kids meal.
"Well, tell me when I need to leave... Today? "How long do you think they'll be lookin?...Yeah, I can manage a month. Okay I will meet you," he ended the call briefly.
"Mary?" The man calmly said to his daughter, masking his anxiety.
"Yes, daddy?" she said, still focused in her imaginary world.
"We are going on trip, for a while".
"Where?" she put the toy aside, giving the man her full attention.
"It's a surprise,".
"Is Elaine coming, too?" she asked.
"No, it's only for us. A daddy and daughter special vacation. Besides I don't think she's a fan of travel".
"When are we leaving?" the girl tilted her head.
"Today, we have to pack our bags". She nodded.
"I'm gonna go tell Elaine I'm going on a surprise trip!". He watched his daughter run to find the older woman. While he was checking his phone, the older woman shows up at his side.
"Mary tells me you are taking her on a surprise trip," the woman didn't look impressed.
"I am," the man said.
"For how long?" she said arching a brow.
"I don't now yet. A month or so," he looked back down at his phone.
"I see... and why all of a sudden?".
"I want her to see more of this country we live in, instead of her being cooped up here all the time. You know?".
"Mmm. Okay," her green orbs appeared darker in the eyes of the man.
"Why do you always have to question me Elaine? you're so judgmental," his voice raised.
"I wouldn't have to, if you didn't always look like you're up to something".
"I don't. You're just nosey".
She shook her head and smirked, "You know I only tolerate you speaking to me like that because of that gem you have. I'm too old to be arguing with children".
"I'm not a child, I'm a grown man," he puffed up his chest.
"Right, and you're still young enough to be my son. Did your mother teach you anything about respecting your elders". The man bit his tongue at the mention of his mother."I don't know what your situation is, but running from your problems won't make it easier for you or for her especially".
"I'm not running. I'm taking my daughter on a trip. Can I do that or not?" he responded.
"You can do whatever you want Benjamin," she held her hand up.
The little girl came back with her small back pack. "Daddy, Elaine gave me a granola bar and an apple, So I won't get too hungry on our trip. We can share".
"If Elaine gave it to you, then it's yours little lady. But thanks anyways".
Soon the man told his daughter to say goodbye to the older woman.
"Come here, precious give me a hug," she squeezed the little girl tight. "Come back. Okay? or I'll miss you too much".
The girl touches the woman's scar, "I'll miss you too. A lot...Daddy we're coming back, right?" The looked over her shoulder.
"Yeah, hopefully," he said.
"He said yes". The older woman laughed.
"Well just in case, I want you to keep practicing your writing and reading the books I gave you. And remember that your grams love you," she kissed her cheek.
"Yes, I will. I love you too grams".
"Benjamin, I want you to bring her back to me. Alright?" she demanded.
"I'll try".
"Don't try. You will. Have her safe and keep her fed. You hear me?" She raises her voice, a little.
He rolled is eyes,"Sometimes I wonder who is the parent here".
"Why question it? When you know the answer".
"I know the answer. Do you?".
"It's You! Right?" She placed a finger under her chin.
"Elaine don't joke" the man warned.
"Daddy, are we leaving or not?" The girl tapped out and sat on the ground with her legs crossed.
"Don't get sassy little girl," he forewarned.
The little girl huffed and folded her arms.