Wise Kid

"Spencer, go."

"I don't wanna go in by myself!"

"Your the closest to her. If we go in and somethings wrong, she won't want us there. She'd want to talk to you privately. Plus, your great at helping people," Alexandra pushes again.

"What if I say something wrong and make it worse?"

"You won't. You helped me when I was at my lowest. You can do it again," Sky assures me. I take a deep breathe.

"Alright, I'll be back."

I walk up to a gated door of an apartment complex and press the buzzer to her apartment number. When I press the buzzer, it makes a buzzzzzz sound and someone answers.

"Yes, who is it," I hear a little boy on the other side.

"Is Jamie there? I go to school with her. I'm one of her friends. She didn't come to school today. I wanted to drop off some of her school work."

"Yeah, she's my sister. I'll let you up." I heard the gated door unlock and it opens. I walk up the stairs and look for her apartment number.

The door opens to a little boy looking up at me. I can hear a lot of children running around and screaming. It sounded like a playground in there.

"What's your name," the boy asks me. He looked about seven years old with smooth brown skin, chocolate eyes, and kinky, afro hair.

"Spencer, and what's your name," I ask him nicely.

"Grant! Pleased to meet you," he says grabbing my hand to shake it. He's so cute!

"Come on. I'll show you the way." Grant grabs my hand and leads me inside the house.

I was right. There were kids of various ages running around. Grant didn't give me time to see much or ask any questions, he just raced up the stairs and to one of the bedrooms.

When we got to the bedroom, Grant knocked.

"Jamie, can I come in? Your friend is here to see you." He knocks a couple more times until Jamie answers the door.

"Spencer?" I've never seen Jamie look like this before. She's always happy and vibrant, but right now, she looks drained and gloomy.

"I'm sorry I popped by like this. Parker was worried when you didn't come to school today and I told him I would stop by."

"Come in," she motions, opening the bedroom door wider. When I walked in, there were three beds with three sides of the room divided, each side with a different personality. In one of the beds there was a girl sound asleep.

Jamie sits on one of the beds I'm guessing is hers and motions for me to sit as well.

"Jamie, why didn't you tell me," I ask her. I didn't have to say much for her to understand.

"It's not really a conversation starter. Imagine me saying, "Hey, I'm Jamie. My mom died in childbirth and my dad gave me away. I've lived in this orphanage group home since the age of 12 after I moved from home to home. I live here with 14 other kids." How does that sound?"

That made me frown.

"Your always so happy and cheery. I would have never known. I should know these things. Your my best friend. I should know when you don't feeling cheery or when your having a bad day."

"Don't blame yourself. I'm the one who didn't tell you. I just didn't want you to only see me as the orphan."

"I would never do something that would make you feel anything, but happy. Your like a sister to me. So, will you tell me what's wrong? I can tell your not telling me everything."

Jamie pulls her knees to her chest and just sways back and forth.

"Did something happened with Parker," I asked her. She buries her face into her knees and I can hear her start sobbing.

"I knew I was bad at this." I start to feel guilty for making her cry.

"No, it's not you. I promise. Your the best person I have ever met. I feel like I can talk to you about anything..... I'm just scared."

"What are you scared of, Jamie?"

"I just don't wanna lose you or Parker. If I tell you, you'll run away from me."

"There's nothing that would make me leave you," I tell her, reassuringly. I watch her wipe her tears.

"I was born with HIV." She didn't look at me, just at the wall on the opposite side of the room.

"My mom got it from my dad and transmitted it to me. I can live a normal life with treatment, but I have to be careful because my immune system is not as strong as it should be and everything else that comes with having HIV."

"I just think it's really fucked up that I didn't even live my life yet, but it's already ruined for me. Like my dad gave it to my mom and didn't tell her he had HIV. There are some really selfish people in this world. He ruined two lives when he did that. Now I'm stuck with having to get treatments, so I can live a normal life. That's why I wasn't in school today. I had a check-up."

"What about Parker?"

"I didn't want to tell him because I was scared that he wouldn't want to be near me, but every time he tried to kiss me, I moved away. I know HIV can't be transmitted through saliva, but I don't want to take any chances. Then that would be me ruining his life and I really care about him."

"Your going to have to tell him. Sooner or later. I'm not forcing you to do anything, but you pushing him away without explanation is hurting the both of you."

"It's just, I have a lot going on. I'm almost 18 and I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm aging out of the orphanage and I don't know what I'm going to do next. This was the only place I thought I was safe after moving from home to home. It's just a lot and everything's just piling up. Shit!"

"Jamie," we heard a little voice at the door. Grant was by door.

"Yes, Grant," Jamie asks, trying to wipe her tears.

"Do you need a hug?" That just made Jamie cry more.

I motion Grant to come over and we give Jamie a group hug.

"It's ok, Jamie," Grant tells her.

"He's right. Everything will work out. I promise. Everything will be just fine. We'll figure this out together," I tell her.

"I wish I could have a different life."

"You can't wish for another life. You can only make the best of this one," Grant says.

"Your a very wise kid."