Vampire Family

I had a neighbor Mary who moved in 9 years ago with two super-bright young blond girls Callie and SJ. I began to notice that both kids were not in school. I never saw them except once or twice a year but they didn't attend school. The grandparents moved in with them and Callie told me they had 18 cats in their weensy 2 bedroom apartment under the eaves, until they dumped them off somewhere. The family stayed awake all night and slept all day and the youngest girl began to balloon, tripling in size over the 9 years to the point that walking up the stairs was nearly impossible for her. Callie's mother said Callie was being home schooled but Callie told me this was bogus. I went to the local school where I was teaching after school murals and told the vice principal about Callie. She invited me to invite Callie to come to the after-school murals class. She and her mother accepted. For a few weeks every Tuesday at 2PM I rang the top bell next door and Callie came down three flights, and we walked to the school to paint. Callie hit it off with every student she met. I was so happy for her. Then, the mother intercepted. She would shout out the window "Callie has diarrhea and can't go today" I realized that this poor child was being held back and porked-up, to take care of the mother. The older sister SJ age 16 had already run off quitting high school to find her bio dad and brother in Alabama. SJ now has a husband and a baby and has since moved back here. She'll be okay--she is smart, out of the house and her husband is a good guy too with a good job. Mary the mom is only 41, ten years younger than me but had leg circulation problems of an 80 year old woman. She's never worked. It's tragic all the way around. They moved away two weeks ago to a first floor in a nearby neighborhood and I am actually relived.