Free falling

Like Kim K

I hate mornings.  I mean I truly hate mornings. I wish the day could start at a normal hour like 10 am or something. Not at 5:30 am when its still pitch black outside.  I have to get up though. It's Jamie's first day of preschool and I have to be at the diner immediately after and if we don't leave in the next thirty minutes then I'll be late. I don't need to give Pete anymore reasons to hate me. He's been itching to fire me since I started, I can just tell.

Glancing down at the little body next to me. I start to shake Jamie awake. He needs to eat before we start the 45 minute bus ride to his new school.

"Come on little tiger. Time to get up." He just grumbles something unintelligible at me and scoots closer to me trying to stay warm. "Do you want to be late for your first day of school?" That gets his attention as I see him slowly start to wake up.

"No" He slowly starts to lift his head up and drags his stuffed Baymax doll with him. He loves that Big Hero 6 movie. He says he wants to save the world one day like Hiro and Baymax did.

"Well lets get a move on then buddy. You need to eat something before we have to run and catch the bus. Your clothes are already laid out and I'll help you tie your shoes in the kitchen." I get off his bed and make my way to the kitchen silently praying there's something in there I can feed him. I won't have any money for groceries until after my shift today.

I breath a sigh of relief when I spot a bag of instant oatmeal. There's only one but I'm only concerned with getting Jamie fed. Maybe if I'm lucky, I can grab something at work. I keep rummaging and find a few slices of bread that's about to expire. There's no mold on it so this will have to do.

"Jamie your food is ready!" I place his oatmeal and toast on the table and hurry to my makeshift dresser and start to get ready. By the time I'm done and presentable it's 6:30 we have 20 mins to get to the bus.

"Let's go little tiger, time to get a move on. Go grab your coat."

"Are yous going to eats anything?"

"Maybe later little tiger" He frowns at me and looks back down at his food.

"Here I'ms all dones anyway" My heart swells up with love for this little boy.

"Thank you baby. I love you so much now go get your coat before we're late" He gives me a big grin and hops off the chair running to his room. I shove the leftover toast in my mouth and go to check over both our bags quickly making sure we have everything and that Jamie has his EpiPen with him. Jamie comes out and I  fix his shoes and jacket and tug him out the door.

We speed walk up to the bus stop and board the bus just as it's getting ready to leave. I snag us a seat and put him on my lap. He lays his head on my shoulder and I can see him start to drift off again. He had late night last night so I knew he would still be sleepy today. We still have about 30 mins till we get to our bus stop so I let him sleep.

I look down at his sleeping face and wonder if I can ever give him a better life. I sometimes think if he would be better off with a different family but that though never lasts long. I hear about how foster kids get treated and the odds of him actually getting a good home are 1:10. That's a bet that I am not willing to take. We finally reach our bus stop and carry him off and sit on the bench.

"Wake up tiger, it's time to walk to school."

He drags his body up and slides off my lap, standing up with his eyes still closed he holds his hand out for me. He knows that he has to hold my hand whenever we go out. I'm too paranoid about him being taken and he doesn't like me to worry. My baby brother is amazing.

I chuckle and grab his hand and start leading him to the 10 minute walk to school. By the time we get there I'm a bundle of nerves and Jamie hasn't said a word since the school came into view. We get to the front steps of the school and crouch down to his level, assessing him.