“Hun, are you all right?” Effie asked.
Daisy just shook her head, trying to clear it. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look like it.” Effie dug in her oversized purse. “Here, have some water.”
Daisy took it and drank a third of the bottle. It did help a little bit. She needed to be more careful. “Effie, I’m not sure I want to use Abia in that way.”
“Hun, it will really help with the campaign. This is not going to be an easy sell, with everything else we have going on. I think we’re going to need a lot of photos. Some drone footage so they can see the size of the camp, and some video of Abia and have her introduce her family. Trust me, this will work.”
“We’ll see.”
Effie sighed.
Meanwhile, Rayi was taking notes of the conversation, which concerned Daisy. Leo was busy watching everybody and everything as if there were a bogeyman around every corner. Daisy really wished Annie and Doug were here.
“Miss!” Abia came running up to her. “Miss! Where were you yesterday? Mama said you might have gone home. Back to that place called America. Did you go home and come back?” the little girl asked.
“I told you,” Effie whispered.
Daisy crouched down and smiled. Abia lifted her arms to be picked up.
Leo crouched down beside Daisy. “Would you like to ride on my shoulders? Then you would be up really high.”
“Are you really big?” Abia asked.
Leo stood up to his full height. Abia clapped. “You are! Miss, can I ride his shoulders? Please.” Daisy knew what Leo was doing; he was trying to make it so that Daisy didn’t push herself. But since the little girl was so excited, she couldn’t be too mad.
Leo grinned at Daisy, knowing he had won.
“You’re a manipulator, you know that, don’t you?” she whispered to him.
“I use my powers for good. You should know that,” he purred. Daisy blushed. Yes, his powers definitely were good. Hell, they’d spent hour after decadent hour in bed, only getting up to go to dinner.
“Up!” Abia giggled. Her enthusiasm was contagious, causing all of the adults to smile. Leo carefully lifted her up onto his shoulders.
He showed her where to place her hands so she wouldn’t fall down. He held her legs securely. They walked to her mother’s tent. When Maysa let them in, she was all-smiles. Daisy took her time introducing everybody. She had prepped Maysa that she would be bringing visitors, and the woman was ready. She had a little plate of food waiting for them. Daisy felt like a heel taking any kind of food from the little family, but she knew to decline would be a grave insult.
“Thank you,” she said in Arabic. “I am honored.”
All four of them sat down in the tent and tasted the little stuffed bread that she had prepared. She had carefully cut the bread into four pieces for them. Maysa meanwhile took another piece of malawah and cut it into nine pieces for all of the children in the room who were wide-eyed at the treat. She couldn’t help but notice that Maysa did not serve any to herself.
Leo looked around the little tent and smiled. He had put Abia on the ground. “Ma’am, would you allow me to tighten some of the sides so they don’t wave as much?”
“I don’t have tools or the proper stakes to push into the ground. But thank you for your concern,” she gave a wistful smile.
Leo took off his backpack and pulled out stakes and a hammer. “If you would allow me?” His Arabic was very good.
Daisy could see the woman tearing up. Meanwhile, Daisy grabbed her backpack and took out another gallon of water and more of the peanut butter packs. Effie took her backpack off and took out some flour, rice, beans, and butter. Maysa turned away quickly to put away the supplies, but Daisy knew it was so nobody would see her crying.
When Maysa had gotten herself together, Effie and Daisy asked Maysa if they could discuss some ideas they had.
“Of course,” Maysa said.
“It is important that people understand what you are going through,” Effie explained kindly and Daisy translated. “My job is to get your story out to the world.”
Maysa looked confused.
“Our organization can’t help people without donations from businesses and individuals. We get those donations when we explain or show people just how badly someone like you or your children need them. Making a video of you helps to do that.”
Maysa nodded. More people in the camp had phones than Daisy had expected. As people lined up for water, others would line up to use the generators to charge their cell phones. So Maysa might not get the concept of people across the world donating money because of what she would say on a video, but she certainly understood the idea of making a video.
Out of the corner of her eye, Daisy could see Leo making the tent sturdier. Four of the boys who lived with Maysa were watching him, fascinated. He was something else; who else would have thought to do this? And how in the hell had he found the hammer and stakes?
“Tell her, Daisy,” Effie said.
“What? Oh yeah.” Thank God she could multi-task. “Besides being in your tent, it would be wonderful if you could show us how you have used the aid center that the Red Cross has set up as well. Would that be possible? If you could take one of your children with you, that would be helpful.”
“Did you say Abia?” Effie asked. “I didn’t hear her
