by Teisha Mott
“Okie!” Caitlin agreed. She knelt on one of Klao’s dining room chairs. “Look Auntie Klao: we match!”
She held out her night shirt for Klao to examine. Indeed, they were both wearing pink ‘Piglet’ pyjamas. Klao recalled what Matt had said about women over seven wearing Disney Character pyjamas. She realised, as she poured the milk on the cereal, that it was time to invest in some grown-up lingerie.
“Do I have to feed you?” She asked Caitlin. “Or can you feed yourself? Do you need a bib, or a bottle…”
Caitlin looked at her scornfully. “Do I look like a baby to you? I am a big girl! I don’t suck from a bottle and I can feed myself!”
She proceeded to do that, and Klao noted that she was a leftie – like both her parents, and like Matt. Her mind stopped on him. He was supposed to pick her up at nine to go to the Inn. Obviously, she would not be making it that Sunday. She had to call him before he came over.
“I’m going to make a phone call,” she told Caitlin. “Since you are a big girl, can I leave you to eat your breakfast and come back?”
“Okie!” Caitlin said, through a mouthful of cheerios.
Klao went to get the cordless phone from her office. She dialled Matt’s home number, and he answered after a couple of rings.
“Hi-Lo!” He sounded groggy.
“Did I wake you up?” Klao asked, concerned. “I’m sorry!”
“No – no! It's fine! I’m awake, just lying here…” She heard him fumbling around, probably for his glasses. Klao recalled finding the glasses stuck in his couch one night. She had tried them on, and the power from the lens almost flung her clear across the room. Mary told her later that Matt’s vision was so bad that he was almost legally blind, and although he pretended otherwise, he was useless driving at night unless the road was very well lit! “What’s up?”
“I can’t make the Inn today,” Klao told him. “Don’t bother coming to pick me up…”
“Is everything okay?” Matt sounded concerned. It was unlike Klao to miss the Inn, and she was supposed to meet with Rupert that Sunday.
“Everything is fine! It’s just that Sam took an impromptu trip to New York, and I’m keeping Caitie…”
“An impromptu trip to New York, eh?” Matt commented cheekily. “I need to check the news for any explosions in Manhattan…”
“Shut up you!” Klao chastised, blushing. “You have a sick mind!”
“So what you think is happening there as we speak right now?” Matt asked. “And there is nothing wrong with it. They're legal! Can you imagine…”
“I choose not to!” Klao cut him off.
“You are so immature!”
Klao wanted to tell him that his statement was an obvious case of the kettle calling the pot black. Who was more immature than he was – refusing to kiss her, or ‘mash up’ against her… Unless, God forbid, he really did not like her like that, and she had deluded herself, like Georgia Maragh, into thinking that he did! No. Klao was sure he liked her, although, as Sheena said, he could not do anything about it until she was converted. Klao wondered whether it would be worth it to be converted just to know what it felt like to be pressed to Matt’s scrawny bird chest… She brought her mind back to the present.
“Anyway, I have my hands filled with Caitie today, so I can’t come! Apologise to Rupert for me, please…”
She was cut off by the sound of something breakable hitting the ground and shattering into a million pieces, followed by whimpering, and a very suspicious sounding ‘Uh-oh!’ Klao trotted back to the dining room to find a pitiful looking Minx covered with cherioos and milk, a mortified Caitie looking down on him, and one of her best cereal bowls in pieces.
“Caitlin Jada Malcolm! What the hell…”
“I’m sorry!” Caitlin cried, her eyes filling with tears. “It was an accident!”
“How … how… how…” Klao asked in disbelief. “How?”
“Minx was looking at me!” Caitlin explained piteously. “I thought he wanted some of my breakfast, but he could not reach the table so I was going to give him some and the bowl fell… I’m sorry, Auntie Klao…”
Klao took a deep breath. She recalled Matt was on the phone. “Let me call you back!”
“Is everything okay?” Matt asked.
“It’s fine.”
“Remember, she’s only three, KoKo!”
“Four! I’ll talk to you.” She placed the cordless on the table and looked at Caitlin.
“I’m sorry!” Caitlin whimpered, as two fat tears spilled from her eyes.
“I know you are,” Klao said, as she removed a roll of bounty paper towel from the counter. “You don’t have to cry.”
“I really thought Minx was hungry…” She wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
“Minx does not eat cereal!”
“So why was he looking at me?”
“Because that’s what he does!” Klao got the Lysol so the milk would not make the floor sticky. “And in any event, you shouldn't feed Minx from your bowl.” She picked up the pieces of the broken bowl.
“Can I help to clean up?” Caitlin asked.
“No! You stay in the chair until I am finished. I don’t want any splinters going into your foot.”
Caitlin looked at Minx, who was still covered with milk. “Are we going to have to give Minx a bath?”
Klao, too, looked at Minx. Yes, he would have to be shampooed, but she certainly did not want Caitlin to help.
“We’ll see!” She finished cleaning up Caitlin’s mess. “Come change your nightie…”
“But I didn’t get to eat all my breakfast!” Caitlin protested. “Mommy says if I don’t eat all my breakfast I wont grow!”
Klao sighed. She hadn’t had breakfast, but she was not making a big deal about it. Anyway, Caitie was a baby and breakfast was important. She decided not to risk another of her bowls. “Do you want a cheese sandwich?”
“Yes, please!” Caitlin said agreeably.
Klao slapped the slice of sharp cheddar between two slices of whole wheat bread and placed it on a square of paper towel in front of Caitie. Caitie looked at it scornfully.
“What?” Klao asked.
“It’s not cooked!”
“What do you mean it’s not cooked?” Klao asked incredulously. “Who cooks a sandwich?”
“My mommy and my daddy!”
“What?”
“They cook it in the sandwich maker,” Caitlin explained. “I can’t eat it unless it is cooked and the cheese is gooey....”
Klao sighed. Children were really a lot more trouble than they were worth. She wordlessly took the sandwich from in front of Caitie. She did not have a sandwich maker, but she had a toaster oven. She hoped it would ‘cook’ the sandwich to Caitlin’s liking, and was relieved when Caitlin accepted the toasted sandwich and ate it without complaint.
“How about some juice?” Klao suggested, holding out the bottle of crangrape juice that she had in the fridge.
“Not that one!” Caitie said, all over in crumbs. “I want the one my mommy brought from my house!”
Klao opened one of the bottles of Pediasure that she had taken from Samantha when they had gone to pack. She also remembered Caitlin’s Flintstones vitamins. Samantha said she had to have one in the morning with her breakfast.
Finally breakfast was over. She took Caitie to give her a bath and after a whole round of arguing, convinced her to allow her to comb her hair. That took forever, because Caitlin could not sit still, and Samantha it seemed, had no idea how to groom a little girl’s hair, and it was all over in tangles. Finally, Caitlin was firmly planted in front of the TV watching “The Swan Princess” and colouring. Klao looked at the clock. It was nine thirty, and she felt like she had been up for hours. She still had to wash Minx and start working on the June Charles case. It was going to be a long day.
Klao took Minx to the laundry room. She put him in the tub and kept one ear trained on the living room, where Caitie was singing ‘Far Longer Than
Forever’ off key. Klao realised, as she soaped Minx, that little children were really bad singers. She did not mind, though, for, the fact that Caitie was singing meant that at least she was keeping out of trouble. Klao marvelled again how Samantha did it, and how her cousin Kamilla had done it; how her parents and uncles and aunts had done it; and how Grandma and Grandpa did it five times! Klao knew she spoke a lot about wanting to be married and having children, but the idea was really still a romantic idea in her head. She did not really want to be responsible for a child. She did not want to have to take care of anyone but herself and Minx. She realised that she was only in love with the idea of having a family. The reality was scary….
The buzzer interrupted her thoughts.
“I’ll get it!” Caitie screamed.
Klao pulled her soapy hands out of Minx’s bath and hurried to the intercom. She was too late. Caitie had already opened the gate.
“Why did you open the gate?” Klao asked her furiously.
“Because someone buzzed!” Caitlin answered, looking at Klao as though she was asking a stupid question.
“Did you ask who it was?”
“No!”
“We do not open the gate unless we know who it is!”
“Why?”
“Because it could be someone of unsavoury character!”
“Who is someone ofunslavery character?”
Klao did not answer. She went to the door and peeped out. It was Matt.
“Matt!” She gasped. “What are you doing here? I told you I couldn’t come to the Inn…”
“I know, but I thought you could use some help here…” Matt was smiling. He was wearing jeans that looked clean, and a ‘Ten Commandments’ T-shirt. He had his guitar slung over his shoulder. Klao had learned that as a trade-off for having to learn the piano, his mother had allowed him to learn the guitar – a more ‘manly’ instrument.
“But what about the Inn?”
“They can survive one day without me! Why are your hands soapy?”
“I was giving Minx a bath…” Klao suddenly recalled she had left her puppy in the wash basin. “Damn!”
Matt watched her run off, amused. Caitlin suddenly appeared before him.
“Are you someone of unslavery character?” She asked him.
“I don’t think so,” Matt replied. “What is unslavery character?”
“You have to ask Auntie Klao. She said I should not open the gate because it might be someone of unslavery character.”
“Oh, you meanunsavoury character!”
“That’s what I said!” Caitlin rolled her eyes. “Who are you?”
“Matt. I’m Auntie Klao’s friend.”
“I’m Caitlin. Nice to meet you.” Caitlin held out her hand and Matt took it.
“Nice to meet you, too, Caitlin!” Matt was impressed. She seemed very smart for four!
“Whose guitar?”
“Mine!”
“Can I touch it?”
“More than that. You can play it!”
Caitlin’s eyes lit up like the plazas at Christmas. “I can? Cool! What can I play?”
“What song do you know?”
“Ahmm…” She wrinkled her face as she thought.
“Do you know ‘Jesus loves me this I know’?”
“Yes!”
“Good,” Matt smiled. “We can play that one.”
“But I don’t know how!” Caitlin suddenly realised.
“I can teach you!” He took her hand and led her to the living room. “I will have to turn off the TV. We can’t play guitar and watch TV at the same time.”
“Okie!” Caitie agreed.
Klao blow dried Minx’s fur as she listened to the sounds of Matt and Caitlin playing the guitar and singing. They played ‘Jesus loves me this I know’ and ‘Jesus wants me for a sunbeam’. Klao passed through the living room with a freshly washed and dried Minx under her arm, and smiled in amusement when she saw Caitlin on Matt’s knee trying to hold his guitar. It was almost as big as she was!
“I’m learning to play the guitar, Auntie Klao!” Caitlin bragged. “And I’m good! Right, Matt?”
“You’re a prodigy!” Matt confirmed.
“What’s a progidy?” Caitlin asked.
“Prodigy,” Klao corrected. “It means you are very smart.” She remembered Andie saying that Matt was considered a prodigy in the church circle.
“I am, and I’m going to ask Daddy to buy me my own guitar! You think he’ll buy it, Auntie Klao?
“Maybe…” Klao put Minx on the ground.
“And then I will take it here and play for you every Sunday!”
“Oh lucky me!” Klao muttered, and Matt snickered.
“Come sit with us, Klao M,” he said. “What song do you want to learn to play?”
“The quiet song,” Klao said, sitting on the couch next to Matt and Caitlin. “The one that no one can hear.”
“Auntie Klao loves quiet things,” Caitlin said, getting off the couch. “Her favourite game is the quiet game. It is where we see who can sit quietly for the longest.”
“Where are you going?” Klao asked her.
“Bafroom!”
“You need help?”
Caitlin shook her head. “No. I can go by myself!”
“Well, don’t waste the water or the hand soap, and one square of paper towel is enough!” Klao called as Caitlin skipped off. She looked at Matt, who was looking at her. “What?”
Matt shook his head. “The quiet game?”
“After a few hours of listening to her yell, it will be your favourite, too! I swear that child is partially deaf.”
“She’s a little girl, Klao! Weren’t you loud when you were little?”
“No! And I didn’t have ADHD either!”
“Caitlin doesn’t have ADHD!” Matt laughed. “She is just a baby. All she needs is structure…”
“All she needs is a dose of Ritalin, and a good spanking!”
“You are too miserable and hate children!”
“Whatever!” Klao gave Matt the palm. She reached to answer her BlackBerry that was vibrating on the coffee table. She frowned a little when she saw who was calling. “Hello, Mrs Reyes!” She got off the couch.
Matt’s eyes followed her as she paced her living room. He knew Betty Ann Reyes was her boss. But why was she calling Klao on a Sunday morning? He listened to Klao’s side of the conversation, as Caitie, fresh from the bathroom, climbed back next to him. He checked her hands to make sure she had washed them.
“I have the file with me here now… I am working on it… No, Mrs Reyes… Yes, I know that…”
“Matt, let us play something else on the guitar!” Caitlin demanded.
“Not now. Auntie Klao is on the phone!” Matt whispered, motioning for her to be quiet.
“I understand, Mrs Reyes, and I assure you…” Klao paused, and her frown deepened. “I’m sorry, but that's not possible… I know you don’t think adjourning would be a good idea, but… Mrs Reyes, I…” Klao sighed. She looked at Matt. He was looking at her.
“What’s wrong?” He mouthed.
“She wants me to come in!” Klao mouthed back, rolling her eyes. Klao could not believe that Mrs Reyes wanted her to come in on a Sunday to discuss June Charles’ case. It wasn’t her fault that the senior partner had been on vacation for three weeks and was not familiar with the case. It was bad enough that she had to be working on the case from home.
Mrs Reyes was not pleased with Klao’s response about coming in. Matt could hear her on the other end of the phone. He did not want Klao to get in trouble at work. He thought she should just go in and be done with it.
“It’s just that I…” Klao began again, but was cut off.
“Klao!” He whispered.
Klao ignored him. “My cousin went abroad for the weekend, and she left her daughter with me,” she explained to her boss. “I can’t…”
“Klao!” Matt whispered again.
Klao fanned him off. Couldn’t he se
e she was on the phone? “I’m not saying that, Mrs Reyes. Not at all … but it is going to take me a while to find somebody to keep her…”
“Klao Melissa…” Matt was right behind her, and breathing in her ear.
Klao felt her heart skip a beat. Oh so now he wanted to get frisky? What was wrong with Matt? He wanted to make out when she was on the phone with her boss, and when her cousin’s four year old was in the room?
“Mrs Reyes, one second please…” She used her palm to cover the speaker. “What?”
“I’ll baby sit!”
Klao looked him up and down. “Absolutely not!” She turned back to the telephone. “Mrs Reyes, if you could give me a couple of hours to try to find someone… Okay… Thank you.”
She clicked her BlackBerry off and sighed deeply. “Damn!”
“Auntie Klao said a bad word!” Caitlin remarked.
Klao did not comment. She reached for the cordless to dial Andie. Hopefully, she and Nathan were not busy and could keep Caitlin.
“I can stay here with her, Klao!” Matt repeated.
“No!” Klao retorted. Andie’s house phone was ringing without an answer.
“Why not?”
“You don't know how to look after a child!”
“Neither do you, but here you are!” Matt countered.
Klao hung up when Andie’s voice mail picked up. Bianca was at work, so she could not call her. She scrolled through her phone for Jasmine’s number. “I am not leaving Samantha’s child with you. Suppose something happens to her? Samantha would kill me!”
“What is going to happen to her? I am a Minister. I bless babies all the time…”
“I am not a baby!” Caitlin interjected indignantly.
“Suppose something happens to her?” Klao repeated. She could not find Jasmine’s number. Her last alternative was to call her Aunt Janise.
“Listen to me!” Matt took her shoulders. “I am a capable, competent man. I can take care of a four year old, and I promise you, I am not a pedophile. I will play the guitar with her and sing, and I will make her lunch, and if she needs help in the bathroom, I will call Stacey from next door. You go to work, and chill. Everything will be fine.”
Klao looked at him. Of course he was not a pedophile. The thought never crossed her mind. But Caitlin was a handful. She told Matt just that.