NANNY FOR MENDES.

Five

At 3:33, I heard the doorbell ring. That would be the boy, since Shawn said he'd be home around 3:30.

I open the door to find a cute little boy in a school uniform with a backpack on his back.

He just walked past me into the house. No hi. No good evening. Just nothing. Rude. Like father, like son.

Be patient Soph. He's only 8.

I follow him to his room.

"Umm. Hi." I said, standing in the doorway.

The boy is laying in bed, with his back to me, burying his head in a pillow.

"You must be the new nanny."

"That's me."

"Just leave me alone!"

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Just go! Go away!"

"Okay. I'll go. Just calm down, please."

Fifteen minutes later, I go to check on him again.

Again, I knock his door.

"Just go away. Why don't you understand that I want to be left alone?"

"Raul, I can't just leave you alone when you're apparently this upset. What happened?"

And I'm about to get inside his room, when he gets out of bed and screams at me, with his eyes red.

"Just! Go! Leave! Me! Alone!"

Oh my God. This is harder than I thought. Should I call his father? Or do I deal with him on my own.

"Okay, Raul. Okay. I'm sorry. If you want to talk about it, I'm in the living room.

Thirty minutes later, I go to his room, for the third time.

"Raul. You can't just stay here forever. What happened?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I don't like it when people are upset."

"No one cares about me. Why do you?"

Oh my. This boy is hard to deal with.

"As I said, Raul. I don't like seeing people upset."

"Nothing happened. And please don't tell Dad."

"I won't tell your Dad. But you have to talk to me. Obviously something happened. You wouldn't cry this much for nothing."

"Nothing happened."

"Okay. As you like."

"What's your name?"

"I'm Sophia."

"I'm Raul."

"I already know that." I say, smiling at him.

"Yeah. Dad must've told you."

"Yes. He did."

"I'm hungry."

"What do you want to eat?"

"I'll order food later when Dad comes back. As for now, I'll just eat a snack." He says, walking out of his room to the kitchen.

"No. I mean... what do you want me to cook for you?"

"What? Can you... cook?" The boy seemed surprised.

"Umm. Yes."

"Can you cook well?"

"Umm. I guess so."

"Really? That's good. I'm bored of junk food."

"Wow. That's a first. I've never heard a kid say this before."

"I eat junk food everyday. I got bored."

"I'll cook, then. What do you want to eat?"

"Can you cook.... Lasagna?"

"Yeah. Sure."

That was actually a lie. But I'll call Mom.

"Okay. Thank you, Sophia. The other nannies' cooking was bad. The last one didn't even cook. She ordered food everyday.

"That's very unhealthy. From now on, you'll eat homemade food. But for now, go get dressed. We'll get some stuff for the Lasagna. We're getting some groceries."

"Just give me a minute."

While the boy was changing his clothes, I called Mom and she told me the ingredients I need.
Shawn showed me the kitchen this morning. And almost everything I need for the Lasagna isn't here.

**********

"I want to buy something. Can I?"

"It depends on what it is. If it's unhealthy, then no."

"Oh. Come on Sophia."

"Just one thing."

"Thank you! It's right there."
He bought a bag of Doritos.

"Raul. This is the last time you'll ever buy such thing when you're with me. Okay? You told me that you've been eating junk food for a while. It's really unhealthy."

"I'm sorry. It's the last time. I promise."

"Okay. I trust your promise then." I said, smiling at him.

He actually smiled back at me. He isn't as bad as I thought at all. He was just angry. I was once a kid and I know what he went through. Poor Mom. She suffered with me.

"I should probably get something for my Dad, too. He gets hungry at work. He could take something with him."

"Where does your Dad usually eat, Raul?"

"My Dad eats breakfast and lunch at work. He probably orders food with Noah. For dinner, he eats whatever I ordered."

Poor Shawn. He doesn't get good nutrition. He doesn't get fed well.

Forty-five minutes later, we were done with buying everything we need, and were home.