fault. I should've warned you that those boys were into matches.”
“They were a regular pair of pyromaniacs. It's a wonder they didn't bum the whole house down.”
“I quit watching them after that too,” Nat says.
“But Krissy and Micah are different.” I smile at them and hope that this is somewhat true, because I'veactually witnessed these two in some real knock-down-drag-outs. One time we actually thought Micah had killed Krissy when he whacked her over the head with a wooden baseball bat. Thankfully he was only seven at the time, and his swing wasn't what it probably is now. But Krissy had quite a lump on her forehead for a few days, and Micah's bat promptly disappeared after that.
“So you would babysit us?” Micah's face is that of a ten-year-old skeptic.
“Why not?”
He shrugs. “I dunno. It just seems kinda weird.”
“You guys are kind of like family,” I tell him.
Now Krissy reaches for my hand. “You can be like our other big sister, Kimmy.”
“That's right,” I tell her, and Natalie looks slightly stunned but pleased.
After we get to their house, I tell Nat that I'm serious. “Really, just call me if you guys need an extra hand. I want to be here for you.”
She shakes her head, as if she's still somewhat amazed. “This is so cool, Km. It's like God is really changing you.”
“Yeah.” I smile. “I guess so.”
And maybe that's what it is. Maybe I'm going to start thinking more about others and less about me. Whatever it is, it feels pretty good. Besides, my family is pretty small with just my parents and me. I think there's room in my life for more. And Nat is like family to me. Why shouldn't I get more involved with Krissy and Micah too?I just hope that watching them doesn't turn out to be something” like one of my “Just Ask” letters.
Dear Jamie,
My parents got divorced a couple years ago, and my dad married “Donna” last summer. My problem is that I'm supposed to spend weekends at my dad's house, but it's like my stepmom thinks I'm her built-in babysitter. I'm twelve and a half, and Donna has these demonic twin girls who are almost seven, and I'm supposed to make them mind while she and my dad go out and party all night. And if that's not bad enough, these evil twins tell lies about me the next day, like if something is broken, they say that I did it. They even told their mom that I had boys over, which is totally bogus. But since it's two against one, they always believe the twins. What should I do?
Double Trouble
Dear TroubleX2,
What a mess! First of all if you haven't done this already you need to explain your problem to your mom. And according to my sources, since your parents have joint custody she can talk to her lawyer and have him work out something with your dad that will prevent him and your stepmom from turning you into their built-in babysitter. But this means you won't be spending weekends with your dad unless he agrees to these conditions. I also think you should tell your dad,
privately about how you feel. He might not be aware of what's really going on. And as hard as it seems, you should try to befriend the demon twins. If you can get them to like you, things might get better.
Just Jamie
Ten
Friday, October 14
The word has slowly leaked out (among the Christians since no one else would really care) that Kim Peterson has joined their forces. Okay, that's kind of how it seems, but I know that they don't exactly regard themselves as an army, at least I hope not. But sometimes it's as if they're taking a head count, and they get all excited when a new recruit joins the ranks. Or maybe it's just me. Anyway, I try not to let things like this get to me. I try to just go with the flow, and I've been asking God to show me how to be who He wants me to be. I figure He's the one who should know. Right?
“Natalie told me that you're not into the whole youth group thing,” Cesar says to me as we both wait in the lunch line.
I
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