K – Keeping Kangaroos
Skye stood at the classroom pet's habitat and watched as the little animal hopped from place to place, stopping to poke its whiskered nose in the air before hopping off again. She tapped lightly on the glass and pressed her face just close enough that it didn't touch the thick glass.
"I gonna mist you Dunny." She sighed as the small animal disappeared into a burrow in the soft dirt that covered the bottom of the habitat.
"Skye," Miss Ginny called from across the large classroom. "Come to circle now. Dundee will be fine. I promise."
The little girl placed the palm of her hand on the glass and slowly turned toward the group seated on the round carpet. She moved to the only spot left, dropped down on the tiger picture and rested her elbows on her folded legs. Skye dropped her chin into her hands and did nothing to hide her pout.
Miss Tripani looked around the circle at the glum faces of her students and took a quick breath. Days like this were not easy and she always dreaded disappointing her kids. The teacher forced a smile and tried to start the day as usual.
"Okay everybody up and we'll do our circle song." Miss Tripani clapped her hands and popped up from the small chair she sat. Twenty small children, along with Miss Ginny rose to their feet and sang along with the teacher with less than preschool enthusiasm.
Clap you hands
Stomp your feet
Turn yourself around
Reach up high into the sky
And then down to the ground
Touch your head
Touch your hips
Give yourself a hug
Cross your feet and spin around
Then sit down on the rug
Boom!
Miss Tripani finished with a flair as she did each morning when she dropped back into her little chair. Normally her students would do the same as they bounced their little bottoms on the colorful rug. Today they simply sat down and looked to her with questioning eyes.
The teacher tried to continue with her morning routine singing the roll call, choosing daily chores and dreading the feelings chart. Joanne Tripani had no doubt what face every child would choose today. She plowed ahead regardless, holding up circles that displayed a green happy face, a red sad face, yellow just okay face, orange angry, blue tired and a purple scared face. Each child took a turn choosing their feeling and on any given day the feelings chart posted on the classroom wall showed a rainbow of emotions. Today it screamed in red and orange. Chelsea counted the small circles fixed to each child's name that matched the larger circles Miss Tripani held. She stood in front of a line of numerals and chose two to add to the feelings chart. There were fifteen sad faces, four angry and one scared.
The reasons were similar. Every child related their feelings to the fact that Dundee, the kangaroo rat that had been the class pet for the last six months, was leaving today. Most of the kids were sad that they would not see their little animal friend anymore. Of course others were angry and Skye chose the blue scared face because that's how Dundee would feel, scared when he had to go to a new house and a new family. Miss Ginny lifted her glasses and wiped her eyes quickly, understanding why the little girl would feel that way.
The rest of circle went pretty much the same way. No one was really interested in counting the hearts that decorated the February calendar although Martin did manage to choose the correct numeral to stick to the box under Wednesday. He slapped the heart labeled twenty-seven limply and did little to straighten it as it slipped sideways.
Finally, Miss Tripani could take no more. "Okay people, we've talked about this for a long time and all of us understand that Dundee needs to move to a new house." She looked to Skye quickly and could not help notice the little girl take a deep breath and sigh. She was, in all actuality, telling the children that Dundee, the kangaroo rat was not a 'good fit' for the classroom and needed to live somewhere else. It didn't matter what kind of words she used, Skye had probably heard them all. But the truth of the matter was that the little creature was not thriving in the environment they could provide and needed much more. The teacher had accepted the gift of the animal from a parent that could not keep it in her apartment. She had gotten it from a boyfriend who thought it was a cute diversion from the usual. Now the poor little thing was moving again and although Joann had not thought of it before, its short life mirrored the little girl with the dark almond shaped eyes.
"Dundee is going to live at the zoo with a lot of other animals. He'll have a very big space to run and hop and dig and three other kangaroo rats to keep him company." Miss Tripani explained to the children. "If you visit, I'm sure the zookeepers will let you see him and how happy he is."
Skye shook her head and spoke to the floor. "Ode famlees non't bizit, Miss Pani. They is juss gone." The little girl's voice was flat. It held none of its usual vibrant curiosity. It broke her heart and for a split second she wished the little girl had not joined her class this year.
"Are wees all Dundee's famalee?" Samantha asked, staring at Skye for a second before looking to her teacher for an answer.
"We aren't animals!" Daniel laughed as he rolled backward on the floor.
"We feeded him and gived him water." Lucas added.
"An we cleaned hims poop." Aurelia giggled.
"Yes, we took very good care of Dundee." Miss Tripani agreed. She looked around at all the little faces looking back, all but the one little girl picking at a string on her sock and avoiding everyone's eyes. "And you all know how sick he was at Christmas time."
"Him went the doctor." Ben nodded and everyone did the same.
"Right and the doctor told us Dundee needed a new house and a lot of things we just don't have room for in our room. The zoo has all of those things already and they are so happy that Dundee is coming to live with them." Miss Tripani smiled, hoping the situation was resolving.
"But we love him," Darienne sighed and everyone nodded or gave their own affirmative reply.
"When the lady come take him way?" Skye asked sadly.
Miss Ginny rose from her spot and sat behind the cheerless little girl, gathering her into the space in the crisscross of her legs. She wrapped her arms around Skye and took both the little hands into her own.
Miss Tripani smiled at her aid, who smiled back. "Mr. Pasternak is coming this afternoon. He's bringing a special box for Dundee to travel in and he's bringing special tickets for all of us to come see Dundee's new house in the summer time."
"My mommy don't like the zoo." Ryan sighed. "She says it's too stinky."
"Maybe you gramma take you." Ethen consoled his best buddy.
"Maybe," Miss Tripani breathed as she laid her hands on her knees. "Maybe, it's time for us to pick centers and start our day. I think everyone will feel so much better if they are busy and having fun with their friends."
The children spent the next few minutes choosing centers and moving off in small groups to engage in learning play. A group of boys decided to build a zoo in the block area and pulled out a box of wooden animals to live there. Ryan pulled a tall skinny wooden railroad conductor figure from another box and announced it would be the zookeeper. Another group gathered with Miss Ginny at the art table pulling out glue, glitter and all varieties of paper intending to create cards to send along with their furry friend on his new adventure. Darienne and Chelsea pulled out pans and plastic cupcakes as they shared ideas on how to make a cake for a giant birthday party. They lit into song as they moved around the dramatic play area. Puzzles were strewn across another table and several children hummed motor noises as they drove small vehicles across a small rug decorated with the outline of a small town.
Skye chose library. It had a large cozy cube just big enough for one child to cuddle up inside. Miss Tripani had filled it with big colorful pillows and the children could pull a blanket out of a special box to drag in with them. It was a great place to be alone with a good book but that was the last thing on the little girl's mind this morning. She pulled the first blanket she found out of the box and crawled as far back into the cube as possible then pulled her body into the smallest possible ball that she could. The little girl rested her head on one of the large pillows, pulled the blanket over her the best she could and allowed her thumb to find her bottom lip. She nibbled on her thumb nail for a few seconds before that thumb slipped inside her mouth.
Miss Tripani stacked papers and collected markers she would use to do a project with one of her learning groups then did the same for the lesson Miss Ginny would direct. She looked around the room at the controlled chaos taking note of the whereabouts of every one of her charges. She walked across the room and admired the job the boys had done building a zoo, sampled a few 'treats' in the kitchen, praised the creativity in art, helped find a missing puzzle piece and issued a 'ticket' to the boys diving their cars from the top of the shelf to the roads the girls had made below. She didn't need to count to miss just one of her students.
The teacher peeked into the bathroom and the cubby before making another trip around the room in search of one little girl. She noticed a book on the floor near the library shelf and another leaning against the cozy cube. Squatting down on her haunches she peered into the three by three foot wooden box. Skye blinked back at her.
"Whatcha doing, sweetie?" Miss Tripani asked with a smile.
Skye shrugged her shoulders.
"Don't you feel well?" The teacher reached out to feel the little girl's forehead.
Another shrug
Miss Tripani sat down on the rug in front of the cube and waited for Skye to make the next move. It didn't take long.
"I need momma." Skye said quietly around her thumb.
There were no tears, no sobs or signs of hysteria, just an emotionless, broken statement in a voice that should never droned from a four-year-old. The sound of it worried the teacher much more than if the little girl had shrieked or demanded her need. All this going on with Dundee was hitting much to close to home for this little girl who needed to build the secure attachment all of the others had come to naturally.
Joann Tripani did not second guess herself or ask for anyone's opinion. This was something she felt in her gut, she didn't anymore than Skye's little voice to urge her into action. She buzzed the office asking the secretary to come to her room for a few minutes then moved to that office and dialed the phone. It took a few seconds for Melinda May Coulson to pick up but only a millisecond for her to understand her baby's need.
Miss Tripani explained the situation the best she could, trying and failing to stop the tears then ran over her cheeks. She hung up and spent a few minutes in the restroom collecting her composure before returning to her class.
Melinda and Phil arrived thirty minutes later, rushing into the classroom as the kids sat in circle once again singing loudly about the days of the week and popping up and down holding colorful signs that showed the day being mentioned. They scanned the group quickly and were alarmed not to see their youngest child among the chorus.
Miss Tripani held up a finger to the couple and gave Miss Ginny a nod. The aid continued the music as the teacher rose and moved to greet the Coulsons. She thanked them for coming so quickly and apologized for her reaction to the situation, especially for alarming them. Both assured her she had done the right thing, speaking in quiet whispers. The teacher begged them toward the cozy cube whispering that nothing had changed since her call.
Skye had drifted into an almost sleep, her defense mechanism's attempt to take her away from the feelings she could not understand. Fuzzy memories chewed at the edge of the little girl's conscious. Homes that were flicks of things she never really thought about and faces that blurred into each other, all held together by the visage of Jade Johnson and her large satchel. Jade carrying her out of St. Agnes, taking her away from Sr. Clair...Jade roughly carrying her back and dropping her into Sr. Clair's arms. Jade's voice calling her things she didn't understand but knew had to be bad. Skye closed her eyes and sucked her thumb listening to her heart beat in her ears. She felt hot and cold at the same time but crying was bad and it didn't make it better or stop the bad from happening.
"Lái bàituō nǐ de mǔqīn, wǒ de bǎobèi." Melinda spoke softly as she knelt in front of the cube. She held out her arms to the child.
Skye merely stared, not moving, not recognizing the face or the voice of the woman who spoke to her.
Melinda looked up at Phil who dropped to his knees beside his wife. "Come mon, angel eyes…" He put one arm around Melinda and reached out with the other.
"Skye? Baobei?" Melinda ducked her head into the box and laid her hand on the little girl's cheek. "Lái bàituō nǐ de mama."
"Momma," Skye breathed looking into Melinda's eye. "Momma," she dropped her thumb and climbed into her mother's arms wrapping her arms around her tightly. "Momma," she breathed into her mother's neck. "You comed a me."
"Always, baobei, always," Melinda assured her between soft kisses as Phil helped her to her feet.
He put his hand on the back of Skye's head and pulled both into a hug.
Skye turned her head but kept it on Melinda's shoulder refuses to relax her grip on the woman. "Daddy," she told herself.
"Hey, angel eyes," He smiled and kissed her cheek, then her forehead and then her cheek again.
Melinda held her baby with one arm and squeezed Miss Tripani's hand with the other. "We're going to take her home. I don't think she should be here when…" She stopped and looked to her child and then to the animal that had been the source of the odd situation.
The teacher nodded her understanding. She could not imagine what reaction that might bring. They moved to the cubby area and collected Skye's coat before quietly exiting the room.
Not able extract Skye from her hold, Melinda broke every traffic rule by sitting in the back seat with the little girl in her arms, rocking her gently during the drive home. She cried at the knowledge of how fragile Skye's hold on her newfound security. They'd been through so much and yet so little a thing had broken the child's trust of the system.
Phil held the door and helped Melinda exit the car. They walked into the house together dropping their coats across kitchen chairs and moving to the large comfy couch in the family room. Melinda sat with Skye still wrapped around her with Phil close enough to wrap an arm around both of them.
"Skye," he urged the child to look at him. "Skye, angel, can you look at daddy, please." He spoke quietly. She turned her head without lifting it, resting it on Melinda's chest and listening to the calm thump of her mother's heart.
"Do you remember the day we all went to see the judge?" Phil asked as Melinda smoothed her baby's hair and kissed the top of her head.
Skye's thumb found its way back to her lip as she nodded at her father. He smiled and moved a string of hair from the little girl's eye.
"Do you remember what he told us that day?"
Skye shook her head. It was a long time ago and the man used a lot of words Skye didn't understand and he banged his little hammer a lot.
"He told us you are our baby and we are your momma and daddy forever and for always. Nobody can ever take you away…ever, angel." Phil told the little girl rubbing his hand up and down on her back. "You are Skye Coulson, my little girl and momma's little girl." He pointed to each of them as they were named.
Melinda kissed her again. "You don't have to be afraid, baobei, not ever again."
Skye dropped her thumb and stared at it before speaking for the first time. "Dunnee be ascared?"
Phil smiled at Melinda. "No, angel, he's going to his home to be with his family just like you are with yours. He won't be afraid. He'll be happy forever and ever, just like you and Jemma and Fitz and Trip."
"Him miss me?" She looked up at him with wide eyes.
Phil stopped for a moment looking to Melinda then went on. "He will and he'll remember how much you loved him and took care of him and you can visit him just like Sr. Mary Clair still loves you and you miss her."
Skye sat up, releasing Melinda from her death grip. "Hoer not take-a me, Daddy. Her just bees to come see me. This bees my howz." She reached out to Phil who took her into a bear hug, kissing the top of her head as she relaxed into him.
"Yes, angel this is your house…our house." Phil agreed as Melinda laid her head on his shoulder.
"Foe evore and evore," Skye yawned as she snuggled into his embrace and gave into her exhaustion.
Melinda quickly wiped a tear from her eye and leaned closer to place a soft kiss on this wonderful man's lips. He kissed her back, wrapped his arm around her and closed his eyes content to take advantage of an early afternoon nap.
It was the best nap all of them had in a very long time.