Music for this chapter: Christmas Saravejo
Day 2 -Lizzy
The next morning, breakfast consists of scrambled eggs on toast which Carla prepares. The little kids are at the table while Lizzy and Carla sit on the sofa, which Carla made up after the night. Lita is as chirpy as usual, telling Juan about the dream she had last night. Her brother, on the other hand, is quiet, but at least is eating his eggs without protest.
"Mom we need to think about registering Lita and Juan in the local school soon," says Lizzy.
"You're right," Carla answers.
"How about tomorrow? It's Monday so that way they won't start classes mid-week."
"That's a good point, but I'm not sure if I could make it on time. I've got a night shift tonight as you know."
"What time does it finish?" asks Lizzy.
"Six in the morning."
"How long does it take you there and back?"
"About forty-five minutes by bus."
"Okay, well I know I did a Google search a couple days ago and the local school is about a twenty-minute walk from here. Do you think you could come straight from work to the school? I know you'll be tired but that way if you get them registered in the morning you can come back and sleep and they won't bother you."
"Hmm, sí… estaría bien. It would be good to have an empty apartment and get in some sleep. You'll take them there, yes?"
"Yeah, I can get them ready and we can meet you there," Lizzy offers.
"But what about your high school?" asks Carla.
"I don't mind starting mid-week. We can go once you've had some rest, either tomorrow evening or the following day."
"Okay, sure, if you don't mind."
"I don't mind at all," Lizzy smiles.
"I'm all done!" exclaims Lita from the dining table.
"Hey, well done mi princesita," says Carla.
Lita gets off the chair and walks over to the sofa. "Lizzy, can we go home now?"
Lizzy burrows her eyebrows in confusion. "We are home, Lita."
"No, I want to home," the little girl whines.
"Lita, this is home, we're not going anywhere else," Lizzy warns.
Lita pouts and crosses her arms. "I WANT to go HOME!" she moans, raising her voice.
Lizzy can feel the start of a fight coming, so she decides to distract the little girl. "Hey, how about we go out to the park today and get some ice cream?" She looks over at Carla. "Is that okay, Mom?"
"Uhm, sure, why not. We can explore the area," says Carla.
"Well, what do you think? Do you want some ice cream, Lita?"
"YES!" screams the little girl. She starts jumping up and down in excitement.
"What do you say, Juan?" Lizzy turns to him.
"Sure," the young boy shrugs, but doesn't match his little sister's excitement.
"It will be fun, I'm sure," adds Carla.
Almost an hour and a half later, the three kids and Carla are on their way to the nearest park, on the hunt for an ice cream parlor or somewhere they can buy treats to distract Lita with. It took longer than Lizzy had anticipated, but getting the kids ready to go out -specially Lita- was very chaotic, with Lizzy having to navigate piles of still packed clothes in suitcases to get her little sister an outfit she would wear. Carla had been unable to help, saying to Lizzy it would be easier if she dressed her sister instead, and while it hadn't sat right with Lizzy, the teenager had decided to let that slide. At least Juan could dress himself, and she'd take that win.
Once they reach the park, Lita shoots off running towards the swings, with Juan slowly trailing behind. Lizzy looks around for an ice cream parlor but she doesn't see any.
"Is there somewhere to get ice cream from?" she asks.
"Uhm, I think the ice cream truck will come soon. Just have to wait till then," says Carla.
"Oh, okay, sure that's fine," says Lizzy. "How about we sit on that bench over there?" she signals over to a bench closer to the kids' playground.
As they walk, Lizzy takes a look around the park. It's smaller than the one she is used to going with the Wagners, the grass has a lot of yellow and brown patches, and the actual playground for kids looks to be from a decade or two ago. She swallows hard. This will definitely take a while to get used to, but she hopes she can get a job soon and maybe with the extra money, as well as affording a two-bedroom apartment, they can afford to move to a nicer area. Maybe if she works every day after school as well as weekends it will work. She has good grades. She's a good student. She's sure she can keep up.
"Juan, mijo, why don't you join Lita on the swings?" Carla's voice snaps her from her thoughts.
She looks over at Juan, who's only standing a mere few feet away from them. The boy shakes his head.
"Okay why don't you come and sit here then? Let's play a game or something," Lizzy suggests.
Juan walks back slowly and sits down between Lizzy and Carla.
"Tell me, what's your favorite ice cream flavor?" asks the mother.
Juan shrugs his shoulders.
"Why don't you tell Mamá about your favorite video game? Minecraft, right?"
The young boy nods.
"Well, cuéntame. Tell me all about it," prompts Carla, but Juan just shrugs again.
"What are the bad guys called again? Cyborgs or something?" asks Lizzy.
"Creepers?" says Juan, his voice barely audible.
"Creepers! Yes, that's what I was referring to. What do they do?"
"They harm you."
"And what is the aim of the game? What do you do?" asks Carla.
Juan shrugs.
The tune of the ice-cream truck interrupts their conversation, so Lizzy and Carla call Lita over and they all walk to the truck. Lizzy gets them all ice creams -because Carla doesn't have the budget for them- and when they're done eating them and Lita has played some more on the playground, they decide to go home.
"I'll get started on lunch," says Carla as they come in. "You kids watch TV or something."
Lita and Juan jump on the sofa and turn on the TV, flicking through until they find a show they both want to watch. Lizzy goes to the bedroom and lies on the bed while she checks her phone. She has a couple of texts from her friends, asking her if she's moved and how she's doing. She sends both a quick message to say she's indeed moved and doing alright. She wants to talk to them more, but now that she's no longer with the Wagners she doesn't have a phone plan, and messages cost money she doesn't have. She needs to save them until she really needs them. She'd briefly talked with Carla the day before about getting her a new phone plan, but unsurprisingly, Carla isn't sure she can afford one for Lizzy, so she'll have to do with what she has for now. She would use internet, except that Carla doesn't have wi-fi. Just a few more things to add to the list of things she'll get once she finds a job. Damn, this job really has to work out.
About half hour later, Carla is done with lunch so the kids sit down to eat. It's canned beans with rice again, but at least is food. Lita, however, isn't pleased with it, and Lizzy is unable to get her to eat more than a few spoonfuls. Carla tries, but Lita throws the spoon away, gets off from the table, and starts playing with her court bears.
"We can try again later," says Lizzy, and Carla nods.
Juan eats everything on his plate, though, and Lizzy is silently glad for that.
"I'm going to nap for a little bit before my shift tonight," says Carla.
"Oh, sure Mom, we'll try and keep it quiet," says Lizzy.
Carla heads to the room while Lizzy stays with Juan and Lita in the living room, watching TV while the little girl plays with her toys.
A few hours later, it's dinner time and Carla is getting ready for her night shift at the factory.
"There's leftovers in the fridge," she tells Lizzy as she puts on lipstick.
"Okay, don't forget to meet us at the school at quarter to eight," reminds the eldest daughter. "We'll get them registered and we won't bother you all day, promise."
"Sí, sí, don't worry I'll be there." Carla goes back to the bathroom to finish getting ready for her shift.
That's when Lita comes up to Lizzy, one of her teddy bears in her right hand.
"I want to go home now," she says.
Lizzy frowns. "Lita, I told you, we're home."
"I want to go home!" Lita pouts.
"We are home, Lita!"
"No! I wanna go back to the other house!" The little girl raises her voice, which attracts Carla to the scene.
"We're not going back anywhere, Lita, we're staying here, forever."
"NO!" she yells. "I want to go back to Mommy!"
"Your mommy is over there!" Lizzy points at Carla. "That's your mommy! No one else is your mommy!"
"STOP SAYING THAT! I WANT TO GO HOME!" Lita screams, tears forming on her eyes.
"WE'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Lizzy screams back.
The raised voices are enough to scare off Juan, who promptly leaves the room and locks himself in the bathroom.
"Hey!" says Carla. "Remember the neighbors!"
But Lita looks at Lizzy with fury in her eyes and completely ignores the warning. "I WANT TO GO HOME! I WANT TO GO HOME! I WANT TO GO HOME!" she jumps up and down in anger, the tantrum full in motion.
"Stop that!" Lizzy lunges for Lita, grabbing her wrists, and the little girl squirms, trying to break free.
"Nazi bitch!" yells Lita.
"Hey! Language!" Lizzy bites back.
The two struggle against each other until Lita finally manages to break free, running around the room in circles and screaming, until she bumps into Carla standing on the doorway.
"Hey, stop that now," the mother says as she reaches for Lita, but the little girl immediately shoves her back.
"NO! Don't touch me! I want to go home!" she pushes past Carla and runs into the bedroom.
"Lita!" Lizzy yells after her.
"Listen, I'm sorry, I have to go to work. Can you get her to shut up? The neighbors will call the police. Food is in the fridge. See you tomorrow, sí?" Carla doesn't wait for a response as she grabs her jacket and heads out the door, leaving Lizzy to deal with the mess.
Lita is full on kicking, crying and screaming that she 'wants to go home', 'wants her Mommy and Daddy' and 'hates this place'. Whenever Lizzy gets close to her, she kicks and punches her away. Lizzy doesn't remember the last time Lita threw a tantrum of this magnitude. Probably at their first Christmas dinner with the Wagners, except that then she had been able to deal with Lita, and now she can't. Lita used to always listen to her, why isn't it working now?
Finally, she gives up and closes the bedroom door, leaving Lita to cry to herself until she calms down. The little girl cries for hours, and Lizzy thinks it will never stop. She keeps calling out for 'Mommy' or 'Daddy', and Lizzy can only hope the police don't knock on her door. It's only when the screams and cries have stopped for a while that Juan comes out of his hiding spot. He doesn't say anything to Lizzy, simply goes straight to the sofa, gets a blanket and covers himself, not bothering to get the sofa bed ready or even change into his pjs.
Lizzy has never felt so utterly lost. This was supposed to be easier, now that they were with Carla, in their forever home. Things like these weren't supposed to happen anymore. Lita had been doing so well recently! There'd hardly been any tantrums! And even if tantrums were due, she had hoped Carla would just take over. She's their mom, she should know what to do, right?
Lizzy gently opens the door to the bedroom and catches Lita sound asleep on the bed. She looks so peaceful now. If only she stayed like that all the time. She takes a deep breath. These are still early days, she reminds herself. Lita will get used to Carla, as will Juan, and things will improve from there. She's sure. She has to be sure.
All this fighting with Lita has drained her appetite, so she decides to join her siblings and head straight to bed instead of having food. She changes quickly and gets in the bed. She snuggles up to Lita, holding her close. She loves her sister so much, she thinks as she strokes the little girl's hair. She hopes one day she'll understand that she's doing all of this for them.
Even if it doesn't feel like that yet.