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 she actually seemed more sad and tired, like her eyebrows were trying to touch in the middle and hold up her eyelids from closing. 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.”

We tiptoed into Mom’s room; she was still asleep. Sal had to put his hand over his mouth because he’s a loud breather.

I flipped on the light and Mom groaned, “No, don’t do that.”

“L is for the way you Look at me,” I started singing.

Mom sat up and rubbed her eyes. I nodded at Sal and he jumped out from behind me.

“O is for the only One I see.”

Mom started smiling. It was working.

I started moving my hands around. “V is Very Very extra-ordinary.”

“E is Even—” Sal stopped.

I looked back at Sal, meeting his wide eyes with my own.

“I forget,” Sal mouthed to me, his cheeks flushed.

My mouth went dry. I couldn’t believe it. My plan was crumbling right in front of me.

Then Mom made a noise. It sounded like she was crying. Me and Sal both turned to her. But Mom was actually smiling, and then she started to laugh. She threw back her head and started laughing really loud. I started to laugh, too. Then Sal laughed.

“Come here,” Mom said, patting on her bed as she wiped her eyes.

Sal and I jumped up and Mom gave us both a hug.

“Are you happy?” I asked Mom.

“Yeah, baby,” Mom said softly as she reached for the glass of water beside her bed. I knew it would work. She opened up her pills and swallowed two.

-Patrick Kaper-Barcelata is a sophomore from Radnor, PA, pursuing majors in Global Studies and Sociology and a minor in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE).-