Turn The Other Way

Emma has changed my life considerably. Since I’ve known her, I haven’t drank, nor have I thought about any type of drugs. That’s all in my past. Let me explain Emma.

She’s a twenty three pound, twenty eight inch, fourteen month old toddler with bright blue eyes and black hair. Whenever she smiles, her dimples given to her by her father deepen. She loves to color in Disney Princess coloring books and she has this small purple blanket that she carries almost everywhere with her, no matter what. Her favorite color currently is lavender; it changes constantly. She loves to go to the park and play with her mother and then drink chocolate milk afterward. She is afraid of the movie Beauty and the Beast but loves the movie Cinderella.

She was born May 8th, 2002 at 5:29 in the morning to Laura and Derek Oxford.

Laura found out she was pregnant when she was three months along. We hadn’t been in Ohio two days. Needless to say she and Derek were thrilled. He was ready… just as much as she was. They were both thrilled to be having a baby.

The day Emma was born I had came home and cried. Cried because I almost had my own baby. I cried because I felt empty and most of all I cried because the only person I’ve ever wanted to have a family with wasn’t, and probably will never be ready. Plus… there are other factors.

Emma has changed my life because having a child around you as often as this makes you see things differently. That and the fact that I’m her godmother and she’s like my own daughter.

I haven’t talked to anyone from Huntington besides Brian and Michelle and my family personally. I’ve said ‘Hi,’ to everyone else through one of them, but that’s about it. It’s been nearly two years and I’m too chicken shit to talk to anyone but family. Part of me feels the guilt of just up and abandoning them like that. But there’s more to it than just that.

“Lynn! Lynn! Lynn!” the tiny voice dragged me out of my thoughts while cartoons were playing.

“What is it, baby?” I asked, sitting up. I laughed when I saw her. Soap bubbles were all over her body and the girl was naked. “Where is Mommy?” I picked her up and walked her toward the bathroom in Laura’s apartment.

I had a one-story apartment here in London, Ohio, also. Mine was just next door to Laura’s. It wasn’t the best place to live but it was cheap and I could afford it. It wasn’t warm all year around like in California, but I loved the snow in the winter. I loved the leaves in the fall and I loved the rain in the spring. Those are just some of the reasons I haven’t went back.

Emma just laughed, showing her two front teeth. It’s hell sometimes because she’s teething. Poor girl. It must hurt…

Laura met us halfway, all soapy herself. Bubbles wrapped in her hair and made wet splotches on her clothes. I’ve helped her baby sit Emma when she was at work or just needed a rest. Sometimes I just live here while Derek is at work. He travels with a construction business. Right now he’s in New Jersey.

“There you are, you little monkey!” Laura said, tickling Emma while I held her. I laughed as Emma giggled and squirmed.

“What happened?” I asked.

“She escaped!” Laura said in a huff.

“Is that right?” I looked to Emma. Her dimples showed proudly as she smiled at me, the two pearly whites showing on the top and bottom. “Listen to me, okay?”

“Kay,” Emma replied, clapping her hands together.

“Let Mommy finish your bath, okay? Then we’ll go get some ice cream at the Polar Bar. Auntie Lynn’s treat.”

“Okay!” Emma said, almost jumping from my arms to Laura’s. I went next door to my room and changed out of the clothes that were now soapy and put the dirty in the laundry. My phone rang and I answered it.

“Hello?” I asked without looking at the caller ID.

“Hey big sister.”

“Hey little brother,” I said with a laugh.

“Guess where we are?” he asked.

“Um… Johnny’s Bar?” I looked for my shoes.

Brian laughed. “Nope. We are in this one small town called London.”

“Why are you in England?”

“We’re not.” Brian laughed again. “We’re in Ohio.”

“Oh… so… who’s ‘we’?”

“Everyone. I’ll pass the phone so everyone can say hello to you.”

“Bria-”

“Lynn!”

I laughed. “Hi Michelle. How are you?”

“Good.”

“I can’t wait to get to your place.”

“Wait… what?”

“Hey there sexy.”

I rolled my eyes and stifled a laugh.

“Hey Rat Head.”

Then Johnny, then Zack, then Gena and Val in that order said their hellos.

“Hey there.”

I froze. This was not going to be good. “Hey Matt.”

“I miss you.”

“Yeah. I miss you guys too. So whose idea was it that you’re coming over?”

“Syn’s.”

“Oh, so you guys are calling each other by your stage names now?”

“Yeah. I guess you could say that.”

“When are you going to be here?”

A car honked and I looked out my bedroom window to see a large white van.

“Right now,” Matt said.