“Fluffo,” she said excitedly, taking her hand from the attending’s to come hug Vince around the legs. Her little face looked pinched as she gazed way up at him. “Hey. This isn’t Friday.”
“I know,” he returned, gently stroking her hair. “I thought Lace and I might switch things up a bit. We’ll both be here on Tuesdays and I’ll still come on Fridays. Are you good with that?”
“Yup,” she agreed quickly, before peeking around his legs to acknowledge Lace.
“Hi, Miss Lace,” Inez said politely. She backed off from her impromptu embrace, but her body still leaned toward Vince.
Clearly the sun rose and set with her new clown friend as Inez rapidly turned her attention back to him.
“Are you gonna do tricks for everybody today?”
“Not today, Inez,” Vince said, squatting in front of her to meet her gaze on her level. “Today we’re just here for you.”
“Just for me?” Her eyes grew wide.
“Yeah. You don’t think the other kids will miss me, do you?” he postulated.
“Nope!” Inez responded excitedly before sighing. “Well, maybe. But I’m happy.”
The attending beckoned for Inez, and her feet dragged toward the man, where he lifted her up onto the table.
“I don’t like this part,” she admitted softly to Vince and Lace who had followed closely.
“I know,” Lace responded, pulling a chair over next to Inez’s face as they positioned the little girl on her side. “It’s never easy, but you have to remember. The medicine they give us is making us well. Because of it, you’ll be back to school and playing with your friends again before you know it.”
Inez huffed at Lace’s assurances as Vince also pulled up a chair.
“I do school at home for now,” she informed them with a frown. “Until I’m well. And I don’t like it. I have to stay in my room that I share with my…foster sisters, and they can be loud. They’re older than me, and don’t want to play,” she added as a non sequitur.
“How do you work from home?” Lace asked, hoping to glean more information.
“On the computer. The teacher gives me stuff to do, and when I finish, she gives me more. There’s no snack time and there’s no recess. Those are my favorites,” she added with a pout.
Lace understood then, that any friends Inez enjoyed, had been at school. Her foster home wasn’t providing any social stability for her, which was what it was supposed to do, and that sucked.
How lucky Lace had been to have her grandparents as a child, so she hadn’t become just another number in an overworked system.
“Okay. Small pinch coming up,” the technician standing behind Inez broke in and warned.
Her little face crumpled.
“It’s never a pinch,” she whimpered.
“Hey,” Vince used his best, cheery voice. “You want to know what I just learned?”
“From a teacher?” Inez asked, curiosity winning out for a moment. “You go to school, too?”
“Nope. It was a word I learned when I was doing a crossword puzzle. Do you know what those are?” he questioned.
She made a face. “Something for grown-ups?” she speculated.
“Well, mostly. They’re word puzzles. I bet you’ll start doing some easy ones once you get back into the classroom. First grade, right?”
“Uh, huh,” she said as Vince began weaving a coin back and forth across his knuckles.
Inez focused intently on what he was doing.
“That’s not magic,” she responded perceptively. “Nothing is disappearing.”