My Little Ruby

Chapter Four

     "Come on, Sapphy!" Ruby yells. We are going to a trampoline park and she can't wait to get there.

     "Hold on Ruby!" I yell back. "Wait for me." I catch up to her and take her hand. We cross the street and walk into the building.

     It's crowded and loud. We walk up to the long line to the counter where we can pay. Ruby gets impatient after awhile and starts bouncing up and down.

     "Ruby calm down. I'm already spending money on you. Please be patient." I say to her. She groans but stops.

     When we finally get to the end of the line, the cashier helps us get wristbands and we go over to the trampolines. We jump for awhile before Ruby gets bored. We sit around and play eye spy for awhile before we go back to jumping.

     The whole reason forth is was to see her smile. More recently, she has been sadder. I haven't see her smile in awhile and all the usual tricks haven't been working. When I told her we were going to a place with trampolines on the walls, her face lit up and I knew I couldn't back down.

     When we are done, we head back to my car and climb in. "Can I sit up front with you?" Ruby asks.

     Every time we get in the car she asks me that but her father said no. I know I can't let her up there no matter what I think.

     "You know the answer to that, Ruby." I reply. She groans like she always does and climbs in the back. I start the car and turn on the radio and I listen to her sing to Taylor Swift all the way back to my house.

When we get there, my mother is already home. "Hey mom. We're back." I say as we walk in.

"Hey. Go wash your hands for dinner." She says from the kitchen. It really annoys me that she tells us to wash our hands before every meal. But it's just because Ruby is here. She wants to set a good example and she expects me to too.

After dinner, my mother goes off to do different chores around the house which leaves me to putting Ruby to bed.

I let her watch tv for a few minutes before making her get ready for bed. It always takes forever to get her to calm down enough so she will at least lay down. She likes to jump off my bed and onto her mattress.

Of course, she does the same thing tonight. "Ruby! Come on. It's time for bed." I say but she ignores me like always and keeps jumping.

"You are going to get hurt." I say as she jumps off my bed again. "No I'm not!" She says and climbs off the mattress and back into my bed.

"Okay. How about this. If you lay down now, I'll read you a bed time story." I say. She shakes her head. "We've already read all of them." I sigh.

Ruby suddenly stops jumping and says," I'll stop if you tell me story. A real one. About something that's happened to you." She says.

"Fine." I say reluctantly. She jumps off my bed and onto her mattress. She gets underneath the covers and I kneel beside her.

"What do you want the story to be about?" I ask. She thinks for a minute. "Your daddy." She says. I stare at her for a minute. "What do you want to know about him?" I ask.

"All about him." She says. I think for a minute. This is a sensitive topic for me and I haven't really talked about him since he died.

"He had brown hair and blue eyes. He was very nice. I never saw him angry." I pause and look at Ruby. Her big eyes always capture me to were I can't look away.

     "What else?" She pushes. "Well, I can think of this one time when I was little, we had this play set in our backyard and he would push me on the swings. I always loved it. He would tell me funny jokes and would play hide-and-seek with my brother and sister and me." I say. She looks at me surprised.

     "You have a brother and sister?" She asks. I nod. "Yeah."

     "Where are they? Why aren't they here?" She asks. I sigh deeply. "They are with my daddy." I say simply. She thinks for a minute, trying to figure out exactly what that means.

     When she does, she looks up at me. "Oh. They're in heaven with my mommy!" She says. I nod as tears fill my eyes. "You are a smart girl." I say and touch the tip of her nose.

     She smiles and giggles. "We're they your best friends?" She asks me suddenly getting serious. I sniff my nose and smiles. "Yes. They were." I say. She smiles again.

     "I bet they were. What were there names?" I look back up at her trying to hold back tears. I haven't said any of their names since they died.

I clear my throat. "Kat- Katty and Jason." I say. She lies down on the pillow. "I like those names. Was her name really Katty?" She asks. I chuckle. "Well it was a nickname. Her real name was Katherine." She yawns and her eyes start to droop.

     "Well I bet they really loved you just like I do." She says. I'm taken aback. I didn't know this. "I'm sure they did." I say.

     "Good night Sapphy." She says. "Goodnight, Ruby." I say and turn off the light.

     I walk out of the room and close the door. Then I break down. Ruby's words keep running though my head.

     "I bet they loved you like I do." Maybe I was making a difference in this little girl's life.