Page 83 of Defended By Bam
I wore a dress to school today because after school we had to go say goodbye to Ollie. I was sad I wouldn’t get to play with him anymore, but they told me he was in a better place, and I couldstill talk to him anytime I wanted, he just may not answer me back.
It sounded like talking to God. We never went to church, but a friend at school told me about how she did, and they learned to talk to God to ask for things, but nobody ever talked back. I didn’t understand why they did it if nobody answered. Even when I played with Fluffikins, I heard a little voice from him.
But Ollie was a good friend, so I wanted him to know I still wanted to talk to him. Maybe wherever he was he was lonely, so I would be the one to keep him from being bored.
“Time to line up!” Miss Jones called out over the noise at the end of the day.
I grabbed my bag, then went to line up. Miss Jones smiled at me but her eyes were sad. That’s how Auntie Allie looked when Mommy was away. Then that’s how Bama looked when he told me Mommy had been in an accident. When Mommy finally woke up, she looked at me that way to tell me about Ollie.
Death didn’t make sense to me. All I knew was he wouldn’t be able to come to the house and play dolls or tea party anymore, and I would miss that.
Once we stepped outside, I waited for Miss Jones to wave me to the truck. Daddy was dressed up in black pants and a black shirt, but he still wore his vest with patches all over it. That reminded me, I should ask about Girl Scouts. My friend said her mom was a leader and that I should join.
“Hey, sweet girl,” Daddy said as he lifted me up into a big hug. He gave the best hugs. The one I used to have never hugged me.
“Hi, Sofie. You ready?” Mommy asked as she climbed out of the truck so I could get into my booster.
Daddy lifted me inside. I could do it, but he told me this morning he didn’t want everyone to see my behind. Such a daddy thing to say.
“I guess so,” I said as I helped buckle myself in.
Mommy climbed back in then took my hand. Daddy climbed in on the other side, and we headed out of the parking lot. Once he was on the main road, he took my other hand.
It had been like this for days. A girl couldn’t get a second alone. Everyone, even Hammer, carried me everywhere and kept shoving food and treats at me. It was great at first, but honestly I was getting a tummy ache. I didn’t stop them, though. They all seemed sad and worried. If it helped them, I’d let them keep doting on me. Well, maybe only a few more days, then we would need to have a chat.
We pulled into another parking lot and lots of people I recognized from the hotel were there. And everyone was dressed up.
Auntie Allie even had her hair down and had on a dark colored dress with tiny white flowers on it. “Hey, there’s my big girl.”
Oh yeah, thebig girl, champ, ace. So many nicknames. You would thinkIwas the one who got hurt the way they all were acting.
Mommy knelt down and smiled. “We can’t see him, but there’s a picture in there and we can sign this book over here. Do you want to put your name down?”
“Wellyeah. He needs to know I checked in.” Mommy was so silly sometimes.
We walked to the tall desk thingy, and Mommy lifted me up and I grabbed the fancy pen, then slowly wrote out my name. I’d been practicing a lot at school, and it was pretty excellent if I did say so myself.
Mommy put me down when I was done, then she wrote in the book before grabbing my hand and heading to a room. Looking around made it hard not to cry. All the men were serious, and the women were teary eyed and quiet. Crying and yawns were contagious.
We walked further inside, and everyone hugged me, then Mommy. Daddy was already inside talking to his brothers. He had so many brothers. His parents weren’t around, but I was flabbergasted at how many kids they had. While he looked like Auntie Allie sort of, he didn’t really look like his brothers. Weird.
Pinkie came over and hugged me. “Hey sweetie. How you doing?” she asked as he wiped under her eyes with a tissue.
Shrugging, I answered, “I miss Ollie. And I miss Glenda.”
“Well, the good news is, we’re going to go visit Glenda after this so you can give her a hug.”
Glenda was still asleep. But we kept going to see her. The first time she was at the doctor’s office. But the last two times she was at Leigh’s house. He was quiet, but he snuck me candy even before Mommy and Glenda got hurt. He just wasn’t a people-person and that’s okay.
Daddy came over and leaned down. “Want to go say goodbye?”
I nodded, and Daddy picked me up, walking toward a table with lots of pretty flowers, a big vase with a lid, and a picture of Ollie on his motorcycle. He took me on that motorcycle a few times but only around the yard. He said I was too small for the big road. I’ll miss those rides, too.
Looking over the table, even though I didn’t understand why, it finally sunk in that I wouldn’t be able to hug him anymore and tears filled my eyes.
Daddy held me and said, “It’s okay. You can cry.”
Sniffling, I said, “I miss you already, Ollie. But don’t worry. I’ll keep talking to you all the time so you don’t get lonely.”
I didn’t mean to upset anyone else, but as I dug my face into Daddy’s chest, lots of sniffles and some whimpers filled the quiet space.
Mommy’s hand was on my back, and she kissed my head. Daddy wrapped one of his arms around her, still holding me close. He was so strong.
I was sad about Ollie, and worried about Glenda, but I had my Mommy and Daddy, and they had each other. And we had such a huge family now. Somehow, together, I knew everything would be okay.
