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When she doesn’t nod her ascent, I ask, “Is there someone else you’d like to stay with? Did you like Dory?”
Jinx doesn’t nod when I offer my stalker’s nickname, but she presents her stuffed animal to me. I reach out for the toy, but she withdraws it to hug to her chest.
After a few mental guesses as to what she’s trying to tell me without words, I run through everyone she’s met since I took her away from her situation. Only one comes to mind.
“You want Mr. Murphy to watch you?” I try to hide my surprise, but her frown says I haven’t. I repeat my question just to make sure I’m not imagining things.
She nods.
“Okay… Let’s check if he’s home and willing. If he isn’t, will you stay with Ms. Elaine?”
Jinx weighs her options before conceding.
I explain our mission to Elaine who says she’ll be home all day in case Jinx changes her mind.
On the way to Mr. Murphy, I try to understand what it is about the gruff older man that Jinx trusts. He wasn’t warm or solicitous to her. Truth is, I don’t know if he knows how to be. Yet Jinx seems to trust him.
I ring his bell and wait for him to answer the door. We hear him before we see him.
“Now who’s disturbing my peaceful afternoon?” He opens to door to us and glares. “Well? State your business.”
“Hi, Mr. Murphy. I’m sorry to bother?—”
“If you were sorry, at some point while you were walking over here, sorry would have made you turn back. Since that didn’t happen, don’t talk to me about being sorry.”
I grit my teeth but press on. “I have an unexpected meeting I need to attend, but I can’t take Jinx with me.”
“And this concerns me how?”
“Jinx doesn’t know many people but she seems to like you.”
“She does, does she?” Mr. Murphy bends over his cane to study Jinx who isn’t cowering behind me like the last time, but she also isn’t proudly standing her ground. “Now why would she go and do a fool thing like liking me? She’s going to ruin my reputation.”
“Sir?”
“If the other kids see her coming over here, they’ll wonder what’s so special about me. Next thing I know, my peaceful afternoons will be full of parents dropping their kids off.”
“Oh.” I glance at Jinx.
Her shoulders droop, but she doesn’t protest or needle him.
“We’ll leave you in peace, then.” I turn our bodies to leave his property.
“You done blown it all to hell already. You might as well come in. And I’ll watch the little one. What’s your name again?” He glares at the little girl.
“Jinx,” I offer, happy to see the dejection leave her body at his unusual acceptance.
Inside the house, we stand in his foyer.
“Did you bring anything with her? Activity books, games, anything?”
“I can go back to the house and get?—”
“This is why you need guidance.” He shakes his head before turning to Jinx. “Do you like trains?” At Jinx’s blank look, he shakes his head again. “Follow me.”
He leads us to his den. Unlike other homes where the den is the nucleus for family bonding, his room is a small replica of Douglas.
“I’m working on the trains that come in and out of Douglas to properly portray the city.”
