Angelo, What Are We Going to Do With You?

There are several kids in our apartment complex who seem to have free reign of the place. We have an eight-year-old girl from Tennessee who likes to slip into that Southern drawl and thinks she's all that and a bag of chips. She's very aggressive and will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. But she's also a hoot. She and another boy happened to be sitting outside my apartment one day a few months ago while I was getting off my bike. The young boy asked me what my name was, so I told him. I then asked what his name was and in a high pitched voice he replied "Cinderella". To me he's known as Cindy. The girl then replied that she was Rumpelstiltskin...Rumpy these days.

A few days ago, while we were carving our pumpkins, Rumpy and a six-year-old boy named Angelo came over, wondering what we were doing. It was like they'd never seen anyone cleaning out a pumpkin before. They were very intrigued, so we sat and talked with them while we carved. They loved looking through the patterns and just played in our general area because they wanted to see the finished product. Angelo was so excited he even went to get his mom.

I feel bad for the kid. He has a single mom, not very old and clearly not very mature. She has another child by another man and it's painfully obvious this kid does not get the attention that he needs.

Last Sunday, Matt and I had gotten up but hadn't gotten dressed. We figured we don't have church until 1pm, so we'll cook our meals for the week and then get ready. Then there was a knock on the door and panic ensued. We fought for the robe and I won and went to check to see who would be knocking on our door. It was Angelo. He wanted to see our patterns and then wanted us to come play with him. We informed him we were busy at the moment and that we were going to be at church but that we'd play with him after church. He set up a play date for 4:30pm but never showed.

We haven't seen him for the last few days. I think he's been at his brother's father's house. Needless to say, at 5:45 this morning as Matt and I were waking up, we were shocked to hear a very persistent knock at our door. Again, panic ensued. We weren't sure what was going on, if there was an emergency and when I asked who it was there was no answer. I was just starting to look out the window when I heard a little familiar voice. I opened the door to find Indiana Jones, whip and all, standing there with a bag of candy. He wanted to know if Matt and I would like a piece. I said thank you and he handed me two pieces of candy because he wanted to make sure we each got one. There was a man out there with him. I'm assuming it's either his or his brother's father. I don't know why the man allowed the boy to knock so early in the morning, but I think the kid definitely needs some attention. He's so sweet.

Thanks for the Kit-Kats, Indy.