Having gained my niece’s trust, Monica and I took the girls back to their house. At that time Monica was sharing a house with her sister, so we decided to pick up a movie on the way there, and watch it together in her room.

When we got to their house, I went back to Monica’s room and waited while Monica made some popcorn. As I was fumbling with the movie, my new little friend, Savannah, came to the room to visit with me. She had many questions for me, and I was glad to answer them since it was such a rare occasion for Savannah to even be talking to a new person. “What are you doing back here?”, “Where’s Monica?”, “Where do you live?”, “How old are you?”, “Do you like olives?”, “Are you going to live here?”, “Do you have a mommy?”…the questions went on and on. I was unphased; I just answered them as quickly as they came.

Then she noticed the movie that I was fumbling with. “What’s that?”, she asked. “This is a movie,” I answered. “Can I see it?”, she asked. This was the first question that she had asked that required me to do anything but speak. I stopped for a moment and looked up at her. She had been bouncing deliriously upon the bed; now she stood there looking at me expectantly. She was obviously a curious little girl, and wanted to examine the movie that I had brought to her house. So I smiled at her and said, “Sure,” as I handed her the movie for a brief inspection.

Savannah reached out her tiny hands and took hold of the video tape, and without a second’s hesitation, with great intention and determination, she walked straight back to the back of the bed and sent it falling and clammering down behind the bed rail. No sooner had she done this, than she turned her little self around, this little one who had seemed so innocent and sweet, now at once thrusting herself into my personal space, her nose to mine, furrowing her brow and smiling like the devil incarnate, and shouting “HAH HAH!” into the face of this full grown man.

Just great. I thought I had gained the trust of this man-phobic child, and shown her that she did not have to be afraid all men. Now I could only conclude that I had somehow convinced her that I was not a man at all.