**Siesta at the Fiesta, Jimmie Lunceford**
Kat smoothed her faded green tee down and held her palm over her stomach trying to calm the collywobbles. She reminded herself, for what felt like the fifth time that night, that it was silly to feel nervous about babysitting. She'd been hanging with the kids during the day all week. Plus she had babysat for neighborhood kids tons of time before the flu hit. But, a little voice in her head nagged at her, this was different. This time it wasn't some spoiled kids of overworked parents. No one would be handing her a fifty at the end of the evening and joking not to forget to save some for college. Nope, no one was paying her. But, if she was lucky, she'd leave before Ray returned from whatever he was doing, so she wouldn't have to endure his odious presence one more second than was necessary. But he wasn't so bad this afternoon,[] the traitorous voice reminded her. You liked the look of that tee shirt he was wearing, just a little too small, stretched a little thin over his chest.
Ugh, she shouldn't be noticing that kind of thing. A few days ago she'd reported to Commander Green that none of the orphans had any signs of being connected to the mysterious messages. Kara had just sighed. "I knew it was a long shot, but thanks for helping me anyways." When Kat had volunteered for another job, she had laughed. "You can help me for half days but you are too young to be spending all your time in a musty office. Go hang out with the kids. Just keep your eyes and ears open for clues about their families. You can consider it your job to help them remember anything that might assist us in finding some relatives who will take each in." Now that she'd spent almost every afternoon for a week with the kids, she doubted they'd take being split apart very easily. They were as loyal to Ray and each other as she'd ever seen.
She had barely knocked on the door when Brie opened it and ushered her from the quiet hallway into complete chaos, talking a mile a minute as the younger girl tended to do. "I'm so glad you're here! And I'm so sorry about the mess. Boys!" She gestured to the crowded hotel room. Kat took a few steps into the main part of the room. So far Kat had only been in the younger girls' room, a few doors down the hall. It was hard to believe that this room was the same underneath. There was a row of duffel bags and suitcases along one wall, at least that's what she assumed was under the mounds of dirty clothes and shoes and toiletries. The TV was blaring, the desk was littered with plates and cups and silverware that looked like some kind of science experiment. Her lips curled in distaste as she took in the bathroom vanity on her left. It was cluttered with toothbrushes, paper cups, combs, tubes of hair products, and a sticky looking bar of soap. An electric razor was plugged into the wall and a soggy washcloth was hanging over the edge of the counter, dripping onto the floor. A glimpse through the connecting door on her right showed the same total disarray in the younger boys' room. The shelves of the open closet behind her were stuffed with clothes and towels were haphazardly hung on the bar to dry. The only neat and orderly area was a small pile in the cubby beneath the nightstand which Kat recognized as Ray's PT gear, precisely folded on top of his sneakers.
She shuddered at the thought of sitting on the dirty floor when she spied a Twinkie wrapper peaking out from under the bed. "Well, at the risk of sounding like Mary Poppins, I simply cannot play games in this mess. First we clean, then we play." The girls stared at her, open mouthed. The boys rolled their eyes. "I'm not kidding. If you want me to spend more than five minutes in here, you'll get this place spic and span." She pointed toward the connecting door. "Whoever lives over there, go over there and get to work." None of the kids moved. Instead, she was swallowed up in a roar of protests.
"Aw come on Kat, can't we do it tomorrow."
"I'm just messy, that's the way we like it."
"Who cares if it's messy."
"You can't make me." The last came from Derek, who towered over her at nearly six feet tall. But despite his stature, he was only 15 and she knew he was terrified of her father. She also knew that the younger boys would generally do whatever Derek did.
She stepped closer to Derek. She had to tilt her head to keep eye contact but she knew she threw him off a little by getting in his personal space. "I'm not going to make you Derek." She spoke softly, but directly to him. "But I am sure the girls will agree to take the PlayStation to their room since this place isn't fit for guests." Out of the corner of her eye Kat caught Sadie sticking her tongue out at the older boy.
His gaze darted toward the connecting door and back again. After a minute his shoulders relaxed. "Fine." He stepped back a bit. "I suppose it's been a few days since we cleaned up."
"Come on." She clapped her hands twice for emphasis. "Many hands make for light work. Let's have a race. The first room done gets to pick the first game."
Half an hour later, the rooms were greatly improved. There was a mountain of laundry by each door, but otherwise the floors were clear and each kid now had their stuff tucked in a drawer. Bags and shoes were neatly stored under the beds, and toiletries were lined up on clean bathroom counters. The older girls had finished first, followed by the younger boys and they were getting ready to play a round robin game of Mario Cart. Kat rearranged the pillows on one of the double beds and took a seat to watch the races. It was a relief to put her feet up after a long day. She made a note to look for some new sneakers since she'd pretty much worn this same pair ever since she left Cort's farm and she was pretty sure they were completely spent.
"I'm surprised that Ray puts up with such a mess." Kat commented offhandedly to Brie. "He seems to have the kids towing the line about almost everything else."
"Oh, he hates the mess." Brie admitted. "Grumbles about it all the time. The guys promise to clean up but they never do. And Ray is so tired by the time he makes it back here at night, that he doesn't have time to clean up after them." Kat smiled. As much as Ray constantly pissed her off, she liked the idea that she'd made life easier for someone who needed a break. To be honest, she didn't understand why the kids hadn't been split up, one or two at a time to different families. It seemed crazy to let a 17 year old act as the parent for such a large group.
She and Brie each took a turn at Mario Cart and then they settled back onto the pillows. After a while Kat noticed that the bed was pretty hard, especially compared to her own just a few floors down. She was fluffing the pillows when her hand hit something solid. She reached under the coverlet and pulled out a small spiral bound journal. Thinking it was something that one of the kids should put away, she held it up over her head. "Who wants to claim this and put it with their personal stuff?"
Mariah, one of the 13 year old girls attempted sarcasm. "Oh sure, I'll take care of it. I haven't had enough work for a Saturday!" She collapsed on the foot of the bed in mock exhaustion. Her twin, Hannah, fell over her giggling, pretending she couldn't possibly lift her arm that far. The rest of the kids laughed at their antics.
When no one admitted ownership Kat flipped open the cover to see if there was a name. Instead she found a detailed pen and ink portrait of Luna sitting on some steps overlooking the river. Kat recognized it as the park in East St. Louis that over looked the arch. In the drawing, the little girl's clothes were dirty and her limbs drooped like she didn't have the energy to go on. But her chin was firm and there was a gleam of hope in her eyes as she gazed across the river. Her heart squeezed and she looked over at the girl, now sprawled on the end of the other bed in freshly washed Rainbow Pony jammies and laughing uproariously at something Willy was doing with his turtle car on the screen. Kat found herself laughing out load when she turned the page and found a cartoon caricature of Master Chief Jeter as a hawk. The caption read "Masterous Chieftious, there is no where you can hide that he can't see you." There were a few more drawings of the various kids in the group or Navy men and women they had been working with. She almost teared up at one of Jamal braiding Renata's hair, a hair tie in his mouth. There was another cartoon of Commander and Lieutenant Green, each wearing capes and staring off into the distance like old fashioned super heroes.
And then she flipped the page and found one of herself and her father. Despite the giant muscles and unrealistically large gun that the cartoon version of Tex was toting, she recognized him immediately. And if she had any doubt that the curvy pinup standing back-to-back with her father was supposed to be her, the large block letters beneath proclaiming "The Kick Ass Nolan Family" dispelled her doubt. Even though it was a cartoon, she recognized the canvas jacket and tee-shirt she was wearing that very moment. She fought the urge to tug the hem of her shirt down as a hot blush stained her cheeks. Her actual tee wasn't so small that it was stretched tight over her breasts or too short to cover her midsection. And she wouldn't be caught dead in jeans cut off so short that flowered panties peaked out underneath. Still the freckled face and wavy hair were all hers.
Embarrassed, she quickly flipped through the rest of the book. There were other portraits and cartoons, but no more that included her. A few pages toward the end appeared to be the start of a comic about a giant superhero that could disguise himself as a ship. The enemy appeared to be able to transform into a submarine. There was no text to go with the story panels. She was pretty sure it was Ray, Gabe, Jamal, and Derek living in this room and she couldn't recall seeing any of them drawing. Derek and Jamal were coaching the twins in some kind of first person fighting game but neither had responded when she held up the book. In all honesty, she probably didn't want to know which teenage boy was imagining her with a super model's body anyway. It would just be embarrassing for everyone. Still, she'd hardly had time to write all week and the urge to fill in the story was just too strong. She fished around the night stand beside her for a pencil. She'd write lightly and whoever owned it could always erase her contributions later.
It felt like twenty minutes later that someone was shaking her foot to wake her. The room was dark and quiet. Well, as quiet as a room with four sleeping teens could be. Someone had pulled a blanket over her but she still woke cold and stiff. "What?" She mumbled as she sat up blinking a few times, getting her bearings. Across the room, the connecting door was open and enough light spilled out for her to see Ethan standing at her feet. She vaguely remembered drifting off after filling the bottom half of the notebook pages with an action tale. She'd even added a few pages to complete the story.
"Kat." He whispered. Even in the dark she could see he was crying. A glance at the digital clock on the nightstand between the two beds revealed that it was nearly 2 AM.
She started shuffling toward the end of the bed. "I need help." The little boy was crossing one leg over the other, bending his knees, and then crossing the other way. Her sleep addled mind assessed the situation immediately.
"If you need the bathroom, knock on the door and tell who ever's in it to get out." She lightly grasped his shoulder and turned him towards the bathroom.
"No, no one's in it. I've knotted my jammies and I can't get out." He turned and arched his back so his skinny belly stuck out. "See. I tried to wake up Ray because he always helps me, but he won't wake up."
She leaned over the end of the bed and did her best to unknot the ties on the shorts the kid was wearing. It wouldn't have been too difficult except Ethan couldn't stop moving as he did his potty dance. When the knot finally came undone he flashed her a grin as he raced for the bathroom. "Thanks Kat." She just barely grabbed the door and shut it quietly before he slammed up the seat.
She glanced around. Where the heck was Ray? She recognized Jamal's dreads sticking out beneath the other blanket on the bed she'd been in. Derek's long legs left his feet hanging off the second bed and she was pretty sure she saw Gabe's glasses on the nightstand beside a blanket covered lump.
As she shuffled over to check the other room she almost stepped on him. He was sleeping on the floor, wrapped in one of the spreads, his jacket folded up as a pillow. He hadn't even taken off his shoes before falling asleep. She bent and began to unlace his sneakers. Where helping Ethan with the ties on his PJs had felt natural, touching Ray's person felt audacious and she hoped he wouldn't wake up and find her there. But she was safe because he must have been too exhausted. She managed to lift his legs and tug off the shoes without even a break in his deep breathing. As Ethan emerged from the bathroom, the flash of the light revealed the pale sole of one foot through a large hole in Ray's sock. She thought momentarily about removing them too, but then she pulled back her hand. If he could sleep in shoes, surely socks wouldn't bother him.
After taking Ethan back to his room with the younger boys, she said goodnight and tiptoed out the door. The girls had been right. Ray needed more sleep. She made a note to talk to Commander Foster-Green about it tomorrow.
