Close friends + lending money = magic disappearance
Not me, but my daughter and Kyra (not her real name, I still love the kid) were friends from before they could talk. At 16 months they found each other and did everything together. They played together every day. We took her on family vacations before stupid Homeland Security made it a crime to host children not your own. I would mind Ky and her siblings in an emergency and her mom would return the favor. The two looked alike and used to pretend they were twins. It was especially funny when they included a 3rd friend of theirs, Portia, and pretended all three were triplets. Portia was Ghanian.

I loved this kid. She was a great little girl and I enjoyed her family. Her family was cool: the mom was in grad school, the dad was fun, the other kids were terrific.... The turd in the ointment was that they could barely keep ahead of their creditors. The family was constantly moving house, having their phone disconnected, changing schools. It was tough to keep up but we always managed.

Until the day her mother breathlessly called me and asked for money to pay the rent. She cried and swore she'd be able to pay me back in two weeks when her paycheck came. I wrote a check for 600 bucks and never heard from them again. What a dumbshit I was.

I've tried tracing them, contacting mutual friends but no luck. I'd happily make the money a gift if we could just have Kyra back in my daughter's (and our) life again.

We miss you terribly, Ky.
(TDub Nunc id vides, nunc ne vides on, Mon 31 Jul 2006, 18:09, Reply)