✨It Doesn't Even Matter✨

The Effects of Miklos

"You're alright honey?"
"Not at all. Today sucked,"
"Ready to talk about it?"
"Absolutely." I sniffled and sat upright.
"Take your time ladybug. I'll be sitting here whenever you're ready to speak."
"August's stupid picture found a way to ruin my day!"
"How? Is someone bullying you?"
"They tried to and that's the problem."
"What did they do to you?!"
"Someone just said that I'm thirsty like my brother and Joshua stepped in."
"What happened?"
"They fought. Ms.Bailey had to ask me what happened because they were fighting about me. May I go to Joshua's house?" I stood up trying to avoid the rest of this conversation.
"Alright, you can. Just sit here and talk to me for a minute love."
"Oh okay." I sat back down and she sighed.
"Tell me how you feel about what happened."
"Mama,"
"Come on sweetheart."
"I'm melancholy and angry."
"Wow, you learned a new word."
"Yeah, but I'm mad at myself and I'm mad at August. He keeps doing these bad things and it's hurting me also. I just wish he could understand. He's supposed to be protecting me like an older brother should. But it turns out he may just be a different version of my actual brother."
"I'm sorry, and I was thinking sort of the same thing. August hasn't been protecting you as much as he used to. I really can't understand why he's acting this way."
"Neither do I. It's like ever since he's started 8th grade he's in this mission to be one of the worst people in there. Kind of like Rafe from those middle school books."
"What's that?"
"He's like this kid that tried to break every single rule in the book." She nodded and I think she was trying to relate that to August.
"August is kind of acting like a Rafe."
"I agree."
"May I see my.. my friend now."
"Alright, let me get the kids and I'll drop you off."
******
Joshua's house
"Oh no, are you okay?" I saw the bruise and put the ice on it.
"I'm fine Allie."
"No, you're not. How much trouble are you in?!"
"Half-day in school suspension. Morning to 11 tomorrow." His dad said.
"Thanks Allie."
"Don't thank me. I wasn't going to let you get OSS. It wasn't your fault!" My mom laughed and started to talk to his dad.
"Are you hurt anywhere else?"
"No, just my eye. I'm a tough boy."
"The bruise really doesn't show that." I was about to laugh on his shoulder when my mom saw me.
"Allison, no, no, no young lady."
"Sorry. I was only going to lean on him."
"None of that. I beg." We laughed at my mom as she rolled her eyes.
"You guys need to take it significantly slower." Joshua's dad said. My mom laughed and we folded our arms.
"The fact that you guys are together in the 6th grade is just-"
"Excuse me Mommy, can you fix this for me?"
"Okay Amaya, come here." She fixed her hair and gave her a pat.
"Thank you Mama!"
"You're welcome my love. Allie we're going home soon your dad is making dinner."
"Okay. Joshy, I need you to text me when I get home okay? We still have some things to talk about."
"Anything you say to Josh can be said to us as well."
"No!" I joked.
"But text me, I'm serious."
"I will."
*******
The Girl's Room (Mariska's Perspective)
Allison was at a sleepover and I went into her room to clean. Allie usually cleans her own room but since she wouldn't be there I decided to clean it up for her. As I started to sweep I saw some loose leaf on the floor. I picked it up and read it as any mother would. Meet me at Central Park, bring Joy with you. Now the note didn't say who it was from. As I continued to clean I brainstormed of who could be the writer of this letter.
"Mama!"
"Yes Andrew?"
"Where's Allison?"
"At her sleepover, remember? She'll be back on Sunday."
"How come you're cleaning her room?"
"Because, I just wanted to help her out." With that new info and I was starting to get increasingly more interested in cleaning out her room. It wasn't really messy, but cleaning gives me an excuse to learn more about my daughter.
"August 14th. One of my happiest days." It was a picture of Allie and I in the mountains in Switzerland. We were both smiling and happy.
"Why are you going through her stuff?" My youngest asked.
"I'm cleaning her room out Andy." There were more photos and I looked through them. Joshua and Allie were holding hands.
"May 18th. Happy hands, happy hearts." I continued my search and I realized that she clearly had absolutely nothing to hide. Her journal was on her desk, out in the open where people could see. Her photos out in the open also. She let her emotions be publicly displayed, not because she wanted to but because she's still working on containing them. She was the complete opposite of August.
"What's wrong Mama?"
"Nothing, don't worry about it baby."
"Let me help you throw that away."
"Thank you my sweet boy." He took the stuff to the kitchen and threw them away. I wanted to look around more but I realized that there was no point. Despite what she may have previously been through she wasn't that type of a kid. Yes, she has her moods. Every girl tends to get sassy every once and a while. But she was still an extremely great kid. I now wondered what went wrong with August. I did as much as I thought I could do for him. Put him in the best private schools so he could have the best education, taught him manners, disciplined him whenever it was necessary. Where exactly did I go wrong? I was now on some type of a mission to find that out. I left Allison's room and went over to the boys room in hope of finding something.
"Yes?" August said with an attitude.
"There's no need for that August. I was just checking in."
"Well, I don't want you to check in. Just get out and go away."
"Excuse you? Last time I checked, I was the one paying the bills, not you. So you better stop while you're ahead. You're just making things worse for yourself young man."
"As if it isn't worse? Who cares? Because I certainly don't. What else can you really do at this point. Why don't you stop while you're ahead."
"August Mik-" I took a breath.
"Start getting ready for bed." He sat there and watched me.
"I said, start getting ready for bed! Don't make me have to speak to you a third time." It took so much self control to not just go crazy on him. Relax Mariska, parenting takes patience.