“It was scary,” she said. We sat together on the prep table, side by side. “I didn’t know what was gonna happen.”
“He was a bad guy,” I agreed.
“But Jamie told me I should be brave, so I did my best.”
“She told you that, huh?”
“Yeah. She was brave, too. Braver than I was. She wouldn’t let me go. They fought and fought and screamed and hit her, but she wouldn’t let me go.”
I was too choked up to eat. I couldn’t imagine it. Gigi seemed strangely calm. Maybe it wasn’t real for her yet. It seemed like talking helped, though.
“Did anybody hurt you?”
“No. And I know what you mean, too.” She took a mouthful of cereal. I almost spit mine out.
“You do?”
“Mm-hmm. Mommy told me about it a long time ago. She said I should tell her if a man ever hurt me.” I didn’t know whether to thank Rae for that or to kill her for putting my daughter in a place where she had to think about that kind of thing at her age.
“So nobody did?”
“No. He just pulled my arm.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t even hurt. It’s not like what happened to Erica or Jamie.”
“I guess they love you, huh? They fought for you and all. You’re a lucky kid.”
She thought about it for a minute with a serious look on her face. “Yeah. I guess I am.” I didn’t laugh, but I wanted to. She was such a grown up kid.
“Jamie told me you would come, too. And you did.”
That stunned me. “She told you that?”
“Yeah. She was right. You came. Everybody came. It was a lot of people.”
“It was a lot of people. Everybody wanted to make sure you were safe.”
“I couldn’t believe it. She was right.” My daughter smiled up and me, and my heart just about shattered.
“I’ll always come for you, when you need me. I promise.”
***
Two hours later, after everybody else in the clubhouse got up or showed up, and Gigi took the time to hug every one of them and thank them for coming to get her, we went upstairs to wake Jamie up. I carried a tray with food and pain meds, since I figured she would need them.
She was already awake, but not up yet. I helped her sit up, but it was too much, so she stayed on her side while she ate.
“How are you today?”
“I’m doing great.” She smiled at me. “Really great.” She looked at Gigi. “And you?”
“Excellent.” They smiled at each other. I hoped it would always be that way, but wasn’t sure. All we could do was wait to see how she dealt with it.
“I’ve been thinking.” Jamie took a bite of her toast. “About where to live.”
“What do you mean?”
Jamie glanced at Gigi, then back at me. “You didn’t tell her yet?”
“No.”
Gigi looked confused, of course. “What’s happening? Where am I going?” Her chin trembled. Just like she was two seconds away from crying. She wasn’t so excellent.
I put an arm around her. “You’re not going anywhere you don’t wanna go. I mean it. It’s your choice, okay?”
“Okay.” She didn’t look convinced.
I looked at Jamie for help, but I could read the look on her face. She’s your kid. You’ve gotta do this yourself. I cleared my throat.
“What do you think about living with me from now on?”
She looked up at me, surprised. “I thought I was gonna already.”
I had to laugh. “Oh, you did?”
“Yeah. I thought Mommy left me with you.”
Her words stung. She already knew. “Well, I talked to Mommy. She’s gonna go get better. You know what I mean? Get better?”
“Yeah. She was sick.” Gigi nodded. Oh, kid, you don’t even know.
“Right. So we talked about it, and even when she gets better…she’s not sure she’s the right mommy for you. She has a lot of stuff to fix. Like, inside. Does that make sense?”
“Sometimes she would forget to get food for me. Or she would put summer clothes on me in winter.” That was all the answer I needed.
“Right. Stuff like that. She has to fix the reason she’s like that. So when we talked about it, she said it was okay for you to live with me from now on. But like I said, it’s up to you.”
She thought about it, but not for very long. “I wanna live with you. If you want me to.”
“Of course I want you to.” I squeezed her, and she leaned into me with a giggle.