Ashley
The phone rang bright and early, and I wondered who would be calling me before sunrise. When I saw Tyrell’s name, I perked up, but the panic in his voice when I answered popped the bubble.
“Ash, my mom fell, and I need to take her to the hospital. I can’t get ahold of Sabra. Can I bring the girls to you?” He spoke with such speed, it took a moment for my brain to catch up with what he had said.
“Of course, of course. Is Mrs. Harris okay?” I sat upright, prompting Trainer to start meowing for her breakfast. “Shush, Trainer.”
There was a commotion on the other end of the phone, and Tyrell was barking orders. “She can’t walk. I think she broke her leg; I’m not sure. It’s a miracle the girls thought to call me and tell me Gigi was hurt.”
That must have frightened the girls terribly. How could I take their mind off what had happened? “She’ll be okay, mon ange. Bring the girls here and don’t give it a second thought. Get your mom better.”
“We’ll be there in five.”
I threw on a dress—who had time for pants?—and pulled my hair up in a bun. After a quick stop in the bathroom, I tidied up just in time for the doorbell to ring.
The girls bound into my apartment, talking a mile a minute. “Miss Ashley, Daddy said you have a cat!”
“I’m hungry. Can we have McDonald’s?”
“Oh, that’s so pretty.”
“Gigi got hurt.”
Tyrell looked frazzled. “Mom’s in the car. I had to carry her.” He thrust a bag toward me with a few toys, tablets, and blankets in it.
I put my hands on his cheeks to make him hold still. “Ty. Stop. Take a deep breath.” I looked into his eyes as he breathed in and out. “I know you’re worried, but she will be okay. And the girls will be fine. Take care of your mom, but stop panicking. It helps no one.”
He closed his eyes and pulled me in for a hug. “Thank you, Dream Girl.” He kissed my forehead before saying goodbye to the girls and disappearing.
Two little girls sat on my hastily made bed and stared at me. I stared back. Trainer jumped up on the coffee table between us, and the girls squealed in delight. Sensing a need to flee, Trainer took off, and the girls followed her around the kitchen island and back to my bed where Trainer slid underneath to safety.
“I want to play with the kitty.” One of the girls tried to fit under the bed but couldn’t, while the other climbed on the bed and dangled her head off the side.
That’s when I realized I had no idea which girl was which. I was doing good to remember that their names were Sami and Saffi, but I couldn’t tell them apart. Looking from one to the other, I breathed a sigh of relief that they were not in matching outfits. One wore a green shirt, while the other was in pink.
“That’s Trainer. Let’s give her a few minutes, and maybe she’ll come out to play. How about I make pancakes?” I clapped my hands like I would in my classroom. Both girls’ heads popped up to attention. “Come sit up here and tell me what you did with Gigi last night while I cook.”
I whipped up pancake batter and heated the skillet while they rattled off everything they had done with their grandmother. By the time they were done, the pancakes were ready, and Trainer had finally peaked her head out from under the bed.
“Why don’t we go to the park?” I suggested. “The bathroom is right over there.” I pointed to the first door down the hallway. ”How about you both go potty, and we’ll go play.”
I cleaned up a little bit while they tore off for the bathroom. Those girls did everything in a hurry. I threw some water bottles in my bag, along with a few apples and a frisbee. The benefit of living in Savannah is there are plenty of green spaces to play, and I was grateful to have Baldwin Park right outside my front door. After a quick text to Tyrell checking in, we headed out.
Still not sure which girl was which, I stretched my hand out toward them. “Saffi, take my hand.” The girl in green took my hand. Saffi was in green. I repeated that in my head a few times. “Sami, take Saffi’s hand.” The one in pink latched onto her sister.
As we marched across the street, I recited in my head Saffi green, Sami pink. Saffi green, Sami pink. The girls were thrilled to run wild for a few minutes on their own while I watched. They attempted cartwheels and danced arm in arm. It was like being at work with my class. Keep them occupied and in sight, and everything would be all right.
We played and ran outside for almost an hour, the girls happily shrieking as they chased birds, squirrels, and me.
When we sat down for some water and a snack, a police officer approached us. “Ma’am? Are these your children?”
The girls clearly did not resemble me in any way, but seeing sitters or nannies were commonplace in the city, so I thought the question a little odd. “No, sir. I’m watching them for their father, who had an emergency.”
“Where is their mother?”
I scooted forward on the bench so the girls were a little more behind me. “Their father, Tyrell Harris, could not get ahold of her. His mother needed to go to the hospital right away, and he asked me to keep them.”
Sabra came up a sidewalk in that moment dressed in a skin-tight catsuit. “She’s a liar. She kidnapped my children. She also stole my man. Arrest her.”
Kidnapped? What? I stood and stepped forward, thinking that putting space between the adults and the girls would spare them from hearing this. “Ms. Thomas, I assure you I did not kidnap the girls. Tyrell asked me to watch them while he took his mother to the hospital.” But my words fell on deaf ears.
She waved her arms wildly. “I want her arrested.” The girls had seen her and gone running to her. “Don’t worry, girls, Momma is here.”
The one in green—Saffi?—pulled on her mom’s shirt. “Momma, Miss Ashley is from school. She’s Daddy’s friend.”
The officer turned and spoke in hushed tones to Sabra. While he did, I pulled out my phone and texted Tyrell that he needed to come as soon as he could because Sabra was accusing me of kidnapping the girls. I slipped my phone back in my pocket without waiting for a reply.
My entire body shook as people pulled out phones and began recording Sabra’s rant. There was nothing I could do, and I would not walk away from Sami and Saffi. The girls had taken up residence between us and were silent as they made dandelion chains. Their mother’s screaming didn’t seem to faze them, but I knew that wasn’t healthy for kids to overhear the kind of words she was spewing.
After talking with Sabra, one officer came over to me. He already looked exasperated. “Miss, tell me again what’s going on.”
“Gladly.” I sighed and stood up as I explained everything again. Sabra kept repeating that I was a kidnapper, and I had to tune her out.
The officer nodded. “And what hospital did your friend take his mother to?”
“I’m honestly not sure. I was more concerned about taking care of the girls than where they were headed, but I’m sure if you could get ahold of him, he will clear this up.” I crossed my arms, then uncrossed them and stuffed my hands into my pockets. “If Ms. Thomas had just approached me and said she would take the girls from there, it would have been fine. I’m a teacher at their school, so we have seen each other frequently.”
In that moment, Tyrell came into sight and was running toward us. “Stop!”
The twins jumped up and ran to their father, wrapping their arms around his legs. “Daddy! Daddy!”
Sabra approached him as well, her hips swaying as she went. “Oh, babe, I was so worried. I thought this lady had stolen the girls from you.” She put her hand on his chest, but he flicked it off as if it were a bug.
“I will deal with you in a minute.” Tyrell shot her a menacing glance. He went to the officer near me. “I’m Tyrell Harris, the father of the girls. I can prove it. I have pictures of them all the way back to their birth.” He began to pull out his phone, but the officer waved it off.
“You know both these women?” The officer looked from Sabra to me.
With a nod to Sabra, he said she was the mother of his girls. Then he looked to me. “Ashley Gloss is my girlfriend.”
I would have jumped for joy in any other situation. In this one, however, I merely gave him a weak smile.
After talking with Tyrell for a minute, the officers went back to Sabra, and Tyrell approached me. “Are you okay?”
I wanted to tell him no, but I nodded instead. “I’m fine. But, Tyrell, the way she came at me yelling and the things she was yelling that didn’t even faze the girls… That concerns me.”
Sabra came up to us before he could respond. “I’m taking the girls home with me.”
One of the officers stopped her in her tracks. “Do you have a custody agreement?”
Tyrell ran his hands over his head. “We have a verbal agreement only. Though I think that might be changing soon. But I have the girls until this coming Wednesday.”
The officer looked from Tyrell to Sabra. When she nodded, the officers shrugged and backed off. After a final warning for us all to behave like civilized people, they began walking away.