There was one cluster of photos that particularly stunned me.
There on a bulletin board above her headboard was a collage of the CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. Yes, the Silver Fox. Apparently, Callie had the hots for him or something. It was such a strange contrast to 205/727
the Dora the Explorer dolls and grade school board books that lay strewn on the floor.
There were pictures of Anderson Cooper posing with other celebrities, headshots of him and an autographed picture.
I then decided to try something. I suddenly grabbed the iPad from Callie. She finally looked at me…like I was pointing a gun at her.
I quickly typed into the You Tube search bar: Anderson Cooper. Hundreds of search results displayed on the screen and I selected one that said Anderson Cooper Cracks Up During Newscast.
I pressed play.
Callie spotted Anderson right away and yanked the iPad from my hands.
Upon the first sight of Anderson losing control and laughing hysterically in the clip, Callie started jumping up and down on the bed frantically, with a look of utter excitement. She began to smile and then…a 206/727
volcanic eruption of laughter came out of her.
I stopped the video, barely containing my own laughter at her response. And she looked at me.
“Callie, what do you want?” I asked holding the device.
“Anderson,” she said looking at the iPad.
“Ask better,” I said.
“I want Anderson,” she replied, her eyes still glued to the screen.
“Good!” I said and played the video again.
Each time the video played, Callie’s reaction was bigger than the last. And each time, I asked more of her before playing it again.
“Callie, what do you want?” I asked.
“I want Anderson,” she said.
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I pointed to the still of the video. “Callie, this is Anderson Cooper. What do you want?” I asked.
“I want Anderson Cooper,” she said.
I played the video again and paused it mid-way. Callie, frantically curled her fingers and rocked back and forth, obviously wanting the video to continue. I had paused the image on Anderson’s smiling face.
“Callie, what is Anderson doing?” I asked.
“Smiling,” she said.
“Who is smiling?” I asked.
“Anderson Cooper is smiling,” she said with a grin.
“Good girl.” I resumed the video.
When the video stopped, Callie looked at the screen and said, “I want Anderson Cooper smiling.”
I held the iPad and wouldn’t budge.
“I want Anderson Cooper smiling!” Callie laughed staring away from me.
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I held back and did nothing.
Then, what I had hoped for happened.
She looked at me.
I immediately played the video to re-ward her for the eye contact to send her a message that looking at me would be a requirement for getting what she wanted.
When the video stopped, she looked at me again immediately and said: “I want Anderson Cooper smiling.”
I played the video and stopped it mid-way, turning to her.
“Callie, my name is Allison. Ask me for the video.”
“Allison, I want Anderson Cooper smiling,” she said looking at the iPad.
I waited.
Waited some more.
She looked at me.
“Allison, I want Anderson Cooper smiling,” she said with eye contact.
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I played the video. When the video ended this time, she looked at me without my having to say anything.
“Hi Callie,” I said.
“Hi Allison.” She smiled.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Callie.”
*** Almost three weeks into my new position working with Callie, she had become more and more aware of my presence. When I would enter the house, she would look at me unprompted and say, “Hi Allison.” We developed a good routine each shift. At the start of each afternoon, we would play some of her favorite videos, but she would need to request everything with eye contact and answer any questions I asked her before I let her continue watching.
Then, we’d move into the rest of the house and I would assist her with various chores, 210/727
like sweeping the floor, folding laundry and taking out the recyclables.
After the chores, we would go back to her room and work on some reading and trying to get her to read aloud. Last, we would head to the dinner table and I would sit with Callie while she ate and made sure she fed herself properly and cleaned up.
Bettina insisted that I join them for dinner on the nights I worked, so I, too, would get fed, which worked out great, since by the time I got back to my apartment it was quite late. Bettina was a great cook and every night was a different Italian dish: things like lasagna, gnocchi or eggplant Parmesan.
Thank goodness it was only two nights a week or I would need a new wardrobe.
Some nights if dinner was early enough, I would help Callie bathe and dry her hair before bed. I would marvel at the fact that someone with the mind of a child had the body of grown woman, voluptuous in 211/727
all the right places. It saddened me, because I also realized that this would be a curse for a girl who could so easily be taken advantage of. No wonder Bettina only allowed women to work with Callie and never considered putting her in a group home, since many were male dominated.
Bettina told me that when I wasn’t there, Callie would ask for me. That made me so happy to hear. I could tell she liked being with me, too, because I was getting more and more eye contact, smiles and sometimes she would hold my hand when we sat together. It warmed my heart.
*** Get your dancing shoes ready, dearest Gemini, because celebration is in the stars. You will be jubilant in the very near future and you are going to party. A good time will be had by all.
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One Thursday evening, just a few days before Christmas, Bettina asked if I would be willing to stay a bit later since she was having some friends over for a pre-holiday dinner party. She wanted Callie to be occupied and someone to keep an eye on her. She offered to pay me extra, but I insisted that she pay me in the form of the delicious holiday treats she had spent most of the day baking and that I would surely nosh on at the dinner party.
I helped Callie get into her plaid party dress and then we set the table together.
Having advanced warning about the dinner party, I decided to wear a red sweater dress today.
Together, we placed a red and green table cloth over the oval table in the small dining room and followed that with my showing Callie the order of the place settings.
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I felt nervous about not knowing exactly who was coming over. The guests were expected to arrive at 7:30. Of course, it dawned on me that it could be Cedric walking in that door, but he hasn’t shown here yet and I really didn’t feel comfortable asking Bettina who she was expecting, although she did mention that it would be ‘some friends’.
Or maybe I didn’t really want to know if he was coming. I would find out soon enough.
I realized that Cedric probably didn’t know I was working here, since his mother never mentioned anything to me about her son acknowledging that he knew me. She never asked me if I was the same person her son had inquired about the job information for, so I knew she had no clue I had ever met Cedric.
I was doing a good job letting go of the whole Cedric fiasco, aside from the fact that being in his mother’s house twice a week 214/727
assured that I couldn’t exactly forget about him altogether.
Not to mention the fact that Callie looked so much like her brother.
I decided that I needed to be strong and prepared for whatever walked through that door, even if it were Cedric and his girlfriend. Oh God, I really hoped that didn’t happen.
But Bettina needed me here for Callie and that’s all that should matter.
At 7:25, the doorbell rang as Callie and I sat in the living room reading.
My eyes nervously followed Bettina as she opened the door and let in a couple who appeared to be in their sixties, hugging and kissing them.
“Allison, this is my dear friend Maria and her husband Kurt,” Bettina said.