For years now, I've played along with the fantasy and I enjoyed it. It was so fun, I began to believe it myself. Angelica was a very convincing girl. Everywhere that girl went, she had a presence about her and it was up to you to determine what type of person she was. I knew her well and I supported everything about her, even her extremely vivid imagination. I always went to play with her against my parents' wishes. I made sure she was the happiest, despite her misguided views. I got in trouble for that, a lot.
"Susie! I told you to leave that girl alone," my mom yelled.
"But mom! She needs a friend! I can't let her be alone! She needs me!" I yelled back with tears streaming down my face.
That's right. I felt needed by her. Angelica was a disturbed little girl. She was schizophrenic and probably had a million other problems. She trusted no one but her doll Cynthia, since everyone in her family had their own troubles. She was alone all the time. She had no one but her babies. The babies. The ones I would have been neighbors with. The ones I would have tried to lead away from Angelica's evil ways. They would have been my friends too. I would have understood every word, every gesture, every stupid antic they would have done. I wouldn't be there for all of those antics, but I would know. I would know everything. I was happy to let Angelica believe I could see, touch, and play with them like her. I loved being the yin to her yang, no one could stop me. By the time Angelica got back from her trip to Paris, she had already imagined a brand new baby named Kimi. When the news got out, my mom, forbade me from talking to her again. Of course, I disobeyed her. Each time I got a worse whipping from my father. "That girl ain't right in head," my mom would tell me every time. "She's going to drag you down and you won't be able to make friends!" ".
However, I did make friends. They all couldn't stand, "The crazy girl, Angelica," but they didn't abandon me.