Thantophobia (Joel Pimentel & Yoandri Cabrera)

Chapter 57

Joel's POV

One Year Later : May 2017

I think Spring is refreshing. It rains in the morning and then by mid day, the sun comes out like nothing even happened in the first place. It's humid and I don't think anyone is a fan of humidity. Right now, it was night time. It was dark outside and the wind was blowing. Who cares about the weather when you're inside the house watching a cartoon marathon with your son?

Joey was only one month away from turning three. We had survived his terrible twos, I think I had more trouble adjusting to it than he did. He was nosy, loud and mighty stubborn. I think he only acts that way when he's with me.

I can't count the times he had fallen off of the bed or how many times he had banged his head against something. He had many bruises on his little chubby legs. No matter how many times I tried to get him to sit, he just wouldn't do it.

There was a time when he got into a habit of biting things, or me. He once bit my hand and he wasn't letting go. I thought he was going to rip off my skin, but thankfully I managed to get him to snap out of it.

He never walked anywhere, he ran. There were times when I let him wander around the house. It would get quiet... way too quiet. One time I found him bathing in vaseline and it was very hard to get it off.

Either he was a bad kid or I just sucked as a parent. Sometimes I wondered why Mariana still let me keep him around. But one thing about Joey is that he would never lie and I knew that she knew how much of a troublemaker Joendri was.

Joey's honesty is something that I sometimes don't appreciate. He'll tell you that you look fat in a dress, or that your haircut doesn't suit you. I think he knows that he's still a toddler and that people can't do anything to him.

Joey's too smart for his age, but he's well aware of everything. Mariana decided to tell him and I told him too. We didn't want him to grow up with any anger of some sort. Sometimes he asks me questions and I answer them as much as I can.

I don't think he acts like a little rebel when he's with Mari. They do little artsy crafts when they're together. They go around town, shopping or going to museums. One thing is true though, you'll never see them strolling on the side of town where I work.

Mariana and I had been playing peek-a-boo for so long. I haven't seen her, face to face, in so long. Well maybe a year or so ago. Everyday that she takes Joey to the park to see me, she hides behind the bushes.

She makes sure that Joey gets safely to me and then she goes away. There's days when she writes me notes informing me of certain changes. Joey was the one who delivers them to me. I never forget to write back.

Mariana now has a job. I work in the morning while she works in the evening. It works out because we still get to see Joey equally. Well on the weekends I get to spend more time with him because she usually gets more hours those days.

In the beginning, she would look skinny and pale. I used to worry so much about her that I wanted to break my own rules and go see her. Joey had just turned two at the time, a little less than two months after Yoandri's death. I used to tell him to make sure that she was eating something.

Time passed and she began looking like herself again. She would dress nicely and her hair was not in a mess. I always thought she looked beautiful, but I felt relieved when I saw those signs of improvement.

Around November, she sent a note with Joey saying that she had gotten a job. I told her that she didn't have to do so because I could help her with the bills and what not. My job paid pretty well and I didn't really spend it, except when I took Joey to Toys R Us and out to eat.