Journal, Day 142

 Earlier in the week, the benefactor had us prepare for the upcoming celebration of all things spooky and supernatural. She dragged a large tote from storage, and we dug in, eager to begin to piece together an eerie scene in the front courtyard. The younger male took some faux spider webbing, globbing it in big, thick sections from place to place, not taking the time to slowly stretch and pull it into the correct shape. After an hour, he became bored, and decided he no longer wished to participate, leaving the elder male to finish his handiwork and assemble the webs properly. The younger female quickly followed suite. As per her usual behavior, the elder female lay napping in her room, leaving the benefactor and elder male to complete the tableau.
 
That evening, the benefactor learned that the younger male had gotten himself suspended from an extra-curricular program due to proclaiming his right to free speech. He has been a repeat offender with speaking out of turn. So, the following day, the benefactor was required to gather him and the younger female directly after school, and then took them to her place of employment, where they sat drawing, until the elder male decided he was bored, and talked incessantly about it. When they finally began to leave, the benefactor told the younger male that she hoped he, “had 20 children just like yourself.” Unfortunately, this created a slippery slope conversation, where the younger male then replied, “You mean I would have to do it with 20 women, that’s a lot!” It further declined as he began working different mathematical angles, and treating his potential procreation as an equation: “I could have 5 women and do it with each of them 4 times.” The benefactor commented about the possibility of him being married 5 times and he replied that he was never getting married, and why should he? He then postulated that he could, “do it with 2 women for 40 times each” but couldn’t quite understand how the benefactor arrived at that meaning he would have to ‘do it’ 80 times. When he finally understood the calculation, he commented that if he ‘did it’ 80 times he could die, as that would be dangerous, since disease is always a risk. When the benefactor told him he could ‘do it’ once and get a disease, he pondered for a moment and then said, “Nah, I’ll use condoms.” With that, the benefactor firmly let the conversation drop into oblivion.
 
Yesterday was the celebration of Allhallows Eve, and the children all dressed in costumes: the younger children as popular pop culture icons, and the older two as television related characters and networks. The benefactor, along with a friend and her child, took the younger children to gather candy from houses donned with porch lights and decorations, walking them for over an hour. When they finally returned home, they spread out their candy bounty and began to negotiate amongst each other.
 
A moment of terror ensued when the younger female accidentally lodged a small ball of candy in her throat, prompting the benefactor to have to use rescue measures to assist her breathing. It was a frightening and awful moment for all the children, especially the younger female, who, once breathing, broke down crying. The benefactor calmed the younger female, her own nerves shaken, but later sat with her curled into her lap, crying fiercely and uncontrollably. The younger female consoled her and said not to worry because she was okay now, which helped but did not resolve the aching in the benefactor’s heart for what might have been lost.