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Making Mom Happy Patrick Kaper-Barcelata
I know my mom is sad. I can tell because whenever she’s sad, she orders Gourmet Kingdom for me and Sal and goes to bed early. I think she’s not hungry because she eats pills instead. We’ve been having a lot of Gourmet Kingdom lately. Sal doesn’t really like Gourmet Kingdom, but I tell him not to tell Mom that. Honestly, I’m kind of tired of Gourmet Kingdom too, but I keep my mouth shut. Sal complains a lot. He doesn’t know how to tie his shoes, and sometimes Mom stays in bed in the mornings, so I have to do it. Problem is, I’m not really good at tying shoes either. This morning I tied Sal’s shoes together as a prank, but he took it like a wussy and started crying. Mom came downstairs, pushed past me, and gave Sal a hug, even though I’m the one always tying his shoes. “Listen Dan, you have to look out for your little brother. There’s enough we have to deal with,” Mom told me. I thought Mom would be mad, but when I looked at her she seemed focused on something else, like she had forgotten something. I thought a lot about her eyes at school today. Ms. Scholes told me I seemed distracted. I think I messed up. I think I mess up a lot. I came up with a plan at school to make Mom happy. Mom always laughs at the movie Little Rascals. She thinks it’s funny when kids sing. “Okay, then you sing the part ‘O is for the only One I see,’” I said to Sal as we were getting off the bus. “I don’t really want to sing, Dan,” said Sal. “I’ll let you use my iPod,” I said. Sal smiled big. “Deal.”
