Sometimes plans fall apart

Cards

In the last week, Emery began to make a connection with one of the younger boys. His name was Allan. When she would see him around playing with the dogs, she would ask him if he would like to play card games with her. They had a few card games of their own that Emery didn't know how to play. She picked up on how they worked quickly. You know the saying "You write what you know.", well the card game they liked to play the most was AK47.

In the game, you had to find an Ace, a King, a four and a seven. The rest of the game was somewhat like "go fish". You would ask someone for a card, and if they had it, they had to give it to you. They were excellent at the game, by the end of her trip Emery was too. However, she would let them win at times because the look on their faces when they won was remarkable. She would have done almost anything to see them smile.

Once the older boys saw how much fun they were having, they came to join them. At one point, even one of the older boys, Michael, began to play. Michael was hard to read. You could never grasp what was going on in his head. Emery wanted to find out his story. He was always working and didn't seem to spend any time enjoying himself, so it was good to see him enjoying himself for a change.

Emery wondered why that was the name of the game. They would have picked any set of numbers with the five-letter cards, but they chose them. Emery asked her mam that night what did AK47 mean. Sarah told her that it was the name of the guns that the army use. Emery tried to change the subject as quickly as she could in the hopes that she wouldn't have to think about what that meant. Unfortunately for her, it didn't work. Her mind was sent into overdrive, thinking up every possible solution there was. She was torn between wanting to know what they have been through and not being able to hear about them hurting. She cares too much about them to be able to hear about them being damaged.

Emery was so in love with the experience. She loved being with the children and helping them get their mind of their past even if it was only with a game of cards, hopscotch or letting them throw a basketball at her while she was pretending to be the hoop because they didn't have one. Even if it was only for two weeks, Emery wanted to make a difference in their lives. She knew that they would forget her in time, but she was glad to have made them happy for the time she was there. If Emery was completely honest with herself, Kenya kept her mind from her problems too. It was good for her to escape her life and to do something that mattered!