Rachael asked me to pick up Lily after school yesterday and watch her until she finished work. (I should add here that I have deliberately avoided blogging about Lily because I know how even my best friends start to get that glazed eye look when I blather on about her. But I can't help it. It's not like I expected to have the world's most perfect granddaughter.)
We had walked a little bit out of the schoolyard when I noticed this boy from Lily's school was walking along with us. I looked around for his parents and didn't see any other adults, so I figured he must live very close. Even so, I was a little surprised that someone wasn't there to pick up a first grader.
Well, like a puppy that adopts you on the street, this boy walked in lockstep with Lily right up to our car. When I opened the car and he threw in his backpack, I decided it was about time to speak with the kid.
I asked him his name and asked him why he had thrown his backpack in my car. Aden was his name. And he told me he had put his backpack in because he was going home with Lily and me.
But Aden, I don't know anything about this, I said, and started to explain the problem. After about five more words, I realized I wasn't making the kind of points that a six-year-old was going to agree with. I went to simple, fact-finding questions.
Aden, does your mother know you're coming to my house? A quick nod of the head yes.
Aden, I really need to talk to her before we go. Do you know your phone number? The blankest stare I have encountered since I caught one of my publishers cheating on his expenses.
Well, to make this story short, I called Lily's mother, Rachael, who explained that yet a third mother normally picked up her child along with Lily and Aden on Thursday. The night before she had phoned Rachael saying she couldn't do it (hence my call to duty), but she obviously had forgotten to let Aden's mother know.
Anyhow, Rachael rang Aden's mother and it all worked out. But besides the funny part of Aden tagging along like a lamb searching for its ewe, it made me aware how strange our times have become. Because I wasn't just worried about Aden, but about me. I am pretty sure there isn't anyone who would think a 60-year-man should be putting a little boy he doesn't know into his car. And I can only imagine how frantic his mother would have become when she learned where he wasn't and had no idea where he was.
Anyhow, Aden turned out to be a lovely boy and his brief visit to our house had a side benefit. Lily bossed him around until his mother came. And only then did she start bossing me around as she usually does. It gave me time to make her snack.
No comments:
Post a Comment