The Eye of a Hurricane

Lin

I was getting more and more worried about Isabel.  She was still barely eating and still tempestuous as hell.  It was two steps forward, one step back.  One day I was thinking we were making progress but then the next day she'd be back to being incredibly disagreeable. 

At school I met with her therapist.  As I'd heard, she didn't always participate.  She confirmed what I already knew - she was pissed about having to live here with me.  She wanted to be with her father in Puerto Rico.  There seemed to be no easy way through these feelings for her.  It seemed we'd just have to weather to storm until she accepted the situation.

I tried my best to spend time with her and praise her when she did well.  Surely she didn't like being in trouble constantly and preferred positive attention.  Still, after a month there hadn't been a week that went by without me taking away her phone or her books.

In late November we hired on a new actor for the part of Mulligan.  He was Puerto Rican and had only been living in New York City for a few months.  From our conversations I'd learned he had a 13 year old daughter who was having trouble adjusting.  She resented her father for moving them to a new city.  We concocted a plan to get the girls together, hoping they could snap each other out of the funk they were in.

The public library had a crafting event, which Isabel loved to go to.  Making purses out of duct tape.  It seemed completely random but Isabel was all for it.  We went to a hardware store and found some duct tape with colorful designs.  Who knew.

Jose's daughter, Marisol, was signed up for the event as well.  Jose and I both grabbed some coffee and hung out at the library's tables while the girls did their program.  We hoped they'd hit it off themselves.  Otherwise, we'd introduce them after the program.

When the program let out, our daughters came out together, smiling and giggling.  I felt an immense wave of relief.  They both carried little duct tape purses which they seemed really proud of.

"Uncle Lin!" my niece greeted with a smile.  A smile.  "This is Marisol!  She's from Puerto Rico too."

"I heard!" I told her, grinning.  Her dad actually just started as Hercules Mulligan at Hamilton.  The girls looked at each other, grinning.  "I'm glad you two hit it off."

"Can we hang out for a while?" Isabel asked.

"Of course," I said.  They wouldn't want to hang out with their dads, so they went to a far away table and started chattering away.

"Oh thank God," I said to Jose.  "Maybe she finally made a friend."

"The feeling is mutual," Jose said.  "Marisol's been so stubborn.  It's like if she admits she's even a little happy she's letting me win.  Like it's a competition."

I nodded in agreement.  "I think Isabel thinks if she's happy here she's betraying her dad.  He wants them to be happy here though.  She's just too stubborn."

Our daughters had that in common.  And I was starting to think of Isabel and Luna as my own daughters.  The paperwork was in the works for me to adopt them.  They'd probably always call me Uncle Lin, but I hoped I was starting to have a more special place in their hearts.

The girls exchanged phone numbers and we parted ways after a half hour or so.  Isabel checked out a tote bag full of books.  Hopefully I wouldn't have to take any of them away for bad behavior.

As we walked home, I tried to strike up a conversation.

"So, you like Marisol?" I asked her.

"Uh-huh," she said.  "She likes reading too.  Her favorite author is Jason Reynolds.  I love him too."