Used, abused, not amused [part two]

WHO WILL PICK UP JAY?

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At the beginning of this school year, two ladies came to my house unannounced. I had met neither one of them before. I had heard of Bre* in the past, the teenage girl who lived across the street, but it was the first time I was actually coming face to face with her. She had brought her aunt along with her to talk to me.

The aunt (whose name I didn't even retain) immediately apologized for the interruption. I wanted to tell her that I was indeed pissed, that I hated having my afternoon nap cut short by strangers who decided to just barge into my home. Instead, I smiled and told her it was ok. You shouldn't say everything that goes through your head, right? Unfortunately, yea.

Bre's aunt said it was sort of an emergency. She needed someone illico to volunteer to pick up her son from the bus stop. And since she had found out that I was at home around that time, she wanted to ask me an obvious favor. Hum, how did she find out about my schedule? Hum, ask my ever so nosy next-door neighbor. After Bre and her aunt had come to her and she had declined her help, she had pointed them in my direction. She later apologized to me about that, but still...who are you to tell strangers what time I'm at or away from home? People really need to mind their own business. 

"Would you please pick up Jay* from the bus stop?" The aunt asked me. "When Bre gets out of school later, she will come by your house to get him. You won't have him for very long."

After all the mess that's going on in the world, people still so easily hand their kids over to strangers? 

Ah-mazing!

"I live in Indiana and I'm just here to drop him off with his aunt (her sister, Bre's mom)." She went on, "He's going to be staying on this side with her. We didn't want him to miss a year of school because of age requirements."

She went on and on about how good of a boy he was, that I wouldn't need to feed him or anything; I just had to watch him for a couple of hours. She asked how much I'd charge her. Honestly, I had no idea. But those details weren't really my concern at that moment. I wasn't even sure I was going to go it. I was more concerned about the fact that I would have to be at the bus stop 5 days a week, around 2:15PM no matter what. If I missed the bus, I would have to drive to the school to pick up the boy.

Argh.

I was starting to get annoyed with the prospect of it all. So I told her that I would think about it and get back to her the next day. That was only fair. Truth was, I wanted to say no; however, the good-hearted Christian in me (whatever that means) wanted to give it some thought.

But, hear this:

The aunt looked sheepishly at me and said that she didn't have much time. She was leaving the next day for Indiana and if she hadn't found someone by then (meaning, that day), she would have to return with Jay...and she didn't want that. I was Jay's last chance to stay here and attend kindergarten this year.  

WTH. 

Why was she making me feel like it was all on my shoulders. This wasn't my issue. This wasn't my kid. This was last-minute inquiry. I could say no. That wouldn't make me a bad, inconsiderate person. So why didn't I just say no??

I must have sighed a hundred times. I was hoping she'd get a clue by looking at me, but she was so adamant about it that it didn't matter to her whether I wanted to do it or not, as long as I agreed to do it.

Crap, crap, crap.

I shrugged and said yes. Why not, I was at home at that time anyway.

And well, it didn't look like the woman was going to leave my house without a yes.

Sigh.

(to be continued)

*Names have been changed to protect identity and avoid retaliation. Any resemblance to you, anyone you know or think you know is purely coincidental. Or not.