Chapter Five: Homework and dinner.

That Friday night the house was back to its normal, bustling schedule. Sharon, Stef's mom, had come over the night before for supper, and now Jude, enamored with the eccentric woman, was begging to go to her house almost constantly, much to Callie's disapproval and frustration.

Jesus and Mariana were both at a friend's house, Frankie and Jude were playing in the living room, and Callie was working on her homework so she didn't have to worry about it for the rest of the weekend, per Lena's request. Though, Callie saw it more as a demand.

She had asked why Mariana and Jesus hadn't had to do their homework yet, and Lena had promised her they would be doing theirs the next day and wouldn't have an entire day free like she would. That had pleased Callie immensely. Usually it took her several hours longer to do her homework than it did Mariana and Jesus — Jude and Frankie not counting because they barely had to do anything at home.

It was especially hard for her since Mariana finished her work so quickly. Especially Mariana, since they shared a room and it was hard for Callie to finish her own when Mariana was getting to do whatever she wanted — including being the loudest person on the face of the planet.

Callie only had her math homework left to do, which was also her most difficult subject. As she listened to Stef and Lena cook supper — mostly Lena, as Stef as sitting at the kitchen island cutting up tomatoes and cucumbers — she wrote down random numbers so she could be finished for the weekend. But not too quickly because then they'd know she'd not done it correctly and make her redo it.

"What are we having for dinner, Mama? I'm hungry," Frankie said, coming into the kitchen with Jude close behind her.

Lena looked up and smiled at the two children, "We are having spaghetti, garlic bread, and some fresh vegetables. One of your favorites."

Frankie smiled and Jude looked excited. Callie grimaced. She wished Jude didn't look so excited each time he got to eat. She had tried so hard to keep him fed. But Stef and Lena didn't have any problems keeping all of them fed. They got three meals every day and could have a snack whenever they wanted as long as they didn't ruin their supper. Lena always had healthy snacks made up in the fridge. They did it all for five kids now. Every day. Stef had, on more than one occasion, fixed Jude and Frankie a snack before they went to bed. It was little things the mothers both did every day that made Callie feel — confused.

Callie closed her book and shoved it in her backpack, letting it slide to the floor under the table. She'd take it to her room later. Right now she was hungry and the spaghetti smelled amazing. So, she went to the kitchen island and sat down, getting ready to grab a piece of tomato from the cutting board in front of Stef.

"No ma'am," Stef said sternly. Callie looked at her and grimaced. Was she really not going to be allowed to eat? She'd finished her homework and everything, just like Lena had told her!

"Look at your hands, Love," Stef said, noting the confusion in Callie's face, which was quickly turning to anger over being told she couldn't grab the tomato from the bowl they were sitting in. It was especially hurtful after being told, on more than one occasion, that she would never go hungry here.

Callie looked down at her hands and she realized they were filthy. It was easy to see she'd been writing with a pencil, the lead covering her hands, especially the sides where her hand had laid against the paper, smearing the lead across the paper. There was some dirt under her nails, too. She sighed and walked to the sink, quickly running her hands under the water.

"Soap, Love," Lena said as she was putting the spaghetti on the table.

Callie turned and looked at Stef and Lena, both watching her intently. She sighed and pushed down on the soap dispenser, foamy soap coming out onto her hand.

She scrubbed both her hands, doing her best to get the dirt out from underneath her fingernails, but to no avail. She'd never get to eat at this rate.

Stef, noticing her frustration and the intensity in her hand scrubbing, said, "Rinse them and come sit down, Love, so we can eat. I know you're probably starving."

Callie hurried and did as she was told, not bothering to dry her hands as she sat at the table and looked at the food before her.

Spaghetti was one of her favorite meals, too. And she loved garlic bread and tomatoes and cucumbers.

"Can I have some ranch dressing," Callie asked, quietly, staring down at her lap.

Lena smiled, "You sure can, let me get it out. Anything else you guys need?"

Everyone shook their heads. While Lena got up to go to the fridge, Stef dished out food on each plate, making sure Callie's bread touched nothing else; that Frankie had more noddles than sauce; and that Jude's had extra sauce and cheese.

The children had not been with them long, but Stef and Lena made sure to pay attention to their likes and dislikes.

Callie grabbed an extra plate from the side of the table and piled tomatoes and cucumbers on it, salted and peppered them, and then poured ranch dressing over them. Lena and Stef looked on with interest. They'd not had just tomatoes and cucumbers, and Callie always steered away from the salads they usually had with their meals. In fact, most of the time she hid things she didn't like in a napkin under the table — one of those things being salad.

Stef and Lena had talked about it at length, whether to bring up Callie's hiding food she didn't like, but they chose not to. It had taken her more than a month to get to the point of hiding the food she didn't like instead of eating, making herself sick in the process. They were too worried they'd make her revert back to forcing herself to eat, that they wanted to give her more time hiding it, to see if she would tell them she didn't like it.

"Love, save some ranch for later in case you want more," Stef laughed, gently taking the bottle from Callie's hand and putting it by the raw vegetables.

Callie looked at Stef with a shy smile, one they'd rarely seen in her time with them.

"Okay, loves, let's eat," Lena said, feeling a burst of happiness she'd not felt in a long time.


The next morning, Callie woke up at seven. It was not unusual for her. She was used to waking up early because in many houses that was the only way she was able to make sure Jude was able to eat. Now it was habit. She knew the only one who would probably be awake was Lena. Saturday mornings had become a trend with the duo. They'd both sit on the back porch, not really talking, just sitting in comfortable silence, usually until about eight, when Stef, Frankie, and Jude would come downstairs in search of breakfast and early morning cartoons.

This particular Saturday morning, Callie wanted to read her most recent book, "The Giver," while sitting with Lena. She looked beside her bed for her backpack, trying to be quiet so she didn't wake up Mariana, though Mariana had woke her up the night before when she came home. Her bag wasn't there.