SG Vol. 1 pt. 6 (Patreon)

With Naomi clinging to my back, her white cane held in my right hand, I sprint through the street and cut through some backyards to try and make this as quick as possible. I don’t want Naomi waiting even a second longer than she has to for food. Fortunately, Mom’s park isn’t too far from the shack.

It only takes a fifteen-minute run to get there.

Sitting in the middle of the park on a bench within the shading of trees is my mom.

I don’t how what’s going on inside of her head to make her need to come here every single day, but this is what she does. Every. Day.

“Are we there?” Naomi asks me.

“Yeah, Grandma is up ahead. Let’s go get her,” I answer.

I carry Naomi right up to my mom, take her off of my back, and then set her down on top of my mom’s lap without any warning.

“O-oh!” Mom gasps, having been snapped out of her daze. “Naomi! What are you doing here?” she asks.

“Papa brought me! We’ve come to get you so we can go eat!” Naomi explains.

I try to arrange my bangs so that they’re covering my eyepatch. Mom doesn’t need to be reminded of anything bad.

“Papa?” Mom asks, looking above Naomi and finally noticing me. “Oh, oh! You’re back! And you’re safe!” she says, setting Naomi down and slowly standing up to wrap her weak arms around me in as tight of a hug as she can give me.

“I’m safe, Mom,” I whisper. “Always will be. You know how I am. Also, I’ve got some good news for you that I’ll tell you over dinner.”

“Is that so? Well, I’m excited to hear about it! I’m just waiting for your father to meet me.”

“Ah, Dad told me that he’d be late today and that it’d be alright to eat without him. Said he’d grab something on the way home.”

I look down at Naomi. I teach her to never lie, but… she understands that this is a lie worth telling. Mom refuses to accept that Dad died over a decade ago. She’s only in her fifties, but her mind just… won’t accept it. It will only start an argument that results in a panic attack if I try to confront her.

“We’ll share some leftovers for Grandpa!” Naomi says.

“Oh, that’s a splendid idea!” Mom agrees. “You know I can never finish those giant meals they feed us! Goodness, they just pile so much food onto our plates that there’s no way somebody could finish it all! It’s just wasteful! I hope they don’t throw any of their food out.”

“I’m sure they don’t, Mom. Come on, let’s get going. Me and the little brat there are hungry,” I say.

“Hey! I’m not a brat!” Naomi pouts.

“I know you’re not, but I get to bully you a little since I’m carrying you around like a spoiled little princess. Got it?”

“Ehehe… okay, deal!” Naomi says before kissing the back of my head. “Thanks, papa! I love you!”

“Love you too, angel.”

“Goodness, you two are just the cutest!” Mom says. “Let me get my phone out so I can take a picture of you two.”

Of course she wants to take another picture of us. But, I won’t complain.

Naomi takes the easy way out of posing for a picture by pressing her chin down on the top of my head so that she can be sure she’s facing the same way that I am. Wherever I’m facing, that’s where the camera is.

It kind of hurts to feel her chin digging into the top of my head, but the pain is worth the memory.

Mom’s phone snaps the picture and gets an immediate “aww” out of her. She rushes over to show me it.

I’m about to “aww” too. Naomi has her signature, wide smile and she’s holding up peace signs with both of her hands.

“Does it look good? Do I look cute?” Naomi asks.

“You look wonderful, dear!” Mom says, leaning up to kiss Naomi’s elbow since that’s as high up as she can reach while Naomi is on my back.

“Yep. You look like the cutest daughter ever,” I chime in.

“Mwahaha! All part of my evil plan!” Naomi declares.

“And what would that evil plan of yours be?”

“To take over the world with cuteness!”

“You know, if you’re the one trying to do that, it might just be possible.” It sure beats the other guys who took over the world.

Alright, we need to get going. My stomach is grumbling now.

“Here, Mom,” I say, holding an arm out for her.

“Thank you, dear,” Mom replies, looping her arm around my own to help her with walking.

With Naomi on my back and Mom to my side, the three of us walk a few streets over to where the only place that’ll give me a free meal of good food is.

I always kind of feel guilty bringing Mom here since Jasmine is basically a second mom to me, but she’s basically a second mom to all of us. It’d be safe to say she’s a second mom to every single one of her customers.

We walk inside of the restaurant and are immediately greeted by her son. “Yo, Lance! You’re back!” Delron says.

“Yo. Your mom here today?” I ask him while he and Naomi wave at each other. Well, Naomi is kind of missing her wave. She’s waving at the fish tank behind him instead of at him.

“Come on, man. When ain’t she? You know she’ll always be here to hook your cheap as—”

I glare at him and then look up at Naomi.

“Your cheap butt up!” he corrects himself.

“Thanks. Seriously,” I say.

“Same problem as usual?”

“Yeah.” I don’t know how I feel about some kid barely half my age knowing about my marital problems, but it’s not like there’s anybody left on this island who doesn’t know.

“Aight. C’mon, got a booth over here for you,” Delron says as he grabs some menus before leading us over to the booth. He also grabbed one in braille for Naomi.

The three of us sit down around the table. Naomi always demands that she sits down next to me.

“I’ll try to keep it cheap,” I tell Delron.

“Don’t you worry about it, man. You know Momma has got you covered. Gotta make sure the lil’ princess grows up strong!” he replies, rubbing the top of Naomi’s head which causes her to giggle and shake her head. This boy is only… what, maybe five years older than her at most? Yet, I know I can trust him to take care of her whenever I’m gone if she ever comes by. He’s like her unofficial, older brother at this point.

Delron is a good kid.

It’ll only be a few more years before he’s drafted like everybody else, though.

I don’t know what I’d do if Naomi wasn’t exempt from the draft. I can’t imagine Jasmine has had an easy time losing two of her sons and having another two drafted.

“Is that Lance and his lil’ princess I see over there?!” a loud, booming voice shouts from the back of the room where the kitchen is. “Boy! You best stay right there and wait because I’m comin’ over. Just gimme a minute,” Jasmine shouts at us as she sets some food down onto plates before calling for a waiter.

A minute later and she’s walking over to us.

Naomi knows what’s about to happen next, so she grabs her menu and slides over my lap to get on the inside of the booth. Time for me to stand up and face the auntie.

Jasmine wraps her arms around me and lifts me a foot off the ground, the strength in her grip enough to crack my back as she says, “You’d best be back here, sugah! If you ever fail to come back then I’m gonna personally hop in one of those fancy machines of yours and whop your,” Jasmine pauses to look behind me and see Naomi, “whop your behind back here!”

I can’t breathe, so all I can do is nod my head and grunt out an agreement.

“Good!” she sets me down. I’m wobbling even more now than when I first got off the ship. “Lookin’ good, Abby!” she tells Mom.

“Oh, not nearly as good as you!” Mom says back to her. “I try to eat as much as I can to put more meat on my bones, but I just get too full too easily.”

“Don’t you worry about a thing, sugah. I’ll fatten you up. Whatever you order is getting’ an extra cup of butter poured over it!”

Mom nervously laughs and says, “That… might be a bit too much. But, I am sure that my husband will appreciate the leftovers if you do that. He does love his fatty food. Goodness, that man could live off of bacon and butter alone!”

“Mmhm,” is all that Jasmine says.

Just like how everybody knows about my lack of a relationship with my “wife,” everybody knows to act like Dad is still alive around Mom.