Chapter 4
Later that night, Jessie had finished cleaning up from the party. There wasn't much to clean once the puppet theatre was out from the middle of the living room, especially since Lily did her part before leaving. She looked down on them and Jessie saw it. Lily had everything: Maids, butlers, and any other servant she needed. Jessie didn't need those people to help raise her children. They were just as fine without them. Jessie didn't need to be perfect. Her kids loved her anyway.
Someone stepped down the stairs and Jessie looked up. Zuri was holding her favorite stuffed bear of the week, and her groggy eyes told Jessie that she'd probably had another bad dream. She gestured for Zuri to sit with her on the couch. Zuri sat beside her and squirmed her way up onto the cushion.
"Did you have another bad dream?" Jessie asked.
"Well not really," Zuri replied, rubbing her eyes. "Lily was telling Jaime how she makes her own jello from scratch, but I don't understand. Why doesn't she just use what's in the little boxes that you get? Bertram seems to like them."
"He does," Jessie nodded. "I don't know why there are people like Lily out there who do everything themselves. I had a neighbor in Texas who made their own clothes from fabric they made themselves. Do you know how difficult that is?"
"Not really, but I'll take your word for it," Zuri nodded. "I really like Lily though. Her food was pretty good even though it was healthy. We should eat like that more often."
"I can see about a menu change, but I can't do the things she does. Do you still like me anyway even if I can't make my own dolls or puppets?" Jessie asked with a bright smile. Zuri shrugged. "What does that mean?"
"You can be a little…well you get in a bad mood sometimes. Lily is always nice, even when she is frustrated. She does those deep breathing exercises or something. She tried to tell me when Jaime and I got mad at each other one day, but it didn't really work for Jaime," Zuri explained.
"You and Jaime got into a fight?" Jessie asked.
"It was more of an argument, and it was a while ago. That was why we didn't really become friends at first, but Lily helped fix that. And I'm glad she did because I really like hanging out with Jaime at school, and her other friends are really nice. But there's just something about Lily. She makes her own frozen yogurt too. She said she'd tell me her recipe if I wanted to know it."
"Be sure to pass that onto me," Jessie muttered sarcastically. "I think you need to get back to bed, Zuri. Come on, I'll tuck you in."
"No, I'll be fine," Zuri smiled, sliding off the couch and heading upstairs. Jessie followed her after turning off the lights, thinking she was just going straight to bed. When she heard two separate voices coming from Zuri's room, she peered inside to see what was going on.
On the computer screen was a singing Lily, a guitar in-hand, strumming a lullaby that eventually put little Zuri to sleep.
"I can't believe this," Jessie muttered, closing the door and heading into her room. She had to end this Lily thing before it got out of hand. She had to end it now.