The Mender

Stresses

"Wake up! You're making creepy noises," Jilly yelled in Esri's ear.

Esri jerked awake. Oh, god, the Shell Bead People were the Violent Ones. She feared as much and now they knew it for certain. Jilly started pushing at Esri, "Stop ignoring me!"

Esri lurched mentally back to her apartment in Toronto and yelled at Jilly, "And you stop yelling in my ear. I've told you a million times. That's a terrible thing to do to someone when they're sleeping."

"I want my own room!"

"Oh, stop acting like a spoiled brat. Believe me, I'd love to not share a room with you."

Jilly started wailing. "You're not nice. You're always mean to me."

Joe came into the bedroom, "What did you do now, Esri?"

"It's not always my fault, you know."

"Well then, why is Jilly the one crying? What happened?"

"Oh forget it. I told Clea I'd be there early today. I've got to get going," Esri strode by her Dad.

"Don't you walk away from me."

Esri kept walking to the bathroom. Joe did not follow her. He went over to Jilly, "You ok?"

"Yeah, Daddy, don't yell at Esri. I don't think she likes me anymore." She cried harder.

"Don't be silly, Jills. Esri loves you very much. Nothing will ever change that. She's just going through a rough time."

Esri concentrated on breathing deeply and slowly while she was in the shower as Clea told her to do when Esri felt angry or stressed. After she dressed, Esri found Jilly and Joe eating breakfast with Randi. Randi must have spent the night again. She was all made-up and enveloped in her perfume cloud. Randi must have been up for ages already. No doubt she heard the whole argument.

"Jilly, Dad, I'm really, really sorry. I know I make weird noises sometimes when I'm asleep and it freaks Jilly out. I've told her to wake me up, but Jills, can you be a little more gentle? Maybe we can practice. I'll show you how." Esri smiled at Jilly and stroked Jilly's head. "Admit it. You'd miss me if you had a room to yourself."

"I guess."

The phone rang. Esri said, "I'm up, I'll get it."

"Hello . . . Nicole? What happened? Are you all right?. . . What? . . . Oh, god. . .And Billy?. . .How can we help?. . .OK. . . Yes, I'll tell my Dad . .We'll see you soon. . .We love you too, Nicole. Bye."

Esri put down the phone. She looked distraught. Joe got up and put his arm around Esri. "Nicole? Is she all right?"

Jilly looked at them, "What? What's going on?"

Esri said, "It was Nicole. She's fine. She's moved again. Jilly, why don't you go ahead and get dressed. We'll leave for Clea's soon. Maybe Randi could help you create a fashion statement."

"Yay! C'mon, Randi."

Randi shot Esri an unhappy look but quickly smiled up at Joe when he turned to her. "Sure Jills, let's go."

When they were alone, Joe said to Esri, "Tell me what happened."

"Nicole and Billy are back at the shelter. She was pretty upset on the phone, but she and Billy are all right. Darren was drinking last night and started pushing her around. She got him calmed down and left with Billy after Darren fell asleep."

Joe said, "Did she get hurt?"

"She said she's ok, but I don't know. I think she's worried about us being too involved and what Darren might do."

"I wish I knew better how we could help. I'm glad she's back at the shelter. I don't want Jilly to hear about all of this."

Randi and Jilly came back. Joe said, "Hey, Jills, you look terrific." They all laughed because she did. You had to hand it to Randi. She did have an artistic flair and had helped Jilly put together a wonderful ensemble. Esri knew Clea and Thomas would enjoy it too. Jilly piped up, "I'm so pretty! I'm going to pack up my princess dollies to take to Clea's today." And she ran back to her room.

Randi said, "Joe, this would be a good time to mention my offer to Esri."

"Ah, sure, yeah. Um, Esri. Randi and I, that is, I've, been thinking, you know I'm very fond of Clea and all, but she is kind of an odd old duck and I worry that maybe you're spending a little too much time with her." Esri stiffened.

Joe continued, "Hear me out, Esri, before you say anything. I've been thinking about this a lot. I'm worried that all the time and stuff you do with Clea has become kind of distracting for you. I've even wondered if it might have affected your demotion on the soccer team, you know, not being able to keep your head in the game as much as you used to. I know Clea gets you involved in doing all sorts of interesting things, but you must admit it's kind of unusual for a kid your age to spend so much time with someone like that.

"And, it also coincides with your recent troubles in school. What you did was so out of character for you. Anyway, Randi has made a very generous offer for you to do some work at her restaurant for decent pay and working at hours that fit in with our schedules. So what do you think?"

Esri stared up at her Dad. Breathe deep, don't get angry.

Randi jumped in, "Joe, you should mention that this needs to happen soon. I can't keep the offer open indefinitely. You felt pretty firmly about what Esri should do."

Joe placed his hand on Randi's shoulder, "I know you're anxious to move ahead with this, Randi. But let's give Esri a little time to think this over."

Esri looked back and forth between her Dad and Randi. Esri said to Randi, "Have you met Clea?"

"No, but your Dad certainly has told me a lot about her. You should listen to your Dad, Esri. He only wants the best for you, you know."

"I know. And I do appreciate your offer, Randi." Esri turned to her Dad. Stay calm, she told herself. Don't get angry. Talk reasonably. "Dad, I know we haven't talked a lot recently. And . . . and I want to change that. But I really don't think that Clea is to blame for anything that's happened. In fact, if it weren't for her, I don't think that the mediation would have happened. She really helped me a lot to understand what I could do and say to try to fix things.

"And I'm ok about soccer. Things got better toward the end of the fall season and I'll try hard again when spring season comes. You really helped me work through that. Let's not change anything with Clea. Why don't you come and visit her? You haven't for a while. She'd like that, and bring Randi." Esri stopped and held her breathe.

Jilly came bouncing out. "Ready? I can't wait to see Clea and Thomas and show them what I'm wearing."

Esri said, "They'll love it for sure. Dad, I should get going. I can eat breakfast at Clea's. Can we keep everything the same for a little while? See how things go? I'll be really good, I promise. And, Randi, thank you so much for trying to help out. It means a lot." Esri tried to sound as sincere as she could muster. It clearly wasn't enough as Randi glared at her, but not that Joe noticed.

"Ok, Esri. Let's see how things are when the school term ends at Christmas. You know, kiddo, that school suspension really knocked me for a loop. I just want to make sure you stay on track."

"I will, Dad, I promise. That was really, really stupid what happened. I know that."

"Ok, sounds good. And let's talk tonight again about what we can do for Nicole."

"Later, Dad, love you."