315. Orphan (May 23, 2011)

Orphan

“Lizzy?  Lizzy!  Lizzy, what are you doing?  You were supposed to have these bags packed last night.  Why aren’t you ready?  Do you want me to leave you here all alone? Come on!”

“Yes.  I do!  Please!  Let me stay here.  I don’t want to go!”

“You’re going, Liz.  I can’t have you staying in this house alone while I’m gone.”

“I’m here alone all the time.”

“Not for this long.  I won’t be responsible for something happening to you when I’m out of the country.  I won’t have to worry if you’re with your dad or grandma.  Besides, Chicago’s great.  You’ll actually have snow.”

“It’s too cold.  And my coat’s too small for me now.”

“I’ll take it with me, then, and you can get a new one while you’re there.  Besides, even if I were to let you stay here, being cold there with Dad will be better than here by yourself.”

“Then stay!  It’s Christmas, mom. Why do you have to go this week?  The kids will still be there next week.  Hell, they’re orphans!  They’ll be there next decade!”

“That’s exactly why I need to go, hon.  We’ve been through this.  The orphanage never has enough volunteers this week of the year.  Everyone has family to go home to.”

“And you don’t?  What am I?  Mom, I don’t even remember the last time I spent Christmas with you.  You always ship me off somewhere.  I hate it.  I’m not going.”

“Those kids need me, Liz.  They don’t have –“

“I know! I know! ‘They don’t have parents to spend Christmas with.’  Well neither do I anymore!  It was okay before Dad got married but now I don’t even have him anymore.  You know I’m going to have to spend the entire time reading to Grandma and eating her fruitcake and she always burns the ham and Dad’s not even going to show up until a few days after and he’ll only stay long enough to give me my present anyway because Jessica hates Grandma.  You know she does!  It happened last year and the year before that and the year before that!  I’d rather he just send me my present like he does for my birthday and stop pretending that he cares!  He doesn’t care!  You don’t care!  All you care about is looking good at that stupid charity.”

“Liz, come sit down.  Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?  I could’ve made different arrangements if I knew you didn’t want to go so badly.”

“I did tell you, mom.  I told you when I got home last year.  I told you when you started planning your trip.  I told you when you bought my ticket.  I told you when you bought your ticket.”

“You didn’t tell me why you didn’t want to go.  I figured you just didn’t want to be away from Harley.”

“Mom, Harley and I have been going out for three years.  I don’t think a week is going to do us much harm.”

“You’re sixteen.  A week can do anything it wants to.”

“Fair enough, but you’re changing the subject.  I don’t want to go to Chicago.  Why can’t I just stay here with Harley’s family or with Aunt June or with Anita?  At least I’ll have friends, someone to talk to, and, let’s face it, edible food.”

“It’s too last-minute, Liz.”

“They’d be fine with it!”

“But I wouldn’t.  Maybe with June, but they’re leaving for Henry’s folks’ tomorrow.”

“So stay!  The orphans probably won’t know the difference anyway.”

“I can’t stay, Liz.  They need me.”

“I need you.”

“That’s very selfish of you.”

“You care about them more than me.”

“Elizabeth Victoria, I don’t care about anybody more than you.  Anybody.  But sometimes we have to make sacrifices.  You think I don’t want to be with you on Christmas?  I always wish I could be, but these kids don’t have anybody to be with, ever.  We get to be with each other almost every day of the year.  You have so much more than they do.  Can’t you share a little bit of that with them?”

“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Fine.”

“I love you, sweetie.”

“I love you too, mom.”

“I’ll make you a deal.”

“What?”

“I’ll help you finish packing these bags and you go to Chicago today.  Try to enjoy yourself.  If you still absolutely hate it and cannot bear to go back again, I promise I will stay here next year with you.”

“You will?  But what about the orphans?”

“I’ll find someone else to go in my place.  Lots of us have been there and can speak the language.  Maybe Angela and Rob can go.  Jason will be married by then, so he’ll probably spend the holidays with Christine’s parents.  I’ll ask them.  Do you want some lunch?”

“Do we have time?”

“Sure.  I’ll go make some sandwiches while you finish up.  We may have to eat them in the car, though, if you don’t hurry.”

“Okay.  Hey, mom?”

“Yeah?”

“Rob and Angela are getting kind of old.  I don’t know if the kids will like them all that much.  Do you think maybe instead you and I could go together?”

“You want to spend your next Christmas in Romania?”

“Why not?  Those kids need family at Christmas, too, right?”

“Right.  I’d love it.”