day three: Jaycee and the seven dwarfs

"It's day three, what's the plan?" He asked.

Ivan grinned at me. He's so cute. But that grin probably means he's gonna make me volunteer again

And I was right. 

He gave me the address to Elsie Gaches home for abandoned children with mental disorders. We arrived at the shelter in time for dinner. They served rice, peas and potatoes and chicken fillet. I sat with Oliver, a six year old boy with autism. He was aligning the green peas; he already made one straight line across the plate and was starting a second line. When he noticed that he didn't have enough peas to go to the other side of the plate, I offered him my food which he gladly took. 

"That's cute." Ivan smiled at me then to Oliver. 

Ivan was picking on his food , hardly putting any on his mouth. 

He caught me staring at him. "What?" He asked.

He shook his head. I took the chicken from my plate and shoved it in his mouth. "Eat. You're so thin."

"Shut up, goat." He teased

Haha. He teased.

I chewed on the spinach which was so bland, I do feel like a goat.

Suddenly, Oliver started throwing the peas around. He pounded the table until the other kids sitting with us got scared and started crying. All 35 children here are mentally unstable so when one started crying, the rest would be sure to follow. All hell broke loose. 

I stood up and looked for anything that can get their attention. I found a keyboard that was sitting quietly at the corner, so I started playing. I started slow, but the tempo picked up. When i was able to get the attention of at least half the children, i switched to a more familiar tune, I played Mozart twinkle twinkle Little Star. Like a ripple effect, the rest of the children settled down and sat in front of me, watching me like i was Santa.

"You brought an awesome guy. " I heard one of the volunteers spoke to ivan "Bring him again next time."

"Yeah, he's awesome. Definitely" ivan beamed at me, a wide smile on his face. 

When the children had calmed, Ivan started reading to them. Well, partly because it was the reason why we were here. Also, I have no more songs in my pocket to play. 

He read the princess and the pea. Oliver was having so much fun listening, especially when the pea was mentioned, he perked up

 He must have loved peas. When he was done, I stood up and gave him a pat in the back.  "Good job. My turn" then I sat down. I read Snow White and the Seven dwarfs. When I came to the part where the dwarfs were introduced, I sang hi-ho with much enthusiasm and the kids joined in. I called Ivan to join us and he gladly did. He smiled, with a tear in his eye. This guy is such an emotional wreck. I took his hand and gave it a squeeze. 

"You ok?" I asked. He just nodded. 

One if the staff came and interrupted our fun. It's sucks, but she had to, because it's almost bed time for the kids. Seriously though, I had fun. 

"I really enjoyed this." I said when we drove away.  "I enjoyed this more than feeding the oldies, no offense."

"But the oldies loved you though." Ivan said with a puppy dog face. 

"I know." I laughed because he's just too cute.. "I'd volunteer again if you'd let me come with you next time."

When I looked at Ivan, his white face turned paler.

"I gotta tell you something." He said

"Why so serious?" I said nervously.  "What's wrong?"

 "I'll let you know."