Finding Myself Abroad

Chapter II

"How was school today?" It was 4 PM. Ma had the rare afternoon off so we could sit and talk and bond, mother to son. I didn't mind. I liked spending time with ma. She worked hard to support us, and I knew she cherished every moment we could squeeze together. I didn't mind spending time with her when so many other people would ignore their parents and go do something else. She took care of me, and I took care of her when I could. She never dated. She always said taking care of one man (me) was enough.

"It was quite well. I turned in my report on President Truman, and we had a Jeopardy style review in Spanish class for a test."

"Did you win?"

"I wish. I got stuck with Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Worse and worse-er." I rolled my eyes to let ma know it didn't go well for the team.  "They're as smart as a box of rocks. I scored all the points for the team. Would have been nice to get partnered with Alex. He's a genius. Science, history, math, Spanish.  He has instant recall of anything he's read."

Alex was indeed a super brain. I don't know why his parents didn't just take him to a school for the gifted. Maybe they wanted him to be as normal as possible and so they exposed him to kids of all kind in regards to smarts.

"Maybe next time," ma said, checking her watch. "It's time I go," she said this as she got up from the table and took her plate to the sink.

"Get ready to go," I said.  "I'll wash. You made the meal."  I smiled at her, and waved her away from the sink.

Turning, I leaned back against the sink, and watched as ma went past the table and turned right where our two bedrooms were. Bedroom was kind of a generous term. More like closest. She had a wardrobe that held her clothes, and a  row of drawers on the bottom held her socks and underclothes.

My room was about as big as a king size bed, with a small twin mattress, and a cheap plastic chest of drawers from Wal-Mart was used as my closet. Top drawer held shirts, stacked vertically, so they'd all fit. Middle drawer held socks and underwear, and the bottom drawer had my toiletries.

I heard her go into the bathroom, carrying a little plastic bucket that had a handle. She she was going to brush her teeth and reapply her deodorant. She'd already showered and was dressed.   Cooking over a hot stove made her want to double check that she wasn't sweaty. The bathroom sink was so small, it didn't even have a counter. Just a faucet and basin.

Turning back around, I faced the kitchen sink. At least it had a disposal, and a dish rack to dry the dishes. Gathering the silverware and cups, I carried them to the sink. I carefully filled Tupperware containers with the leftovers, making sure not to spill a bit of food. Pinching pennies had taught me it wasn't good to waste food.

Soon, I had a sink full of hot water, and lots of white bubbles from the soap. Before I could plunge in, and get it taken care of, ma came back to the kitchen.

"How do I look?"

Waiting until she turned a circle so I could see everything, I said "Looks good. No food on your shirt, pants are clean, and your hair is good."

"Okay, let's do the check off," ma said.

"Keys?" I asked. Ma checked her pockets.

"Check," she chirped, patting her right jeans pocket.

"Boxcutter?" I queried.

Not just patting her pockets, but digging into them, she came out with her boxcutter for work.

"Check!" She replaced it back in her pocket.

"Wallet?" I prompted.

Patting her back pocket, ma made she had her bifold wallet. It was for a man, but ma didn't have an actual purse to hold everything. It didn't have much. Just a few dollars and some coins for the bus.