I sit down on my sons' bed and sigh as they fall asleep. I love them. When I looked at the rest of the room, I realized that this isn't a life for my sons.
We live in an one room apartment. They sleep on the bed and I sleep on the couch. The bathroom has a tub, a sink and a toilet. The walls are breaking and I can't stop thinking of how terrible a mother I am.
I kiss both of my sons forehead before going to the counter. I grab water and sit in the bathroom for what feels like hours. I block my cries withy mouth. I text my brother to come over.
At night, we both go and pickpocket people from the streets while he sends someone he trusts to watch the kids. The father of my kids wanted nothing to do with them. Nikolai and Matthew.
He entered inside my apartment slowly. A young woman following him. "Hello." She said with a soft voice. She sat on the couch and waved at us to leave. She was his friend from high school. She knew what he was doing and she understood why.
I grabbed my brother's arm and walked out. We were in alleys when we separated. I got about twenty dollars by about five minutes. I was walking with my hands in my pocket when I saw a man in a suit.
He had a black hat on his head even though it was the night. Perfect. I breathed calmly as I bumped into him making us both stumble. I pressed inside his pocket with my small hands and grabbed something. It wasn't a wallet. It was a gun.
I backed away. Leaving us both on the floor. I stood up, and helped him up and started walking away. He grabbed my arm and smiled smugly. It was ugly. Or maybe I was just scared of the weapon in his pocket.
"Not so fast. I know what you were doing." I freeze in front of him as he pulls me a little closer. "I wasn't doing anything." He grins widely, showing his perfect teeth and continues speaking.
"I'll make a deal with you. I won't say anything if you do a job for me."
I lifted an eyebrow before he spoke again.
"I will send you the details via text, Andreea. Anyway, take this as a proof that you will get paid. It will be ten times more after." I widened my eyes as he dropped two large piles of a hundred dollars into my hands.
He left and I shoved it all inside my pocket. I ran, soon finding my brother and dragging him inside my apartment. I dismissed the lady quickly, handing her the twenty dollars and she looked at me stunned.
I sat down with my brother on the couch and whispered to him. I explained to him the whole story while shoving the money in his hands. I gave him a whole pile and he couldn't take it. I shove it in his pocket and was interrupted by a sound.
"Mommy, why are you still awake?" He says while looking at my brother and hugging him. I pulled him in my arms, as he snuggled in my chest and laid his head there. I kissed his head and told my brother I would speak to him tomorrow. Which wasn't really tomorrows since it was 12:06.
"You should go back to sleep Matthew. You will be tired tomorrow." He nodded, falling asleep in my arms. I lifted him up, tugging him in his bed. I kissed his forehead and went to sleep on the couch.
***
I woke up with someone jumping on me. It was Nikolai. "Nikolai! Calm down!" He grinned happily at me and I saw his adorable dimples. Matthew was standing next to him and they both showed their cute dimples. They were both 8 and I couldn't imagine my life without them.
I went to the kitchen after kissing them both to go drink water. "Nikolai, tu știai că I-am văzut ieri pe unchiul Matteo (Nikolai, did you know that I saw uncle Matteo yesterday)?" My son said in Romanian. I taught them to speak it since I came from Moldova, who's national languages were Romanian and Russian.
