27

                                    

                                          
JOSI
"Penny, slow down!" 
Aspen comes to an abrupt stop and picks up the kickball. They've been on a search for the cardigan she arrived in, but after minutes of no answers, they'd given up. Clothes are merely accessories. It will be replaced in a matter of days.
What Aspen will not surrender, however, is the free time she's been granted. "We're done already? But we just got here."
"You've been running the entire three hours we've been here." Josi tells her. The park has been thinning out for minutes now. Any more delay and they would wind up resembling trespassers, which is the excuse Josi fabricated for Aspen. 
And Aspen accepts the lie as true. She gives Josi a look that borders on disappointment, but it has been exaggerated so greatly that Josi ends up taking it as comic relief. To tie loose ends, she promises Aspen a quick stop by a restaurant the seven year old has had more interest in lately. Josi doesn't know much about it, but it figures. She's missed out on a whole lot.
Josi squats down to her sister's level, then as carefully as she can, begins to pick the strands of grass off her hair. An attempt that soon falls short. The straws are everywhere. "You look like you just came out of a fight."
"Well . . ."
"You actually fought?"
Aspen laughs and ends it with a sigh. "It was a joke. You're so ambiguous."
Josi stifles a laugh of her own from the misused vocabulary. "Dad again?"
"Yeah." 
The two make it back to where their car is in the deserted parking lot. All the while the seven year old has taken it upon herself to pluck each dandelion she sees. The season of spring is upon them, the change Josi can tell Aspen has been impatiently waiting for. Not so much on her part, though. The pollen is as poisonous as it gets.
"Can we go get ice cream instead?" Aspen says, now in the back seat.
Josi brings the car to life and drives off. "Dad says you're not allowed more than one treat a day."
"You mean the key lime pie I had hours ago? I barely even ate any, Josi. Can I have something else?" Aspen pouts. "Please?" 
No reply at first, and Aspen smiles, knowing she has her sister right where she wants her. "Alright, but don't tell dad."
"Promise. I haven't even told him about the box of chocolates in my closet."
Instant regret at having revealed such classified information, because she freezes up as soon as she says it, and Josi has to look at her through the rear view mirror. "What?"
"What?" Aspen echoes.
Josi dismisses her attempt at feigning ignorance, but also presses no further. The ice cream parlor comes into view much later than expected, largely due to the road stuffed full of cars trying to weasel their way by. But the trip is worth it. Aspen holds the cone of ice cream like it's the only thing that matters.
Then comes the journey back home. The one Josi has come to dread because what awaits her there is a dismal farewell.
"You're ready to go?" Her mother says, the same question she always asks. 
Josi plants a kiss on her temple. "I'll be back soon."
In three months' time that is. That's the next date set for a visit home. How considerate. She should get down on all fours and thank Idris Verdonni for granting her so much generosity. After all, he had no obligation. But he did it out of the goodness of his heart. How caring he is. The ideal boyfriend.