Brave Face

Chapter Four

Nasir POV

"Baby girl this is the music for love"
~Mario (Music for love)

"Nasir could I see you in my office please," my boss, Ms. Natasha calls.

"I'll be right back," I tell Jason, handing him the toy car we were playing with.

I get up and walk to Ms. Natasha's office. She shuts the door behind us and motions for me to take a seat. I take a seat on one of the two chair perched in front of her desk, while she occupies her throne.

"The reason I called you in here is to speak promotion. I have observed you with these kids and you are amazing. You really care about them and they love you, so I have a proposition," she says, lacing her fingers together and leaning forward on the desk.

"I want to offer you a job as a supervisor for a government run orphanage in Atlanta. Now they are cleaning house down there, because a lot of embezzlement and fraud was running throughout the place. They want to bring in someone from the outside to come in a reorganize things, and they want you."

"Wow that's crazy. May I ask why me," I say, leaning back in my chair.

"You are a hard worker, amazing with the children and a little birdie recommended you. We have been observing you and we think you are a perfect fit. You will have the same benefits as before, a 401K, the children will have insurance, and your salary would increase to $70,000. We don't need an answer today, take sometime to think about it and get back to us by the end of the month," she says.

"Thank you so much for this opportunity. I really appreciate it, I will definitely be getting back to you soon," I say, thrusting my hand out. She takes it and we shake hands. She leads me to the door and opens it for me, then turn towards me.

"I have faith in you and you will go far in life, with or with out the job Nasir," She says and I give her a hug.

Ms. Natasha was the one who hired me. None of the other orphanages wanted someone who had no experience with kids and no degree in childcare of psychology, but she took a chance on me and I am forever grateful.

I walk back to where Jason is and my heart suddenly drops. I begin to think of the twins and what moving would mean to them. It would mean a new school, new friends, new life and that could be stressful for anybody especially kids their age.

Then I am reminded of Jason, who doesn't take change too well. He has high functioning autism. He has a few communication problems, mainly if he doesn't know you he doesn't speak, and hates to meet new people. Sometimes he uses hand signals to speak and some people might not understand which is very frustrating for him.

I am one of the few people who takes the time to figure out what he means. We can have our own special conversation and no one would know what we talked about. Not many people would put in the time and care I do into him and that worries me. What will happen to him if I leave?

As I play with Jason I dream of a life in Atlanta with me the girls and surprisingly Jason too. I have grown attached to him because I see him everyday and understand him on a level no one cares to understand. Jason has unknowingly squeezed his way into my heart and I have no plans of letting him leave.

I finish up the day and head home With a lot on my mind. While in the car I turn on the radio. A song comes on and my heart rate increases. Blurry flashes of things pop into my head.

I pull over quickly to avoid a crash, as memories flash before my eyes. As I listen to the song I begin to remember a sky blue house. It was big and had beautiful beds of colorful flowers. The trimming to the house was white and the grass was insanely green. The only thing missing was the white picket fence.