room to roam

Rachel was dragging. She so wished Gordy was home, but he was at work.

"I have to lay down," she told Jane.

"Can we go out side?" She asked first thing which Rachel was shocked to hear.

"No, when do you ever go outside when we get right home?" She was thinking of the playground which was a few blocks away which meant a major undertaking these days with a stroller and a bag of goodies for an occasion that might arrive. They did these adventures over the summer after dinner, but it was turning dark earlier now.

"Grandy lets us play outside all the time." Jane told her matter of fact. Naturally, Rachel had to remember who they called Grandy. It was Rachel's mother. Lately, they had let them go on weekends to stay with her. "We play on the street. There's Mandy, and Jessie and Gavin too."

These were people Rachel had never heard of. Rachel's wince as she laid on her side on the couch. This was just getting crazy. "Who are they?"

"Our friends." Jane explained. "Gavin rides his bike and plays with the big kids."

"You're not going off with the big kids, are you?" She had no idea how big the kids were. She wasn't sure if she liked the idea that her mother was letting them play on the street.

"Its fun," Jane shrugged. "We could play on the balcony."

"NO." Rachel looked at her as if she'd lost it. Immediately, she could see one of them falling off of it. She shivered to think of something so horrible. She sat up hugging herself. They needed a bigger place than the apartment. But she wasn't sure she wanted to move somewhere so the girls could roam the neighborhood, either. And it was just going to get worse, wasn't it? When their sibling was born. "Look, I'm really not feeling well." She got both of them in front of her. "I'm going to need you two to help me." They both nodded. Waiting for her to tell them what to do.

"I want you to go and get out your drawing paper and markers. Come back here to the coffee table and draw me a picture of the kind of house you want to live in. Then after you do that, and if you don't fuss, I'll let you watch the new Tinkerbell DVD I brought home from the library." Rachel sighed and laid back down.

She was really going to have to stay on top of this. It was never ending. She supposed she could get soup and sandwiches ready while they watched the dvd, then they could help with the dishes and vacum, by then it would be bathtime then storytime. Rachel just hoped she had the energy to get this all done.

"Can I call Gavin?" Jane had to ask before she could get resettled.

"I don't think so." Rachel didn't want this to start.

"But I told him I would."

"Well, you're not." Rachel refused to even let her near the phone. "You are not old enough to start that kind of thing." Rachel yawned. "Please, just draw your picture."

Rachel closed her, thinking she'd never let them go over to her mother's again. But of course, she listened to Jane talk about how she couldn't wait to see Gavin again.

Rachel squinted. She went to her cell then. She was going to have to talk to her mother about this mystery. Gavin. She hoped he wasn't in grade school.