Phone rang around 7pm last night. It was my 6 year old cousin, the one who's too smart for her own good. Wanting to come here to mom's for the night. I said my mom wasn't here, she had gone to an x-mas party with her church group. The kid handed the phone to someone else.
Someone not my aunt. She said that my cousin was suppose to stay over there but now couldn't, and wanted to know if she could drop her off here.
Me-:"Sure. It's just me for the next three or so hours though."
I heard her turn and tell my cousin she could drop her off with her sister if she'd rather. Then I heard my cousin state very plainly that she would come here and wait with me for my mom to get back.
My 6 year old cousin doesn't really like me. She's compared me to the witch from Hansel and Gretel.
When they got here little bit later, the lady was in a rush and said once again she could take my cousin to her sister's. The kid shook her head dragging her backpack on the floor behind her and said "No. I know she's not going to go anywhere." dropping her backpack at my feet.
The kid came in, took the remote for the tv putting on some christmas cartoon and asked me to make her mac and cheese. Which is like the only thing the kid ever seems to eat.
What I've noticed about the kid is that she's always got to be in arms length of people. When her and my aunt are here she either sits in her lap or sits so that she can be shoulder to shoulder with her. When my mom babysits, the kid sits so that if she reaches her arm out she ends up touching my mom's shoulder or elbow.
With me, the kid just sat in the living room ignoring me. Did not ask to play any games, did not bother to tell me how her week was which are always the first things she does normally when she comes here, tells my mom all about her week and always has at lest four board games she wants to play.
When I turned to tell her that the mac and cheese was ready, she got up from her spot in front of the tv, came into the kitchen, and said "I can have a drink of that right if I wanted to because it's only pop right, if I wanted to. But I don't want to cause I'm not allowed to have pop, but I could if I wanted to cause that's all that it is right? Just pop."
Me-:"I could pour you a glass if you wanted one"
Cousin-:"No. My mom doesn't let me drink pop. I'm just saying, that's all that is in it right?"
Me-:"Yes, I don't like ice"
She looked at it nodding and sat down to eat her mac and cheese, then out of nowhere said "I know that if I did drink it from your glass all it would be would be pop and that's okay because it smells like just pop. You know what else I know. I know that if I go to bed before aunty gets home, even when she does get home, if I need to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I know you will still be on the sofa sleeping cause you never go anywhere. You don't go out in the middle of the night."
It hit me then. She chose to hang out with me and not her own sister because she knew she was safe here. I knew that my other cousin, who had just come back from rehab few weeks ago had fallen back into her addictions.
Now it made some sense.
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