Fix Me || Jerrie

Chapter 18

It had taken Mackenzie all but 10 minutes to start complaining about walking so she was giggling on my back by the time we reached Jade's.

"Mummy you're horsey! Don't stop!" She exclaimed when we stopped at Jade's front door. Then, as if it would encourage me to start moving again, she started tapping the top of my head: it didn't but it made Jade laugh. Nevertheless, I was not impressed.

"Come on Kenz, stop it. We're here." I told her as I dropped Jade's hand so she could fish out her keys. I felt a shifting on my back and then Mackenzie's head appeared in my peripheral vision.

"It's a door." She stated. I could hear the confusion in her voice so I swung her round, enlisting a high pitched squeal and laughter from her in the process, so she was resting on my hip.

"Yeah, it's Jade's door. This is where Jade lives." I elaborated.

"Why are we at Jade's?" She questioned curiously. She'd never been to someone else's house before, not that she could remember anyway. When I'd first had her, I'd been working as a cleaner and I hadn't been able to afford childcare (I also hadn't wanted to leave her anywhere given the circumstances) so luckily my customers and my boss had allowed me to bring her. That had worked for a little bit until she grew out of the new born, sleep all day phase and had started to become restless during jobs. I'd had a little bit of money saved up by then, not a lot but enough to allow me to cut back on my hours so I could look for a new job. I'd found my next job completely by accident; I'd been singing to Mackenzie in an attempt to keep her calm whilst I finished cleaning a client's kitchen when they'd arrived home. She'd been throwing a surprise 70th birthday party for her mother but the singer had suddenly dropped out due to a family emergency and my client couldn't find a replacement. She'd come home and heard me singing and begged me to sing at the party. It was a much better hourly rate than what I was currently earning and it was only a couple of hours. I was able to bring Mackenzie and the music would keep her calm and occupied, plus I'd earn more in two hours than I would in two weeks: there was no way I could turn it down. At that party I was approached by someone else who needed a singer and it went from there. It had worked well for me, I only worked a couple of hours every Saturday and I made enough to keep us going so I could spend much more time with Mackenzie during the week. But then I'd received that email and we'd had to leave.

"Mummy?" Mackenzie questioned impatiently, still waiting on an answer to her previous question and I realised I'd drifted off into my head. I snapped back to what was going on around me and affectionately ruffled Mackenzie's hair before answering her question. I had told her earlier that we were going to Jade's for tea but clearly she'd forgotten.

"We're at Jade's cos Jade invited us for tea." That seemed to satisfy her and by now Jade had the front door open and was waiting for the two of us to come in. I walked past her and into the house before I realised I didn't know where anything was so I stood awkwardly in hall whilst Jade shut and locked the door. When she turned round I smiled sheepishly and she laughed at the two of us still stood there with our shoes and coats still firmly on. Mackenzie began squirming so I put her on the floor but I kept a tight hold of her hand, I didn't want her running off and making a mess or breaking anything in Jade's house.

"Here, pass us your coats and I'll hang them up and just leave your shoes anywhere round here." She told me as she toed off her shoes and shrugged off her coat. I quickly took both mine and Mackenzie's coats off and passed them to Jade's outstretched hand, murmuring a thanks when she took them off me. Whilst Jade disappeared to get rid of our coats I pulled off Mackenzie's shoes.

"Right Kenz you need to be really good and listen to what I say okay? No mess and no naughtiness." I told her seriously. Whether Mackenzie understood or not I'd never know but hopefully she did. A couple of moments later Jade returned and I stood up to lace our fingers together. She squeezed my hand and flashed a smile my way.