“I’m glad we’re alone today. I really need to talk to you.” Jasmine twirled a piece of her long, dark hair around her finger. She always does this when she’s upset.
“Aren’t Nestor and Phil coming?”
“No. They went to play basketball.”
Nestor and Phil live on the same block with us and are best friends. We usually walked to and from school together. Even though Jasmine hated Nestor, she was good friends with Phil. He’s real cute and a year older than the rest of us. Jasmine could be nice when she wanted to be. Oh, yeah.
“What’s wrong?” I was almost afraid to hear the answer.
“Look, Holly, I know I should be excited to go to Florida, but I don’t think I can go.”
“Didn’t you ask your mom? I asked my mom as soon as we entered the contest.”
Jasmine was quiet for a while. “You don’t understand. My mom hasn’t been herself lately. I help her a lot with my baby sister and other stuff around the house.”
“I help my mom, too,” I said. “I’ll help her again after we get back.”
Jasmine looked worried. “The problem with my mom is that if I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done. Who’ll make sure my baby sister’s taken care of, if I’m not there?”
“What’re you saying?”
“Your mother’s different. She takes care of you. She works. She smiles when she talks to you. She does what mothers are supposed to do.” Jasmine didn’t look me in the face. “My mom doesn’t act that way anymore.”
“You never let on anything was wrong,” I said. “Isn’t there someone we can call for help?”
“Oh, no! Please don’t even say that. If anyone knew, my sister and I would be taken away from our mother. A few weeks ago, Child Protective Services came when we weren’t at home. I think one of the neighbors called. Now my mother doesn’t answer the door. When anyone knocks, we get all quiet until they go away.”
“I didn’t know. I don’t want to go on this trip without you. You deserve to be there just as much as I do.” I wasn’t sure what to say. Jasmine was the one who was always strong and in control. Or so I thought.
“I would do anything to make this problem go away, but I’m not sure what to do,” Jasmine answered.
“What about your father?”
“He doesn’t come around much any more since my parents split up a few months ago. My mother screams at him whenever he visits. He gets mad and stays away.”
“Isn’t there anybody else who could help?”
“Maybe my grandma, Rosie. She lives in New Jersey.”
“I met her a couple of times. That’s your mother’s mother, right?”
“Yeah, but she doesn’t come over that much either. When she sees my mother is … I mean, sometimes my mother looks like she’s … then they get into a fight and my mom tells her to leave.”
“Do you think she would come to take care of things while we’re in Florida? Can you call and ask her?”
“We’re supposed to have Christmas dinner together at my aunt’s house in New Jersey. Maybe Grandma Rosie can come back to New York with us.”
“Let me come to your house now. Maybe I can help you.”
“I’m too embarrassed.”
“We’re best friends.”
“You won’t tell anyone what you see?”
“I promise.”