Bringing the plates over to the table, I took the seat next to Ireland. “How much steak do you want?”
“All of it.” She giggled. “Just a little, my mom says—” She paused for a second and tried to rein it in. “She says that my eyes are bigger than my stomach.”
“That’s normal when we’re hungry,” I assured her. “How about I give you this much?” I cut a third of the New York Strip for her and held it up on my fork.
“Yeah, thanks.” Ireland’s voice had softened again.
“You want me to cut it up for you?”
“Nooo, I can do that.” She got up and went to a drawer, then brought back some weird-ass plastic knife.
“What’s that?” I asked, pointing to the teal blue cutting object that didn’t look like it would cut anything.
“My knife.” Ireland sawed into her steak, and it hurt me to watch. Okay, it wasn’t the best cut, but still, it didn’t need shredding.
“You sure you don’t want help?” I asked again.
“Nope, I got it.”
We ate in silence, Ireland finally growing tired of cutting and moving on to her spaghetti while I was picking at the chicken nuggets.
“Where are my mom and dad?” Ireland asked while my mouth was full, and I took longer than I needed to chew and swallow.
“They are in heaven.”
“Their souls are there, where are they, this?” She poked her body.
“They are at the hospital.”
“Are we going to bury them? We don’t have a big backyard. Dad buried my parakeet in the backyard.”
“People don’t get buried in backyards.”
“Then where will they go?”
“They have special places for them called cemeteries, your parents already picked out a place they wanted to be just in case anything ever happened to them.”
“I can’t pay, I don’t have money.” Ireland appeared so concerned.
“Don’t worry about that, it is all paid for.” I paused for a moment, not sure where to take this conversation, so instead I decided to keep my mouth shut and just let her talk.
That night before falling asleep, I sent Viv a text.
Me: I’m so sorry that I haven’t had time to talk. My world sort of blew up. But know I’m thinking of you.
Sunday morning, Logan delivered fresh pancakes and bacon at seven on the dot, and he also brought my rookie card.
“You play basketball?” I asked him while he unloaded the food boxes.
“Yep, I’m a guard but not first string.”
“Keep at it, what year are you?”
“Sophomore, just got my license.”
“Keep practicing but keep studying too. People think that athletes just float through school, but we don’t. Well, at least those with half a brain don’t. Most of us don’t end up being Michael Jordan and can ride on the endorsements for years then end up owning our own NBA team. I got my degree in economics. I figured that, if all else fails, I could be a financial advisor for players.”
“Will do, thanks, Mr. Skkye.”
“Call me Aaron.”
“Thanks, Aaron.” I smiled as the kid left and then moved to get Ireland.
Rapping on her door, I waited for a second before turning the knob and walking in. My heart skipped seeing her curled up in a tight little ball. I was shocked at how fast and how strong I felt for this little girl. Shuffling toward the side of her bed, I eased myself down and waited a few seconds before gently tapping her shoulder. “Ireland, breakfast is ready.”
“Not hungry,” she mumbled and curled in tighter.
“It’s pancakes and bacon.” I was hoping that made a difference; it sure would have to me when I was a kid. Okay, a lot would have.
She reached up and brushed her hair away from her face. “Bacon?”
“Yeah, there’s lots and it’s hot.” I stood and held out my hand, hoping she would take it. She didn’t, but I didn’t take it personally.
After breakfast Ireland was back in her room where she stayed, and I was trying to convince her to come watch a movie when my phone dinged.
Karen: I’m outside, I needed to do a surprise stop and check on Ireland. Let me in. I didn’t want to ring the bell in case she was sleeping.
I turned off the ESPN highlight reels before opening the door and letting her in.
“Good morning or almost afternoon. How did last night go?” Karen asked as she dropped her large bag on the table and unbuttoned her hideous coat.
“As expected, I think. Good moments and sad ones, she would ask questions and then cry. Random things would hit her and she was sullen, but then a few minutes later she was talking about something else.”
“Where is she now?”
“In her room, I think she finding it to be her safe space.”
“Okay, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go talk with Ireland.” Karen headed off, and I fiddled with my phone.
How long are they going to talk? I pulled up Karen’s text she’d sent telling me she was here and then checked the current time and realized only seven minutes had passed, not the three hours I had imagined. I pulled up Angry Birds and destroyed a few before checking my time again. Fuck, only three more minutes had passed.
The sound of Ireland’s door opening had me setting my phone down and pushing to my feet to find Karen and Ireland walking toward me.
“Tell Aaron what you want to do,” Karen coaxed.
“I want to watch a movie.”
“Great, which one,” I asked, so happy to have her out here.
“Harry Potter.”
“I’ll leave you two be, see you tomorrow.” Karen showed herself out while Ireland grabbed the remote and flipped through to their Apple TV movies.
Vivian
The pop was refreshing as I tilted my head and twisted my neck, rolled my shoulders a few times, and glanced at my phone. I had repeated these
