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| SOMEONE SOMEWHERE SOON WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU by Enola PART 6 About a couple of weeks before Christmas another child arrives at ‘The House’. He’s called Tommy and he’s 7. At first sight he looks like a nice little boy with lovely blue eyes and beautiful blonde curls. In reality, as Shane told you, he’s a difficult child and when you know his history you can’t blame him. His dad, if he can be defined in this way, abandoned him and his mum when he was just 2. He started a sexual relationship with his son’s babysitter , a girl in her early twenties, and they moved somewhere abroad. His mum fell ill with leukaemia and died when he was 5. Since then he’s been driven from pillar to post, and he had been spending the last month with a married couple without any kids, but now they don’t want him any longer because, according to them, Tommy is too naughty. From certain points of view that’s true because Tommy is very naughty even naughtier than the other kids of ‘The House’ when you met them, but at least, they didn’t ever insult you! Although Tommy is just 7, he already knows a large number of swear words with he speaks with a certain ease, you have lost count of the numbers of times he’s called you fucking bitch, not to mention the time he gave you a bite!! But since you are unbelievable patient and stubborn you don’t want to give in. One evening when you all are ready to have dinner, you notice that, as usual, Tommy is not there, so you go upstairs to try to persuade him to have dinner with the others. When you enter his room you call his name, but he’s nowhere can be seen. You perfectly know where he is though, that is, under his bed. You go down on your knees, then you lie down over the carpet and stay there for some minutes, but you don’t do or say anything. Afterwards you reach his hair with your hand and slowly strokes his curls, “Hey? Are you sleeping?” you ask sweetly, so he moves quickly so that you can’t touch his hair anymore and in an angry way he replies, “Don’t touch me! Leave me alone!” You manage to reach him again , so you rub his back, “Piss off bitch!” he shouts. At this point you stand up and leave. Some minutes later you enter again his room with a tray of food that you lean over his bed, “Are you still there? C’mon come out and eat something” you say, then you leave the room, but you don’t go away, you stay close to the door to see if he’ll decide to eat. After a couple of minutes you see him crawling over the floor, then he stands up and jumps over his bed, grasps the fork and starts eating avidly the large plate of pasta you brought him, “You like it, don’t you?” you smirk, and before he can say anything you add, “I leave immediately, but you must eat everything, ok?” Half an hour later you return to his room. He ate everything and fell asleep. You take tray and lean it on a chair, so you slowly take his clothes off trying not to wake him up, but he wakes up for a while when you put him under the covers and whispers, “Mummy I love you!” The expression in his face is so sweet now and you can’t help smiling, then you kiss his forehead and whisper, “Goodnight baby. Sleep tight.” A couple of days later Shane tells you that he has a Christmas surprise for the kids, but he doesn’t want to tell you more because he wants it to be a surprise for you as well, and says that everyone has to write Santa a letter to ask him for a present, you included!! You tell Shane you don’t have anything to ask , but he replies that you have to write the letter all the same. Obviously, the children are all enthusiastic about that and start writing their letters at once. Only Tommy doesn’t write his, so you ask him why. He replies that he’s a bad kid and Santa doesn’t give any gifts to bad kids, but smiling at him you say that’s not true because Santa thinks that every child deserves one. He thinks that it’s not fair, but you say that you agree with him, so you tell him to write his letter. He asks you if you think that Santa can give him back his mum, you turn sad at once and really sorry you reply that he can’t unfortunately. Suddenly his eyes fill with tears and he whimpers that his mum promised she wouldn’t ever leave him, but she did it. At this point your eyes fill with tears and you hug him and hold him tight and tell him that she didn’t want to because she fell ill and she didn’t choose to leave him. You add that if she hadn’t fell ill, she would have stayed with him forever because you’re sure she loved him more than anything else. He cries for several minutes, but you keep on holding him and manage to calm him down, so you wipe the tears from his cheeks and persuade him to write his letter. Since all the children are writing their letters, you take a chair and sit to write yours. Damn Shane! Why the hell did he tell you to write a letter to Santa? What the hell can you write? You don’t have a clue!! You understand that the kids have to write to him because they believe in him, but why do you have to do it? While you’re thinking about something to write, Tommy comes close to you. He says that as Santa can’t give him his mum back, he’d like to know if he can at least give him a photograph of her because he doesn’t have any and he doesn’t remember her very well, so he scared to forget her sooner or later and he doesn’t want to. You are about to weep again when you hear his words, but you manage to hold back your tears and smile at him saying that you are sure that Santa will do everything possible to give him his mum’s picture. During the following days you try to find out what Shane has in mind when you give him your letter, but he’s unshakeable because he says that ‘a surprise is a surprise’ and you have to wait until Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve, just before midday, when you all are in the playroom, the bell rings. Shane goes to open the door and a couple of minutes later you hear a strange male voice, clearly disguised, screaming, “Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas to everybody!!” then someone appears carrying a big sack in his shoulder. “It’s Santa! It’s Santa!” shout the children running towards him. You’re astonished! You can’t believe what you see in front of you! There’s this guy dressed in red, large trousers, a jacket, black boots, black belt, a big fake belly and a hat. There’s a band of white fur in the hems of his jacket and of his hat and he obviously wears a white wig and a long white beard which hide his face almost completely. Shane notices you’re quite amazed. “What do you think about my surprise then?” he asks smiling. You shake your head in disbelief and simply reply, “Don’t know what to say, really!!” He looks straight in the eye and from his expression you understand he’s disappointed because he probably expected a more cheerful reaction, so a while later you hold him, “It’s fantastic! Thank you!!” In the meantime, the poor Santa has been surrounded by all the screaming and impatient kids who want their gifts. At this point, Shane tries to calm them down and tell them they have to sit at once because Santa’s going to call them one by one to give them their presents, so they obey and everyone sits in a chair to wait their turn. Santa sits in a chair as well by the big Christmas tree and call the first little boy, so he lets him sit on his lap and he gives him his gift. They talk for a couple of minutes, then Santa calls the second child and repeats everything, then he calls the third and so on. There’s something strange in Santa. You don’t know what it is, but it is as if you had already met him, you think to know him, but at first you can’t give you any answers. Then, suddenly, something crosses your mind, “Shane, Santa is not who I think he is, isn’t he?” you ask perplexed, “Uh? Who do you think he is?” he asks back, “Naaah! He can’t be him!” you titter. “Hey you? Come her darling!” says Santa aloud, so you look at him and ask surprised, “Me?” “Yeah, just you!” Come here sweetie!” he says in a very kind way. You walk towards him slowly and after a few steps you stop, “You must be Monica” he says, so you nod, “Come on…come closer! Santa doesn’t bite, you should know that! Come on, sit here on my lap!” You sit on his lap as he told you to do and put your arm round his neck an try to control yourself because you don’t want to laugh, not yet at least, you just want to play into his hands. “Well Monica, I read your letter and I’ve seen you didn’t ask any gifts…” “Yeah, I already have everything I need!” “But you don’t have any boyfriends…wouldn’t you like one?” “A boyfriend? No! Not at all!” you reply firmly, “Ok…no boyfriends…have you been a good child this year?” “Ehm…yeah…well, I think so” “Yeah, you’ve been! Santa knows you are a really good little girl and for this reason I have 3 presents for you in here!” “Three presents?” you says very surprised, “But I didn’t ask anything!” you add amazed, “Oh well, that means there are some people who love you…” he says, so he grasps his sack and he takes the first present, “This is from Shane…” then he takes the second, “this is from Mr and Mrs Lewis and finally…this is from…” he pauses and looking at you he asks, “Who’s James?” “James?” “Yep, this is his gift for you!” “Ehm…James is…is…ehm…a friend of mine!” you smile, “Oh, he must be a really good friend then!” he exclaims. You stare at him only for a while, then you burst into laughing and laugh so hard for a while, you lean your forehead over his shoulder, then you lift your head and look at him again, but you don’t manage to stop laughing, “I’m s..sorry Ja…James…but it’s that you… you’re so funny!!” “Erm…funny or ridiculous?” he asks in his natural voice, “No, you’re not ridiculous! You’re just funny with these red clothes…this big belly then…how many pillows do you have?” you ask touching his fake belly, “Just one…all the rest is mine!” “You’re so…tender!” you grin. You keep on talking to each other, so you thank him for the children’s gifts saying it was very kind of him, then he goes to change, so you join the kids. They have already opened their presents. They look blissful. You see Tommy sat on the floor by the fire with a frame in his hands. He can’t take his eyes off his mum’s photo, but you understand him because she was very beautiful. You sit next to him and stoke hid soft blonde curls. He looks at you smiling, so you smile back at him, then he throws his arms around your neck and says he loves you. James is by the Christmas tree, he beckons with his fingers, so you leave Tommy and join him. He says he wants you to open his present before he goes away because he wants to know if you like it. You take it and from its shape you think it's a book. You unwrap it quickly, without tearing the wrapping paper though. It’s a book as you thought, The Universe and its Secrets…an astronomy book! ”Good heavens James! This book is amazing!” you exclaim turning the pages as the pictures are impressive. “Y’know, I was wandering about this bookshop some weeks ago when suddenly my eyes dropped over this book…it is as if it had told me buy me buy me! I’m perfect for her!” “It is! Thanks!” you grin. Afterwards James tells you to turn the cover because he wrote something, so you turn it and read aloud, “Look at the stars look how they shine for you There will always be stars shining for you!! Merry Christmas. James X …how nice, thanks. I’m speechless!” you smile looking at him, “Thanks to this book you’ll be able to see the stars at any moment!” he smiles back, “I don’t have any gifts for you!” you say sorry, “Don’t worry, give me a hug and we’ll be quits!” “Ok, if you content yourself with it…” you lean the book, so you hold him, “Ehm, thinking over it…we’ll be quits just if you also give me a kiss!!” “I knew that! MEN!! You’re never satisfied!” you protest jokingly, so you dig your lips into his soft chubby cheek “MWAAH!” “Mmm…now we’re quits!” he whispers still holding you, “You knew that your aftershave smells delicious?!” You both laugh for a while, then James says he has to go because his dad is waiting for him. He asks you to see him to the door, so you put your coat on and go out. ”Sure you don't want to come to Wales with me? My dad has a comfortable sofa...you can sleep on it!!” he grins, ”Maybe next year!” ”Is it a promise?” ”Ehm...Maybe” He holds you again and wishes you a Merry Christmas, then, before leaving, he tells you to keep your mobile on the day after. On Christmas Day, in the afternoon, you get this text: '20 inches of snow in here! how many over there?' so you reply: 'I hate you! just rain in here! shit!!' James: 'it's fucking freezing tho’! need someone to warm me up…interested?' You: 'don’t you have a dog? hold him , you’ll feel better later!!' Five minutes later your phone rings. It’s James. “Hello!” you greet him kindly, “Jesus, I’m freezing!” he protests, “What about your dog?” “He’s sleeping! Hang on…I try to wake him up…Jesse?… Jesse? Come here boy! He’s coming… c’mon jump! Now he’s on my lap…do you want to say hello to Monica? C’mon boy, say hello!!” then you hear Jesse barking and a while later you hear James complaining in a very lovely way, “NOOO! JESSE!! I told you to say hello not to lick my phone!!” Now you’re laughing a lot “Damn it! Sorry Monica, I have to leave you, y’know, gotta clean my mobile!!” “Ok, don’t worry!” “I’ll call you again in a while” A couple of minutes later your phone rings again. “Here I am!” says James, “You aren’t angry with Jesse, are you?” you ask concerned, “Angry? With my little friend? Never! I could never get angry with Jesse! Guess what I’m doing now…” “Don’t have a clue! What are you doing?” “Jesse’s on my lap and I’m scratching his ear…” “How sweet!!” “He bloody loves me doing it! He’ll fall asleep soon!” “Not fair! I want a dog!!” you whimper, “When I have a dog I’ll call it Stella!” “That’s a lovely name!” “I know…well, it means star in Italian so…” “Really? That’s great! Now I know what I have to give you for your birthday!!” he says pleased, “which races do you prefer?” “Ehm…you know, I like big dogs…German shepherds, Labradors, golden retrievers…oops, sorry I have to go. The children want me to play with them” “OK! Go then! Bye bye!” “Bye! OH, please, scratch Jesse’s ear for me too!!” “I will! Even though he’d like you to do it…y’know, he has a kind of weakness for nice girls like you!” “AH AH! That doesn’t amaze me at all!! he’s a male after all! who knows who has influenced him!?” you says with a hint of irony, “Gotta go now! Bye!” “Have fun! Bye Bye!” PART 7 >>> <<< Enola's stories |