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When I stand in front of Posey, she has a serious expression on her face.
“You know how to be around kids, right? She’s so young and I trust you, otherwise there’s no way I would ever leave her alone with you, but do you know how to handle kids? What to do if she’s hungry? Or if she falls and scrapes her knee?” Posey’s voice is low and she sounds like a mom. “You have to hold her hand when you walk outside. At all times. And she only eats fries and peanut butter crackers.”
I nod. “Fries and peanut-butter crackers at all times. Hold hand. Don’t let her fall down. She’s too young to write my essays for me. Got it.” I grin at her and she sighs, smiling at me.
“You’re sure?” she asks again.
“Positive.”
“Call me if you need anything,” she says.
I nod and promise her over and over that everything will be fine. I don’t tell her that my phone is at my apartment, but I’m going straight there, and telling her that I won’t be reachable until I’m home will only make her more panicky, if that’s possible.
Posey explains to Lila that she’s going to work for a little bit, then come to my house and pick her up. Lila doesn’t seem to mind one bit.
When I say goodbye to Aiden, I notice a deep purple mark on the side of his neck, just above the collar of his shirt. My stomach turns a little, and I try not to picture the type of women he brings home.
During the walk to my apartment, Lila holds my hand and points to and names every bus, van, and ambulance as they pass. Any car with lights on it qualifies as an ambulance in her book.
The walk is quick and she’s chatty, though it’s hard to make out some of her words. As I look around, it seems like there are a ton of women out and about today. Either that, or women really do pay more attention to men with kids. I’ve gotten more smiles and more hi’s in the last twenty minutes than I have since I moved here. Weird. It’s like in that movie with the dog, where Owen Wilson’s friend uses his puppy to get attention from women.
Probably best I don’t compare kids to puppies, though.
When we reach my building, I let Lila press the button on the elevator and I count the seconds as it climbs to my floor. I really hope Nora is still here.
The TV is on when we walk through the door. Tessa is still on the couch, her hair pulled on top of her head. She still looks tired when sits up to greet our guest. She’s sitting alone, I notice immediately.
“Well, hi,” she says with a smile for Lila.
Lila waves and pulls her blue car from the pocket of her tiny jeans.
“This is Posey’s little sister. I’m keeping an eye on her for the next hour and a half or so.”
This seems to wake her up a little. She beams and waves at Lila. “What’s your name?”
Lila doesn’t answer. She just sits down on the floor and starts rolling her car around our printed rug, making little noises as she drives the car along the lines.
“She’s adorable,” Tessa observes.
I nod in agreement. “I’m going to put my phone on the charger and run to the bathroom. Can you watch her for a minute?”
I try not to make it obvious when I scan the room for Nora for the second time.
“Of course,” Tessa says, and I go into my room and plug in my phone.
My bed isn’t made and my laptop is open on the floor next to it. Good thing I didn’t step on it when I was rushing around this morning. I wait a minute or two for my phone to turn on so I can text Posey and tell her that we made it just fine. No falls. No problems whatsoever.
But when my phone turns on, I see I have a text from Nora:
Please don’t tell Tessa anything. She doesn’t need the drama right now :/
