Heroes
1197 Words
(Angela)
"Come on baby. We need to get you ready for school. You're going to be late," I said as I chased a half-dressed Charles around the kitchen.
"Nooooooo! I don't want to go to school,"he cried as he ran around in his little spiderman underwear.
I hid behind the kitchen counter as he began looking around wondering why I was no longer chasing him.
"Mommy?" he called out.
I heard his little footsteps pattering around as he searched for me.
He came close to the kitchen counter and I leaped up and grabbed him.
"Here comes the tickle monster," I said and started tickling all over.
His little laughs filled the room as he struggled to get out of my grip.
"Mummy, stop it," he said in between laughs.
I finally stopped attacking him with tickles and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
"Okay. Sweetie, can you tell me why you don't want to go to school today? Is anyone bothering you?"
His little face fell and my heart broke even though I didn't why he was sad.
"Miss Bricks said we have a father-son talent show coming up soon. My classmate Chris kept teasing me because I don't have a dad. He always makes fun of me because he and his daddy always do cool stuff and I don't have a daddy to do anything with,"
I could feel some tears forming in the back of my eyes but I didn't let them drop because I didn't want Charles to see me crying.
I held his little face between my hands as I looked into his ocean-blue eyes which he obviously inherited from his father.
It was an exact replica of Carlos with his jet-black hair and his perfect little face.
It didn't also help that he had started asking about his father recently so I had to come up with something.
I couldn't tell him that his father didn't even know he existed and it's been five years since I set my eyes on him.
I had always told him that his father was on a secret mission in space and was going to come back one day to be with him.
"Listen to me, baby. Your dad is off on a mission to save the world,"
"Like Spiderman?" he asked suddenly feeling excited.
"Yes, like Spiderman. Soon, he will be back home and you will do all sorts of fun stuff with him, okay? You go back to school and tell Chris that you have a very cool daddy who will be with you soon,"
He nodded frantically suddenly happy at my words.
"Now can we get ready for school?" I asked hopefully.
"Yes mummy," he smiled showing his missing tooth.
I dressed him in a blue tee shirt and some jeans paired with some sneakers. I helped him put on his backpack which was obviously spiderman themed.
I had taken him to the cinema one time to watch the new Spiderman cartoon and since then, he has been in love with that character.
You had to pry him off the walls one time when he tried to stick to the walls because he wanted to be like Spiderman when he was all grown up.
After dressing Charles, I decided to get dressed so I could take him to school as I was still in my grey PJs.
I took him to the sitting room and put on the spidey show for him so as to keep him in one place till I was done dressing up.
I know that it isn't ideal for me to let him watch cartoons on a Monday morning but I had to make sure he wasn't running around the house while I got dressed. This was the only way I could keep him in one place till I was ready to take him to school.
I came out wearing a pair of jeans trouser and a plain T-shirt.
"Come on baby, let's go," I said as I turned off the TV.
"Nooooo!! Spidey was about to catch the bad guys, Mommy," he cried.
"You have watched this show a million times already. We need to get you to school now. After Aunty Lou picks you up this afternoon, you can continue your cartoons okay?" I said.
"Where is my Spiderman?" shouted Lou as she walked into the sitting room.
"Right here, citizen. I am always here to save the world," he replied as he puffed his chest placed his hands on his waist, and stood like an action figure.
Lou and Charles had this special bond I couldn't explain. From the moment he was born, he had Lou wrapped around his finger.
She would let him have whatever he wanted. Even if he wanted to have Ice Cream for dinner, I'm very sure Lou would let him.
She was the fun one whereas I was the responsible one.
"A little something tells me that the Roboman is hiding somewhere in your school and your classmates might need Spiderman to save them from him. Do you want to defeat the Roboman and become a real superhero?" she asked as she placed her hand on her jaw pretending to be thinking.
"Yes, Aunty Lou. I want to be a real superhero,"
"Then go to school and guard your classmates. They need Spiderman," she said to him as she patted him on the cheeks.
He nodded quickly and turned to me.
"Come on mummy, let's go," he said practically dragging me towards the door.
I muttered a thank you to Lou and followed Charles out of the house.
We took a taxi and I dropped him off at school.
He seemed excited to go to school after his little conversation with Lou.
What would I do without her?
I recalled how she was fired from the Marcello group of companies after she let me up to the CEO's office.
She said that the CEO had called her incompetent and fired her that same day for letting a gold digger into the building.
I practically ran to the restaurant where I worked as a waitress.
My boss was a mean old man who was looking for any opportunity to deal with me after I had turned down his advances earlier.
Luckily, my coworkers were really cool and always helped me whenever they could.
I got to work right on time and changed to my uniform immediately; a long-sleeved shirt and a black skirt which was too short for my liking.
I was always uncomfortable with the way some of the male customers stared at me while I served them.
One time, a lady poured a glass of water on me because her husband was staring at me. She accused me of trying to seduce her husband and my boss did nothing about it.
"Angela, you have to wait on table 9 and from what I see, the customer is pretty rich and handsome," said Rory, my coworker. She whispered that last part to me in my ear and I chuckled.
"Got it, Rory," I replied as I walked over the table.
"Good Morning Sir, what can I get you today?"
- Writer
