I got out my Hello Kitty figurines and played with them for a while. Then there was a knock on my door. Daddy came into the room.
"Has your mood improved?" he asked.
"I guess." I said.
He opened his arms and said, "Come here," and I stood up and went to hug him. He leaned down and hugged me tightly. "I just wanted tell you that if I let other kids hang on me, it doesn't mean anything. You're my girl, and you're what's most important to me."
I felt tears come to my eyes. "I love you, Daddy," I said, feeling happy that he had said that to me.
"I love you too, sweetheart," he said, and he kissed my forehead and let me go. "You hungry for lunch?"
As we went downstairs, I could hear voices in the kitchen, and there was a voice I didn't recognize.
There was a man standing in the kitchen with Uncle Bobby and Grandpa John. He was tall and thin with a bald head.
"Caleb, this is my grand- daughter, Charlie," Grandpa John said.
Caleb grinned at him. "Well look at you, getting' all proud!" He clapped his hand on Grandpa John's back, and then leaned over and shook Daddy's hand. "I always knew you had it in ya, kid," he said, winking at Daddy.
"Charlie, this is my old friend Caleb," Grandpa John said.
"Wow, she's the spittin' image of Mary, John," Caleb said.
"That she is," Grandpa John agreed.
"Nice to meet ya, kid," Caleb held his hand out.
"Nice to meet you," I said shyly. When our hands touched, I got an image of lots of trees and vines and green leaves, and I heard a shout and loud bangs, and saw a man with dark hair, dressed in green, dragging someone. I blinked and pulled my hand away.
"Your gramps saved my life in 'Nam," Caleb told me. "He's a good guy."
"He tied your leg off when you got shot, and you didn't lose as much blood," I blurted out, and then I gasped and put my hand up to my mouth.
"What the hell-" Caleb said, and I turned to run out of the room. Daddy grabbed me, and I gasped, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" I started to cry.
Daddy squatted down in front of me. "Charlie, it's all right. Remember, we said you weren't ever going to get into trouble for that? You're not in trouble."
I gulped, and took a deep breath, and Daddy wiped my tears with his sleeve, then he stood up and put his arm around my shoulders. "She knows things sometimes, when she touches people. We're still figuring it out."
"Ah, okay. Interesting. Ya oughta take her to Missouri Mosely, an' she'll teach her how to control it an' all." Caleb said.
"Yeah, that's what I'd like to do," Grandpa John said. "Well, you said this wasn't a social call, what do you need?"
"I need some herbs, and a coupla other things," Caleb said.
"What herbs do you need?" Uncle Sam asked.
"Lessee, I need vervain, mugwort, and rosemary, if ya got any."
"Do you need fresh or dried? I've got a huge rosemary bush out back, you can cut off a branch. I cut the damn thing down to the ground every year and it comes back even bigger the next year." Uncle Bobby said.
"Not sure, but I'll take the fresh, I can always dry it myself."
"I'll go out to the car, see what we have," Uncle Sam said. "Dean, give me the keys."
Daddy unhooked them from his belt, and tossed them to him.
Uncle Sam left for a minute, and then came back in with a small black duffle. He put in on the table and unzipped it and began pulling out small bags, glass bottles and little boxes.
"What's all that stuff?" I asked, fascinated by everything.
"Don't touch," Uncle Sam admonished. "Some of this is dangerous."
I had started to reach out to pick something up, but I stopped when he said that.
"All right, here's the mugwort, how much do you need?" Uncle Sam took a small cardboard box out of the duffle. Uncle Bobby brought over a ziploc baggie.
"Are you going to be fighting witches?" I asked, unable to help myself.
"That's on a need-to-know basis, kid," Caleb said, "and you don't need to know nothin'."
"Come over here and get a grilled cheese sandwich, Charlie," Uncle Bobby said. Daddy steered me over to the counter and Uncle Bobby handed me a plate.
"Thank you," I said, and I walked over to the table, watching as Uncle Sam sorted through things that were in the duffle. Daddy sat next to me with a plate and started to eat. I glanced at Daddy and he was watching me watch Uncle Sam.
"You stay out of that duffle," he said in a warning tone.
"I know, Daddy," I huffed, and rolled my eyes.
Uncle Bobby and Caleb left to go cut some rosemary. Daddy leaned over to me.
"What did I tell you about attitude, little girl?" he said in a firm voice. "Watch it." He sat up. "I don't know why you're so fascinated with witches anyway."
"Oh come on, Dean, all kids are fascinated by witches and magic. We weren't because we knew about the reality from an early age, but they're all over popular culture." Uncle Sam said.
"I know, Sam, I just don't get it." Daddy shook his head.
"Dean, what would you say to a road trip to visit Missouri in a while?" Grandpa John asked. "I talked to her about Charlie, and she wants to meet her. I think it would be a good idea."
"Sure, Dad, set it up. Maybe if there's an amusement park or two on the way, we can go. We're going to have to figure out what we're doing for the fall, too." Daddy said. "School starts in September."
"Where will I go?" I asked.
"I'm not sure, we need to decide if we're going to rent a place and stay put for a while, or keep traveling like we do."
"Well, you know my views on it," Grandpa John said.
"Yes, I know you don't want Charlie growing up like I did, etcetera etcetera," Daddy rolled his eyes. "We'll see."
"You need to decide soon, Dean," Uncle Sam said. "If I'm going to be homeschooling her, I need to have time to test her and then order all the materials."
"Why don't you test her anyway? That way we'll know where she is academically and if she goes to a school, they'll have the info too."
"They'd test her anyway, to figure out where to put her," Uncle Sam said. He looked at me. "How do you feel about taking some tests, Charlie?"
"I don't mind, I'm good at tests."
"All right, I'll look some up, and we can do that over the next day or so."
Uncle Bobby and Caleb came back into the kitchen with a large branch.
"We don't have vervain," Uncle Sam said apologetically. "That's hard to get, and we haven't had any for a while."
"All right then, thanks," Caleb said. He and Uncle Bobby and Grandpa John went into the library and closed the door.
"I guess that means they're having a private conversation," said Daddy.
"Playground tomorrow, Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked, packing the duffle back up.
"Okay," I said. "Will Cole and Hannah be there?"
"I'm not sure," Daddy said. "Just...stay away from Cole and don't do anything to him, all right?"
"Okay, Daddy. Can I have another sandwich?"
"Sure, I'll make you one," Daddy took my plate and stood up. He went over to the stove and turned the burner back on. Uncle Sam went back out to the car to put the duffle away.
The library door opened as I was eating my second sandwich, and Uncle Bobby came into the kitchen. He started sorting through the piles of books that were piled on the side counter. "I'm pretty sure I had a grimoire around here..." he muttered. "Either of you boys seen a grimoire?"
I started to gasp, but stopped myself, and then I choked a little bit. He must be talking about the book I had hidden under my bed!
"You okay, Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked with concern as he came into the kitchen.
"Yeah, just swallowed a big bite," I said, coughing.
Both Daddy and Uncle Sam said they hadn't seen the book, and Uncle Bobby spent a few more minutes looking through stacks of books that were stored in various places around the house. Then he went back into the library. Shortly after, the door opened again, and the men came into the kitchen.
"Boys, did you have plans tonight? We're going to help Caleb with something," Grandpa John said.
"Uh, I don't have plans, you, Dean?" Sam asked.
"No, I don't either. How about a movie marathon, Sammy?" Daddy said.
"Sure," Uncle Sam agreed.
"All right then, we'll see you tonight." Uncle Bobby said, and Caleb shook their hands.
"Nice to meet ya, kid," he said to me. He shook Daddy's and Uncle Sam's hands too, and then he left.
"If you're done, come outside and I'll show ya how to weed your garden patch," Uncle Bobby said to me. I followed him outside and he showed me what things were weeds and how to pull them up. I had bought plants that were already paritally grown for the patch he had let me dig up.
"Do you use those herbs for cooking?" I asked, pointing over at the herb garden.
"Some," he said. "Some are used for spells and whatnot, too. It's always good to have fresh herbs for a number of reasons."
We went back inside because he said he had to pack for tonight. I read another Hardy Boys book in the afternoon, and Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby left before dinnertime. Daddy made hamburgers for us, and we were all pretty quiet during dinner.
Daddy put a movie in called Die Hard that had lots of guns shooting and swearing, but I didn't pay too much attention to it, I was trying to build a hours with Legos. Daddy and Uncle Sam were drinking beer and another kind of drink called "doing shots" where they had to eat a slice of lemon, lick some salt, and then take a drink of alcohol out of a tiny glass. Daddy let me have a slice of lemon, but the alcohol smelled yucky and strong. They started talking louder than normal and laughing a lot.
I wasn't really paying attention, but then I heard Daddy say, "Man, I wish I could see Lori every night. Her "full body massage" is to die for. And she's practicing this tantric thing-"
"TMI, Dean, I don't need to know about that," Uncle Sam held his hand up and chuckled.
"She does this thing with her hands-"
"Dean-" Uncle Sam interrupted him.
I glanced over at them and they were both looking at me. Daddy laughed. "Guess I should stop talking about that."
"It's about time for her to go to bed anyway," Uncls Sam toid him.
I could hear them talking and laughing a lot after I went to bed. It took me a long time to fall asleep, because I kept thinking about Daddy going out. He liked to go on dates, and that was another thing he couldn't do because I was here. It made me feel bad.
~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~
"We'll only stay for a little while," Daddy told me. "Uncle Sam wants to do some testing with you on the computer this afternoon."
"Okay, Daddy," I said. There were a lot of kids at the playground today, and I hoped that I wouldn't have to be anywhere near Cole. Hannah wanted to play with me, and she kept following me around. I got frustrated by her, because she wouldn't leave me alone, and I pushed her away from me. She tripped over her shoelace and fell down hard on her butt. She looked up at me, with surprise on her face, and started to cry. I saw Daddy and Miss June hurrying over.
"Charlie, what do you say?" he asked in a tight voice.
"Sorry," I said. "But she won't leave me alone!"
"She likes you a lot," Miss June said, hugging Hannah.
Daddy took my wrist and led me over to the side of the playground. "Charlie, you know better than that. And you've already been in trouble for pushing Cole more than once. This is your only warning. If you put your hands on anyone else today, I will give you a spanking. You got that?"
"That's not fa-"
"You got that?" he asked again.
I sighed. "Yes, Daddy." He led me over to the bench. "Time out for pushing," he said, and I sat down and pulled my legs up, resting my head on my knees. Little kids were annoying!
After what seemed like a million years, Daddy came back over to me.
"You can get up now," He said. I stood up and he put his hand on my arm. "Remember what I said, Charlie. Keep your hands to yourself."
"Yes, Daddy," I said. I walked away from him, keeping an eye out for Cole. Over on the other side of the big slide, some kids were getting ready to play tag, so I asked if I could too. A bunch of kids started running around, and I saw that Cole was over at the sand pile again. When I ran by, he threw a rock at me! It bounced off of my leg, 'cause he didn't throw it that hard, but it made me mad. I didn't go back over there again.
A couple of the kids got tired of running around, and they decided to stop playing. Then a couple kids had to leave, and the rest of the kids stopped playing. I started walking around with two girls who were my age, and we decided to go down the big slide together. It was a really tall slide that curved around twice, like a curly noodle. There was always a line for it, and there were a couple of moms helping their toddlers walk up the ladder to the top of the slide. We each had a turn and then got back in line.
I felt something pushing my back, and I turned. It was Cole.
"Hey, get outta here," I said to him.
"Aww, is that your little brother? He's cute," said one of the girls.
"No way, he's not my brother. He's a little meany!" I scowled at him. "Get away from me!" I told him. He kept trying to push me out of line, nudging me with his shoulder.
"You can't cut in line, stop!" I said.
"He can stand in line in front of me, I don't mind," the other little girl said. "Here," she motioned in front of her. "You can go before me, little boy."
Cole looked at her, and then stepped in front of me to stand in line.
"No, Cole," I said with annoyance. "You can't get in front of me. Get in front of her."
I grabbed his shoulder. "Get out of line then." I pulled on him, but he didn't move.
"Cole, GET OUT!" I yelled, my anger boiling over, and I yanked him backwards. I pulled so hard, he wasn't expecting it, and he flew backwards and then fell flat on his back. His face got red, and then he opened his mouth and started to wail.
It seemed like everyone on the playground stopped and was staring. At Cole lying on the ground crying. And at me, who had put him there. I felt very bad right then.
Daddy and Miss June came hurrying over, and she knelt down next to him and gathered him up in her arms.
Daddy's face looked thunderous.
"I—I- he was- he kept pushing me, and he cutted in line in front of me!" I protested.
"What did I tell you?" Daddy folded his arms. "What did I tell you?" his voice got louder.
"Uh- keep my hands to myself." I mumbled, staring at the ground.
"Apologize to Cole and then we're leaving." he ground out.
I walked over to where Miss June was holding Cole.
"Cole, I'm sorry I pushed you and all," I said sincerely.
Cole turned his face away and yelled, "No!"
"He's upset," Miss June told me.
"He's not the only one. I'm pretty upset right now too," Daddy said. "Let's go."
I followed him to the parking lot, hurrying to keep up with his long strides.
"I cannot believe you, little girl," Daddy said after we got into the car. "What is going on with you? Why can't you leave that kid alone?"
"Daddy, it wasn't me!" I protested.
"Oh, you didn't push him so hard he fell down?"
I blushed and shrank back on the seat. "Yeah, I did," I said in a small voice.
"You weren't the one who pushed his sister earlier? And pushed him not once, but twice, the other day?" Daddy frowned at me in the rear view mirror.
"Uh...yeah." I looked down at my hands because I couldn't keep looking at his eyes. "That was me. But he-"
"No, Charlie, I told you what would happen if you put your hands on one more person. What did I say?"
"Uh- no more warnings."
"And?" he prompted.
I squirmed on the seat, feeling nervous and embarrassed. "You'd... s-spank me."
"That's right."
"But Daddy, he's mean to me too!" I protested.
"That does not excuse you putting your hands on him! Little kids who have no self-control do things like pushing and hitting, not 8-year-olds. You know better than that! And-" he paused as he turned into Uncle Bobby's driveway, "I told you to tell me when he bothered you, and not take matters into your own hands. And you didn't." He parked the car and turned it off.
As we went inside, Uncle Sam came walking into the kitchen. "Hey, I found a couple of good websites for testing-"
"Not now, Sam." Daddy said. "Charlie's in trouble and needs to be dealt with. Go to your room, I'll be up in a minute." he told me, pointing at the stairs.
I trudged up the stairs slowly, feeling nervous and guilty. I sat on my bed and waited. I could hear Daddy's voice talking in the kitchen, he was probably telling Uncle Sam what had happened. Then I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
There was a knock on the door and Daddy came into the room. He looked around.
"Didn't I tell you to clean this stuff up the other day?" he gestured to the toys that were laying all over the floor. "I expect you to clean your toys up every day, Charlie, not leave them laying around everywhere."
"Sorry," I said quietly.
He walked over and sat down on the bed. "Right here," he pointed to the floor in front of him. I stood in front of him, putting my hands behind my back, and watched my toe trace a line in the rug.
"I expect better behavior from you," he said. "You're a smart girl, and you're mostly well behaved, and I know your mother raised you to be nice to people and not be a bully.I don't know why you're acting like this, but it stops now. You don't put your hands on anyone, and especially not on kids that are younger than you. I'm not going to put up with this type of behavior any more. I'm done with warnings for this. From now on, it will be straight to a consequence. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Daddy," I said. Tears came to my eyes as he spoke, and I could feel a sob welling up in my chest already. I didn't want him to be upset with me like this.
"All right then, come here." he said, and he pulled me over to his side and placed me over his lap. I burst into tears as soon as the first swat fell.
"I'm sorry, Daddy!" I wailed as his hand fell again and again. I struggled against his hand on my lower back, trying to get away from the stinging smacks, but he just held me down more firmly. My bottom felt like it was on fire when he stopped and pulled me to sit up in his lap. I threw my arms around him and clung to him, sobbing into his shirt.
"S-sorry I was bad, Daddy!" I whimpered.
"All right," he said, rubbing my back. "I know you can behave and be good, you're my good girl," he murmured. I leaned on his chest, happy to hear him say that, and to know that he wasn't upset with me any longer.
We sat together, cuddling, until I was calm, and then he said, "Sam made sandwiches for lunch, do you want to go eat? After that he wants to test you. Are you up for that?"
"Yeah," I sat up and cleared my throat.
"Go wash your hands and face and I'll see you downstairs." he told me. He kissed the top of my head and I got off of his lap.
"I don't like the crusts," I said at the table, when we were eating.
"How about asking nicely?" Daddy said.
"Uh, could you cut the crusts off please?" I asked. Uncle Sam got a knife and trimmed the crusts off, and then slid the plate back in front of me. When we were finished, he brought his laptop out to the table. He showed me the website and how to answer the questions, and then he sat and looked through a book while I took the test.
"Done," I said. He pulled the laptop over in front of him and typed on it for a little bit, then he moved it back to me.
"Ready for another test? This one will tell us what grade level your reading skills are on."
"Ooh, I like reading!" I said. That test was fun, but it was hard because there were some words I didn't know. It took me longer too, because of the hard words.
When I was finished, Uncle Sam said, "I may want you to take another one, but I want to check these scores first. I'll let you know, go play for now."
Daddy came into the kitchen. "How about you go clean your room up?" he said.
"Aww, do I have to?" I almost whined.
"Yes, you do. Go on," he said.
I went upstairs, but instead of cleaning, I started playing. I had a bunch of stuff set up on the floor when Uncle Sam came to the door. "How do you feel about one more test?" he asked. "Uh, didn't your dad tell you to clean up?"
I sat up and blushed. "Yeah...I started to play a game." I said.
"Well, put your stuff away and then come downstairs."
I started to put some of the toys away, but most of them I shoved under the bed. I put the Hello Kitty figurines on my pillow so I could keep playing with them later. Then I went downstairs to the kitchen again.
This test was harder, it was word questions that you had to think about before you answered, and there were some hard math questions. It took me a longer time, but I finally finished it. Daddy had started to make dinner while I was finishing, and he let me help him cook the ground beef to make meat sauce for the pasta we were going to have. Uncle Sam did some stuff on the computer and said, "Well, Charlie is pretty much performing at above her grade level in every subject. Her reading comprehension and vocabulary is at a fifth grade level, and her math skills are above average as well."
"She's a smart kid," Daddy said proudly, "But we already knew that," he smiled at me and ruffled my hair.
"The one test suggested she be put in the advance placement classes, for gifted students," Uncle Sam said. "We'll have to make sure we talk to the school about that and see if they have that available."
Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby came back while we were eating, and joined us at the table. They said they helped Caleb "Take care of the problem," but that's all they said. I figured they didn't want to talk about whatever they had done, in front of me.
"Did you see any witches?" I asked them.
Daddy frowned at me. "Charlie, they're not going to tell you anything about it, so stop asking."
"But I think witches and wizards are cool!" I said.
"Witches in real life are different than they are in Harry Potter," Uncle Sam said. "They can be dangerous in real life. That's why we don't want you knowing anything, Charlie."
"O—kay," I said. I still wanted to know about them.
~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~
The next day we went to a different park that was near where Miss June lived. We were the only ones there. Daddy and Miss June sat on a bench underneath a big tree and talked.
I was just starting to swing, slowly pumping my legs, when I felt something hit my back, hard, and I flew forward out of the seat and onto the ground. I landed on my hands and knees, feeling them scrape against the rough pieces of mulch that were on the ground.
"Owww!" I hissed, not wanting to start crying like a baby, although my hands and knees were hurting really bad.
Something heavy landed on my back, knocking me flat, and the air huffed out of me. Before I could even make a noise, my hair was pulled, so hard that my head was yanked back. I screamed in surprise and pain, and tried to turn and see what it was, but I couldn't move.
"COLE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I heard Miss June yell.
Then I heard footsteps and the heavy thing was lifted off of me, and then Daddy was helping me stand up. I was shaking and crying. Miss June was holding Cole in front of her, and she gave him a little shake.
"Young man, that is totally unacceptable! You do not hurt people like that!" She dragged him over to a tree and I heard her talking to him in a low, angry voice.
"You okay?" Daddy's green eyes searched my face with concern. "That must have been really scary for you."
I gulped, trying not to bawl, but then I looked down at my hands and then my knees, feeling a hot throbbing starting. The lower parts of my palms were scraped raw, and both knees had mulch stuck to them, and as I looked, dark red blood began to ooze out around the bits of mulch.
"Owww I'm bleeeeeding!" I wailed, feeling panic starting. "It huuuuurts!" I held my hands up to Daddy.
"All right, shh, let's go over here," Daddy bent over and slipped one hand under my knees and the other arm around my back, lifting me up and carrying me like I was a baby, over to the bench. He sat down and put me next to him.
"Cole, you sit your butt down right there in time out! Dean, I'm so sorry about this. I'll be right back, I've got a first aid kit in the car," Miss June hurried off.
Daddy gently brushed the mulch off of my palms, and then tried to pick the mulch off that was on my knees.
"Owwww!" I whimpered, as his fingers brushed the wounds on my legs.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he said quietly. He wiped my face off with the hem of his shirt.
Miss June set the plastic box on the bench next to me and opened it, then handed Daddy a bottle of water and some paper towels. "For rinsing her legs off," she said. Daddy poured some water on a paper towel and blotted my knees, and I hissed again. He was able to get all the little bits and pieces of mulch off, but my knees were both bleeding a lot.
He took out some bandaids, but then said, "These are too small. Hold on, I've got some bigger bandages in my car, I'll be back in a moment." He stood up.
"Daddy!" I called out.
"I'll be right back," he said, as he walked to the parking lot.
Hannah stood off to the side. "Cole is a bad boy," she said. "He does that to me too."
"Well, Cole is- is having some problems." Miss June said. Her mouth was in a tight line. "Charlie, I'm so sorry he hurt you," she picked up the bottle of water. "Hold your hands out and I'll rinse them off."
I held my hands out and she poured some of the water over the scrapes, then gently blotted them dry.
She took one of my hands. "These don't look too bad," she said.
Daddy came back holding some small white packages and a tape dispenser. He ripped open the packages and took out some gauze, and taped the squares to my knees. Then he looked at my hands. "We can put some cream on them at bedtime, it'll be hard to keep it on until then." He cleaned up the wrappers and the paper towels, standing up to throw them away, then came back over to us. He held up a paper towel in front of my nose and said, "Blow," and I took it from him and blew my nose and wiped my face again.
"How are you feeling?" he asked me, putting his hand on my back.
"It still hurts," I said, trying not to start crying again. Tears leaked out of my eyes anyway.
"Cole, come here," Miss June said in a stern voice. Cole stood up and walked over to us, looking sullen.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" she asked him. He stared at the ground with a sulky look on his face.
"Cole, tell Charlie you're sorry," she said firmly. "Young man..." She said warningly when he didn't say anything.
"Sow-wy," Cole said in a bratty tone.
"You are in a lot of trouble," she told him. "Charlie, I'm really sorry." She looked at me and gave me a sad smile.
Daddy brushed my hair back from my face. "What do you want to do? I imagine you don't feel like playing much any more, huh?"
I shook my head, trying to make myself stop crying.
"All right. I guess we're going to go," Daddy said to Miss June. " Come on, Charlie."
I stood up and winced as my legs straightened out. He bent down and picked me up, and carried me to the car.
"Geez, that kid...I hate to say this, because I think that June needs friends more than anything, but I don't think it's such a good idea that you play with him anymore." Daddy said after he had started driving. He looked at me in the rear view mirror. "Would you like to stop for ice cream?" he asked me.
"Okay, Daddy," I said. I still felt shaky. We stopped at a roadside stand that sold ice cream and Daddy carried me over to a table, then went and got our ice cream cones. He brought them back and sat next to me.
"How are your knees?" he asked.
"They still hurt," I told him.
"I'll look them over before you go to bed tonight." he said. "It'll be okay."
I ate some of my ice cream and turned the cone.
"You were very brave, and you didn't cry a lot. I'm proud of you." he told me.
"See, I told you Cole doesn't like me. He does stuff like that a lot." I glanced up at Daddy, and he frowned.
"What do you mean, he does stuff like that a lot?"
"He pushes me and stuff. When he walks by, he'll push me or he'll throw a rock at me or something." I licked the side of my cone.
"Charlie, why didn't you tell me he was doing all that?" Daddy asked in a concerned voice.
" 'Cause you told me not to be mean about him. And I thought you would think I was just being mean and trying to get him in trouble."
Daddy sighed. "No, sweetheart...if someone is doing things to hurt you, I need to know, okay? And if I don't listen, for whatever reason, then you tell Uncle Sam or someone else. All right?"
"Okay, Daddy," I said.
He looked at me and smoothed my hair back from my face. "I don't want you to not tell me things because you're worried about getting into trouble. Especially if it's something like someone hurting you. Promise?"
"I will," I agreed.
Daddy's phone rang and he answered it. "Hello? Oh, hi..." he glanced at me. "She's okay. We stopped for ice cream." He chuckled. "Yeah, it does make everything better. I know...well, listen, I know you told me about him, but...I don't think he and Charlie should be around each other any more. It's just too...I know, I understand. I'm sorry. It's just...my daughter's safety is impor—no, I'm not saying that. I'm not! Well, I'm sorry too. Okay then." he disconnected the call and looked at me, sighing.
"Well, that's one less friend. I think I upset her. She told me today day that Cole is having problems with being...violent, and I feel for her and the kid, but...it's more important that you're safe." he brushed my hair out of my eyes. "I wouldn't be comfortable letting you play with him and knowing that he could hurt you at any moment. Like he did today, or even worse." He sighed again. "She needs friends right now, but she's not going to have any if she can't hear what people are saying about her kid." He looked down at me. "Boy this having friends stuff is hard to deal with sometimes, isn't it?"
That night, during dinner, Miss June called Daddy and asked if they could get together and talk. "She's upset," Daddy told us. "She's having a rough time with Cole and needs a shoulder to lean on right now."
I hoped that that didn't mean that they were going to start spending more time together.