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.”
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