Fighting For What's Missing

3.

"She's only two doors down," I inform Agnes as we step into the hall. "Right there," I lead Agnes to my neighbor's door then knock. Rosalee, my neighbor, works from home and is usually home during the morning. The door opens to a smiling Rosalee. Her bright brown eyes instantly fall to Agnes and her smile grows.

"Hi," she beams, leaning down to match Agnes' eye level. "Oh my gosh, you are stunning. What's your name?"

"Agnes," I answer. "She's staying with us for a few hours, and I was hoping you had some games."

She chuckles, straightening her back. "How's Julia with your little visiter?"

I shake my head. "Board games?"

"I think I have some in the closet. Come in and wait." She walks away, disappearing somewhere in her home. I step inside but Agnes doesn't move.

"It's okay," I assure her, and she hurries inside, standing real close to me like she's scared and staying close out of fear. I close the door. "Is something wrong?" She doesn't answer, she just peers up at me. She was fine in the hallway, what happened? "Is it Rosalee?"

Her lips part, but before anything could come out, Rosalee returns with too many board games in her arms. "I have Twister, Sorry, Operation, Trouble, Candy Land-"

Agnes' arm shot up then, reaching for the game. "Candy Land for sure," I say.

"My daughter has some old coloring books, do you want those?" Rosalee asks Agnes. She hesitantly nods and leans into me. Rosalee is the sweetest person I know, I can see how sweet she is in just her smile, why is Agnes like this?

She fixes her already fixed bangs, a nervous habit I guess.

"You know what? Agnes is only staying with us for another three hours or so, the games and books would be fine."

"Oh, okay," Rosalee frowns. "I'm going to get the coloring books." I take the games from her, and she disappears down the hall again.

"Can we go now?" Agnes whispers.

"In a minute."

She pouts then glances down the hall. I keep my eyes on her as if I could read her thoughts through the top of her head. "There's Smurfs, Marvel, Pac-Man!" Rosalee yells, emerging from one of the bedrooms. "Here," she hands the coloring books to Agnes.

"Thank you, Rosalee," I say for Agnes. "I appreciate it."

"Anytime, Will," she smiles. I open the door in a rush, nearly dropping the games, then Agnes darts past me and hurries to my apartment door. I thank Rosalee again and close her door behind me.

"Sorry," Agnes whispers as I open my door.

"It's okay. What do you want to play first?"

"Candy Land," she smiles.

*********

We must've played a hundred rounds of Candy Land, and each round Agnes smiled more, laughed more, spoke more, moved more. She was bouncing off the walls when she won. It's a whole different side of her. She's not a sore loser or winner, except for the bouncing off the wall. She's such a nice kid that has a contagious smile.

"Can we play again? Please!" She beams.

"Sure," I breathe. As much as I like to see her smile, the game's starting to annoy me. "Fix the cards, Imma check something real quick."

"Okay!" She exclaims excitedly, gathering the tiny cards in her tiny hands. I grab my phone and rise to my feet. I call Julia as I enter the kitchen. She hasn't been answering my text and I'm worried she's getting high. She knows damn well I hate when she gets high on her own, I rather have her do it here, safe at home with me so I can watch her.

"Shit!" I hiss when I'm sent straight to voicemail. If she is high, I don't want her to come back with Agnes here.

"William!" Agnes calls in her light voice. I shove my phone in my back pocket and walk back to the living room. "Can I use the bathroom?"

"Do you need help?" I don't think she used the bathroom last time, I never heard the toilet flush or the faucet on.

"I think so, let me see," she gets up from the floor and runs to the bathroom.

"Wait, Agnes!" I call for her, but she closes the door. What does she mean let me see? If she does need help, what the hell am I going to do? I can't actually help her. "Agnes?" I gently knock on the door. "Are you okay in there?"

"Yes! I don't need help!"

I finish setting up Candy Land for our next round when I hear Agnes groaning in frustration. She's been in the bathroom for too long. "Agnes?" I knock on the door. "Are you alright?"

I hear the door unlock then it slowly opens. She leans down, pulls up the end of her jeans to reveal a nasty, bleeding rash on her ankle. "It itches," she whines.

"Stop scratching it. Come here." Without thinking, I pick her up and put her on the counter. I put the toilet seat down, sit and place her foot on my knee. "Eczema?"

She nods.

It's really bad, clearly, no one has been taking care of it. "Does your momma have any cream or something?"

"No. William, it itches!" She tries to jerk her leg away from me, but I catch it.

"I know it does, kid, but scratching it doesn't help." I hold her leg as I reach behind her and grab the bottle of lotion. "Agnes, hold your thumbs in your fists and rub your knuckles together," I order her, and she follows my instructions, pouting hard. "It will help from trying to scratch it, okay?"

"Okay."

I put the lotion down, grab a tissue and wipe the blood off. "Is this the only patch?" I ask, picking up the lotion again. She nods. She's pretty smart for her age. "When I was younger, this girl in town had really bad eczema that would always flare up whenever the weather changed," I say as I appeal lotion to her dry patch. "In school, no one would help her during class so I constantly brought in lotion and bandages for her."

"It doesn't itch anymore," Agnes breathes, relieved. "Thank you. Mommy doesn't help."

"What about your daddy?"

"He left a few weeks ago. Mommy says she doesn't know where he is."

Shit. "Sorry, kid," I whisper, but she shrugs as if his leaving has happened before and it's no big deal. "Here," I hand her the bottle of lotion, "I only used it a few times so it's still pretty full."

"Thank you," she smiles weakly.

"You don't have to thank me. Let's start another game of Candy Land." She nods urgently, and I carefully pick her up then place her on her feet.

"Can I finish my Froot Loops?" She asks as we exit the bathroom.

"You also don't have to ask. I'll get them for you."