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"She brought us for the Thanksgiving but she had to go to her job. She'll come back when her job is over." Shane volunteered the information as if he'd already answered the question more than once today. It didn't take a genius to figure out what kind of "job" his mother was doing either. Selling herself to some degenerate pig…one fuck or blow job at a time. The whole situation was so wrong.
"Well, I'm glad I got the chance to meet you both today. Miss Winter really wanted to make sure you got your special gift she made for you guys."
"The chocolate-chip cookies?" he asked with a big smile.
"That's right," Winter answered as she opened the box and offered them each a cookie.
Their eyes lit up when they bit into the delicious treat. I knew how good Winter's cookies tasted, but it was almost sad seeing these two enjoying something as simple as a homemade cookie. Such a small thing, but so very important to Winter to do for two neglected children with a very dim future based on their current situation. I totally got where her drive to help came from now. She had such a big heart, and I was completely content to watch the three of them as they ate cookies and talked together. She is such a beautiful sight.
"Do either of you know how to use your mom's cell phone?" she asked nonchalantly.
"She showed us how to do 911 on it," Brenna offered.
"But she said only call it in a 'mergency." Shane nodded seriously as he chewed a mouthful of cookie.
"That's good you know how to use her phone. In the cookie box is an envelope with a card for your mom. I gave her my number in case you ever need some help, or if you get scared sometime, you can call me." She smiled gently. "Can you make sure your mom gets the envelope from me?"
The kids both said yes and continued focusing on their biggest priority—stuffing their faces with as many chocolate-chip cookies as possible.
"In the envelope is something else for your mom."
"What is it?" Brenna asked.
"It's grown-up stuff for her, but it's really important that you don't lose it…or show it to anyone else but your mom."
Both kids listened, watching intently as she drew out a small blue envelope from the side of the cookie box. She pointed to the phone number written in black marker across the front. "That's my phone number, and we're going to play a number game with it in a minute, but first I want to see who has the best pockets."
She made a big show of looking them both over before deciding that Brenna had a button pocket in the skirt of her dress. "We're going to have Brenna carry this important envelope in her dress pocket where it will be safe until your mom comes to get you. When you are home, you can give it to her and tell her it's from me, but keep it in Brenna's pocket until you're home with your mom, okay?"
"We will," they both answered in unison.
She smiled at both of them and asked, "Who wants to play the phone number game? First one to learn my phone number by heart gets to be Snack Assistant for a week."
The next minutes were spent watching Winter work her magic, teaching two six-year-olds her phone number. Creatively. In less than fifteen minutes, both could recite it from memory perfectly. My God, Winter had some serious skills. She was a true kid-whisperer. I dearly hoped neither of them would ever need to call her for help, but it was comforting to know they had a way to find her if they needed to. Although, that almost put the fear of God in my heart, because if they did call…Winter would go to them.
After we left the youth center, it was a bit of a drive to Weston where my parents lived in a big fucking house that I tried to avoid as much as possible. Winter was quiet in the
seat beside me, looking and smelling divine, but I sensed something was bothering her.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeeesss," she said slowly from where she was looking out of the window.
"Not very convincing, Win. You just told me a straight-up lie. Now you're going to tell me what's wrong."
She kept her eyes trained out the window at the autumn landscape as we flew along I-90 toward Weston.
"Winter?"
"I did something I wasn't supposed to do with Shane and Brenna." She sounded worried.
"What, giving out your phone number to a kid is a crime now?"
"No, giving them my phone number was fine."
"Then what was so wrong?"
She paused, her facial expression definitely etched with guilt and stress. "I gave them money. Inside the envelope was a gift card to Target and some money for their mom," she said in a small voice. "You know, so she could buy them some shoes that fit and don't have holes in the soles, and warm clothes…and new coats."
