Cheese Whiz

October 17, 2013

I’m compelled to feel fortunate that I do not have a litter of puppies to bathe, feed, trip over, collect miniature poops nor a crop of medical marijuana plants to cultivate, fend off spider mites, heat, remember to turn off the heat lamp, water and fertilize, not to mention fret over all of the above. I am free to leave for the better part of a day and not be forced to consider the consequences of leaving a teen daughter home alone with the off-chance her boyfriend will be “dropping by” and end up under the sheets together without a condom. Oh boy. Isn’t life grand?

I have another novella to attend to. Turns out Daejon doesn’t like cheese curds and wheat crackers either. If you recall, awhile back, my old upstairs neighbor, who happens to be nine, came by after being dropped by the school bus on the corner and his mom failed to collect him on time so he ended up in my sun porch. Today, incessant knocking produced much barking from Tyrus and Deajon appeared, ran past me in the livingroom, jettied to the bathroom, failing to say hello. I gave him the rundown of available snacks, leaving out the p&j option since that was not his favorite the last go-‘round. He chose cheese and crackers. Never seen a cheese curd in his life, probably never choked on whole wheat crackers either. Tyrus got his share of cheese and Grill and I are paying for that upload of excess dairy as I type this. Whew!

In the sun room, lie a grocery bag of a loaf of white bread, cans of fruit cocktail, hot dog buns, various canned soups and who knows what else. The double bag was torn and food falling from the sides. I gifted Daejon with a blue cloth bag to insert everything and take home intact. He paced around, glancing out the door a million times, got up several more times to run out the door and even down around the corner and back to check and make sure mom wasn’t waiting in the car. We ended up outside in the gorgeous sunshine so I could rake leaves while Daejon threw a ball for Ty. He ran in and out of my house, without asking, collecting stuffed toys to toss to Ty and butcher bones. I suggested he should ask me if he can go inside my home and told him I don’t want the toys outdoors since they get lost, wet and dirty. He shrugged as though it was no big deal. I asked for help to haul the blue tarp over the fence and toss the leaves in the back yard to decompose. I pointed out the leaves under the trees that have already started breaking down. Daejon grabbed the rake and made a lame attempt to pile leaves. I showed him a better angle and he raked with his jacket on his back under an empty backpack. At one point, I asked him to throw a few branches over the fence as well. “What are those little circles on there?” I could not believe this nine year old had never seen a berry before.  He was very upset his hands were purple.

I decided to bring five piles together and allow Daejon to jump in the leaves. Going over in my mind how he would react, I realized he was gone, disappeared. Several minutes later, a woman, carrying Daejon’s new blue cloth bag, asking him if I am his mother. Deajon, a bit weapy, told me he tried walking home but couldn’t remember the way on Roberts. I boxed his groceries and put him in the car with the dog. We drove this way than that and he finally figured out where he lives. I parked and hauled the box inside. The door at 102 was shut, locked and no one responded to his knock. “I will not leave you here, you have to come home with me or go back to your school,” I declared. He said he would go to Auntie Rae Rae’s. He ran ahead to the third floor and knocked on 307. “Who is it?” “It’s me, Daejon.” I stepped back, no knowing just what I would encounter on the other side. There was his mom, auntie and snoozing little sister. The mom looked up, said “Hi” and “Why didn’t you call me?” I explained I had lost my phone and Deajon didn’t know her number.
I drove home, exasperated. There is something clearly wrong with this scenario. It was nearly dark when I brought Deajon home. I shudder to think what could have happened to him, had I not been home. He is easily confused and undoubtedly “off.” When I asked what time he is usually picked up, he couldn’t tell me. Then he pointed to his jacket and said, it was as dark as that color. He attends an after school program but the “table wasn’t set up so I had to take the bus home.” Daejon had a label on his jacket with his name on it. Too bad they cannot include his mother’s phone number on it as well. Unfortunately, Daejon never did get to jump in the leaves. I may have to do that myself, in his honor.