Abigail's New Family
It was It was very cold, both outside and inside the cubby house. Abigail’s white dress by now looked light brown given how dirty it was. My mobile rang. I very slowly answered the call, afraid about what I was going to hear. “Keith!” Karen sounded irritated. “Where in the world are you? Did you find your watch?” “Yes, I’m sorry. It took a while to find it. I dropped it in the park but I’ve found it now. I’ll be home in an hour.” “Hurry up. You’ve missed dinner.” “I’ll make it up to you.” “Okay, I’ll wait for you in bed. I love you.” I hung up and saw Abigail entering the cubby house holding a pot plant. I remembered I had to get back to Karen soon. It was getting dark. “I have to go now,” I said. “My wife wants me home.” “Will you come back?” “Yes, I’ll bring more food. Do you often sleep here?” “No.” “You’ve never slept out here before?” “I always get hungry,” she said, “so I never sleep here.” “Well, now you’ve got tinned food.” “I don’t like tin food.” “It’s good for your health,” I said. “The nutrients are locked in.” “Can I go home with you?” she asked. “You want to go to my home?” She nodded excitedly. “I want to see your family.” “I don’t have a bed for you.” "Can I sleep with you?" “My wife won’t like that. She might tell your dad or she might ring the police and I’ll go to prison for kidnapping you.” Since she was inside the cubby house, Abigail's plain white dress was starting to dry but it was still moist from the rain. The little girl was shivering in the chilly night air. I took off my jacket and threw it on her. She put it around herself like a blanket. Once I had taken off my jacket I noticed how cold I was. I started to shiver myself. “It’s really cold here.” “Are you going to leave me here?” asked Abigail. “Do you want me to stay?” She nodded. “Please?” “I’m very cold,” I said. Abigail took off my jacket and gave it back to me. I was about to put my jacket back on, but the little girl grabbed me. "Use it like a blanket," she said, "and you can sleep here at night." I tried to lie down in the cubby house with my back on the floor. I stared up at the ceiling and put the jacket over my body like a blanket. The little girl then crawled underneath the jacket and lied on top of me. Her chin rested over my left shoulder. Her legs wrapped around my waist and I could feel her chest on my chest. With the little girl lying on top of me, my body temperature increased significantly. I wrapped my arms around her to warm myself up. I tried to fully recline my body but found that I had to bend my knees because I was six feet (1.83 meters) tall and the cubby house was one meter in length and width. I fixed this problem by letting my feet escape from the door. It was starting to get dark, and soon I wouldn't be able to see much. With Abigail sleeping on me, I couldn't get up without waking her up, and I didn't want to wake her up. My legs were exposed to the cold night air outside, but since I was so tired I fell asleep a few minutes later. ---- The mobile woke me up. I answered the phone with a croaky morning voice. “Hello?” Karen spoke. “Keith, you didn’t come home last night! Where in God's name are you? I’m worried!” I paused. “Karen, I…my car…it ran out of fuel, so I had to walk to the gas station, but when I came back to the car I was too tired to drive so I slept in the car.” “Are you serious?” “I’m sorry, Karen, I’ll come home right away.” “Don’t bother. I’m at the mall right now with
Timothy getting groceries and Christmas shopping. I dropped Jessica off at
ballet this morning and I need you to pick her up at “Okay then.” I looked at my watch and noticed it
was Karen spoke. “Come home this time!” I hung up and quickly noticed that Abigail was not in the cubby house with me. She must have already woken up. When I walked outside, I was greeted with sunlight and a cloudless sunny day. When my eyes adjusted to the light, I noticed Abigail by the rivulet. She was watering one of her pot plants by bathing it in the stream of water. I walked up to the little girl. She saw my shadow approaching and turned her face towards me. “Hello,” she said. I sat down on the grass near the little girl. “Abby, I have to go pick up Jessica now.” “Who’s Jessica?” “She’s my daughter. I have to pick her up from ballet and bring her home.” Abigail paused. She looked at the shallow stream of water before looking back at me. “Can I come?” “Okay, but we have to go now. Hurry up.” “I have to bring my plants.” Abigail had four pot plants she wanted to bring along. On the way back to the car park we each carried two plants, one in each hand. When we arrived at the car we put the pot plants in the boot. I reminded myself to drive smoothly so the dirt wouldn’t spill. Abigail sat in the back seat right behind me. I arrived at ballet ten minutes late, but Jessica didn’t seem to mind. She was waiting with her other friends outside the hall. When I saw her, Jessica seemed very energetic, but after she jumped into the back seat and saw a stranger sitting near her she quickly became cautious. I twisted my body to talk to the two girls at the back. “Jessica, this is Abby, she is the Pastor’s daughter.” “Hi,” Jessica said to the stranger. Abigail was shy and didn’t respond. I spoke to Jessica. “Is it okay with you if she lives with us for a while?” “It's okay,” said Jessica. "I don't mind." Seeing both Jessica and Abigail reminded me of the age difference between these two girls. Although Abigail was only five years old, Jessica was more than double that age at eleven. For a long time I had thought of Jessica as a little girl but seeing her sit near little Abigail made my daughter look like a big girl. ---- I arrived home with the two girls and we settled in the house for about five minutes before Karen and Timmy came back from the mall. When my wife Karen asked me who the new girl was I lied and told her that I found her on the streets all by herself. I didn't say anything about our pastor. "Maybe we should take her to the police station," said Karen. "They'll try to find the girl's parents." "She has no parents," I said, aware I was lying. I walked upstairs to Jessica's bedroom and found inside the room both Jessica and Abigail. The two girls were sitting on the bed. Both were talking to each other, but after I came in they stopped talking and both looked at me. Jessica's upstairs bedroom was a perfect cube that was three meters in height, length, and width. The walls were white and were devoid of posters or any decoration. Near the door was her bed. On the wall opposite the door was the window. Facing the window was Jessica's writing desk. Her computer lied on the carpet. She didn't put the computer on the desk. If she did, she wouldn't have enough space for writing. On another wall was a closet where Jessica stored her clothes. Jessica's bedroom was connected to her very own private bathroom, which included not only a toilet but also a shower, a bathtub, and a sink. Timmy sometimes told me he thought it was unfair that Jessica got the bedroom with the bathroom and he didn't. I will have to spend more money in the future to build a bathroom in his bedroom if he starts to complain too much. Abigail poked my back with her finger to get my attention. "I need to get my plants," she said. I told Jessica to stay in her room while Abigail and I went outside to the driveway to fetch the four pot plants from the boot of the car. Jessica looked at Abigail and me silently as we carried the plants into her room. Abigail carried one plant into the bedroom while I carried two. Abigail went downstairs to get the last pot plant, leaving me alone with my daughter. Jessica walked over to the window and looked at the pot plants on the window sill. "What are these plants for?" she asked. "Abby likes to grow her own plants," I said. "She likes to feed the plant with her own wee and poo." Jessica scrunched up her face in disgust. "Yuck!" |