PART VI
I woke earlier than normal this morning. I think I was more anxious than Tess was about her first day at Roswell Elementary. I got the kids out of bed a half hour earlier than normal. Kyle complained about leaving his bed but I think he was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't an absolute bear the way I am when we run late. Which is most of the time. I have to work on that.
Tess dressed in a blue dress Amy sent. I don't think she was particularly happy about wearing a dress, but all her jeans are dirty. I'm amazed at how much dirt that child managed to find, with my son's help. I thought girls were supposed to be 'dainty' or something like that. When I mentioned that preconception to Amy Deluca I thought I might need to take her to the emergency room. She was laughing so hard I doubt she was breathing. Kyle was allowed to wear his normal jeans and t-shirt.
I think I would've had a riot on my hands otherwise. Tess is relentlessly polite. 'Please' 'thank you' 'may I…' 'can I help you' and other niceties ring through the house. Where Kyle would reach across the table to grab the ketchup, she would ask softly and wait for it to be passed. I've gotten excellent at hearing sounds below the normal range of hearing for a human being.
Tess and Kyle have adapted to each others presence reasonably well. She asserts herself with him—she will not watch some of the TV shows he wants to, and God help us all if she doesn't get to use proper nouns and abbreviations in Scrabble. She harasses him about the baby toys and blanket that are still in his room. Poor kid, she shows no mercy. Even his crush on an as yet unrevealed little girl is not sacred.
He makes his feelings known about her eating habits and clothes. She dumps sugar in just about everything. Once I caught her stirring sugar in a soda. She lays her clothes for the entire week out ahead of time. On Sunday night, when I deliver her clean laundry, she separates her small collection of shirts, pants and dresses into seven different days. She even puts hair bands that match the outfits.
Of course, she's only been with us two weeks. That might wear off before too long. She is so organized for someone that age. Hell, she'd be organized for someone my age.
So, anyway, I drove them to the school this morning. The three of us rode in the cab of the truck. I had registered her already, so all that was left was to go the right classroom. Kyle decided that having me walk inside his school would be a humiliation not to be borne, so he offered to take Tess to her classroom. I would've insisted, but Tess agreed.
She can be a prickly child. For all that she is so polite, I sense that it's a wall she uses to block us out. Sometimes I see unguarded moments. When she held the kitten from the cat next door and it started to purr in her lap, I saw real joy. When she sees a box of crayons, she gets a wistful look. We passed Barbie dolls in the store once and she simply stopped to stare. And if you try to drag her away from her star gazing one second before she's ready be warned, the consequences are ugly…
But for all of that, I'm proud of my girl. I've started on the paperwork for her adoption and we're examining the causes for the psycho's, whom she was traveling with, escape. Actually, when we examined the video tape, we saw one of the deputies let him out of the cell. That deputy swears it didn't happen, but he couldn't explain the tape. He's suspended, pending investigation.
I'm proud of my son too. He usually reacts, well, to put it politely, negatively to change. He's adopted Tess as not just a guest but as a sister. If that means he gets to make fun of her, well, so be it.
It's ten o'clock now, and school has been in session for two hours. They are letting the kids out for morning recess any minute now. Amy Deluca is one of the classroom moms and an active PTA member. To atone for Maria's many sins, Amy volunteers at the school a lot. She's the recess monitor today. Maybe I'll call her later, to ask her how the first day went. If we happen to talk about going out to dinner some time so be it.