"Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers." --Kahlil Gibran
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Dan shifted in his seat, listening to the story Mrs. Reyes was telling. "Woah," he said. "That was a pretty harsh thing to tell a five-year-old."
She nodded. "It sure was."
"What happened next? Did your husband feel bad and change his mind?"
"Nope."
"So what did Armani do?"
"Exactly what he was told to do."
"Stay away?"
"For a little while, yeah. Something happened though. Something that my husband couldn't have possibly predicted."
* * *
It had been a month since the little five-year-old Roselle had been banned from going outside and seeing her friend. What made it worse was that Armani wasn't talking to her at school either. Whenever she tried to make things right with him, he would get shy and run away. It looked like her dad scared him off.
She felt lonely sometimes. Yeah, she had her baby sister, Michelle, but she was three and could barely talk. At school, she hung out with some nice girls on the grass, but she knew she was out of place when she was with them; they never understood her humor or encouraged her when she had an idea that was out of the box.
Armani did though. He was weird sometimes, but it was sorta nice to hang out with the weird kid, because she didn't have to be socially conscious around him since he always out-weirded her. It gave her the freedom of being her authentic self.
There were rumors going around the school, and throughout the town. Rumors about 'Armani the Snow-Shoveler.' Apparently, that five-year-old started several mini-businesses. He shoveled snow, cleaned people's yards, walked dogs, and even asked the teachers and custodians at school if there was anything he could do for money. They thought he was cute, so they always had a little quest for him to earn a couple of bucks. Non-stop for one month, all this boy ever did was hustle for money.
Roselle knew these rumors, but she didn't know why he was doing it. Did his parents lose their jobs or something?
One day, someone knocked on the door of Roselle's house. Mr. Reyes opened it, and there was little Armani, standing at the doorstep holding a book, an envelope, and tools. Intrigued, she stayed behind and watched the interaction.
"Didn't I tell you to get lost?" Mr. Reyes asked. "Why are you here?"
Armani handed him the envelope. "I didn't know how much your rent was, but I asked my parents how much their rent was and matched their amount. It's all in there."
Roselle's dad quickly opened the envelope, and widened his eyes when he discovered what was inside; hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. "I--"
"I checked this book out from the library at school," Armani continued. "I didn't know what was wrong with your car, so I got a general car book." He opened the book to a random page and frowned when he looked upon it. "I'm not very good at reading yet, but there's a lot of pictures. I'll figure it out. I brought my dad's tools too."
"Why are you doing this, kid?" asked Mr. Reyes.
"You told me that Roselle and I could be friends if I got a job, paid your rent, and fixed your car. Fixing your car is the last thing, and then we can be friends again."
The man looked around, as if he was expecting hidden cameras to pop out. He scratched his head. "Is this really that important to you?"
"On my favorite TV show, they said that if you make a promise to someone, you need to keep your promise, and I promised Roselle we would be best friends forever."
He sighed. "Look, kid. I took my car to a mechanic a few weeks ago. There's nothing left to be fixed."
"Oh . . ." Armani stared at the floor, and hunched himself over.
"But I guess it could use an oil change. Come on, kid. Let's do it together."
"Okay, mister!" he shouted, full of excitement, glee, and hope.
* * *
Roselle looked out the window in awe as Armani and her dad worked together to do the oil change. They also shoveled the driveway and cleaned the yard. They were out there for hours until it was dark.
Later, they both came inside the house. Mr. Reyes had invited the boy over for dinner. They sat at the table together and had a meal. Roselle's dad explained to her mom the whole story.
"Oh my gosh!" Mrs. Reyes exclaimed. "Aren't you just the cutest little thing? You did all that just so you could be friends with little Ro-Ro?"
"Yep!" Armani acclaimed with pride.
"I swear, it's like I can't get rid of this kid," Mr. Reyes said. He smirked. "I guess we'll have to keep him around."
"You mean we can be friends again?"
"If you keep helping out in the yard, then I guess so."
Roselle and Armani both jumped out of their seats, bouncing around the room saying 'YAY'. They joined hands and ran around in circles together.
"Hey, sit back down!" he commanded.
The children quickly shut up and did as told.
"You two can be friends, but let's get one thing straight: no more lying to me, alright?"
They both nodded.
"Good."
Ahem. Mrs. Reyes cleared her throat and gave him a look as if she were reminding him of something.
"Oh, I almost forgot." He took out the envelope full of money and threw it on Armani's side of the table. "Take that back. I don't feel right taking that amount of money from a kid."
Armani stared at it. "Are you sure, mister?"
He bobbed his head.
* * *
"And that's the story of how Armani got my husband to like him," Mrs. Reyes said, finishing the story.
Dan's eyes were widened, and he was literally at the edge of his seat. "Woah. That story makes me proud to have Armani Parker as our president."
"Yeah," Roselle said. "He can be crazy sometimes, but he's a mad genius and he never gives up when he wants something."
"What did he do with the money by the way?"
"Oh, that . . . We blew it all on video games and milkshakes over at the local diner."
Dan scratched his chin. "So I guess it is possible to win your dad over after all. I just have to prove to him that I'm serious about you." He held Michelle's hand.
Ding dong.
Michelle pulled away. "Oh no, dad's home!"
Everyone stared at her.
"Oh, sorry." She put her fist on her head. "Force of habit. Let's get the door."
"I got it," said Mrs. Reyes. She opened the door, and there was her husband on the other side. "Hey, hun," she said, giving him a quick kiss (followed by a little bit of a make out session). She looked around. "Where's the tree? And more importantly, where's our special guests?"
Dan, Roselle, and Michelle exchanged glances with one another.
"What special guests?" Roselle asked her sister.
"I don't know," Michelle answered. "I thought it was just going to be us."
"Family?" suggested Dan.
"We aren't close with our family. It's weird for us to have guests at all, actually. Our parents keep to themselves a lot."
"They'll be here in just a few minutes. I took the car here, and they're bringing the tree in a rental truck."
His wife playfully nudged his shoulder.
He took notice of Dan, who was shivering on the couch, avoiding eye contact. "Hello. Who are you?" he asked.
Dan got up and extended his arm out to him and smiled, but drops of sweat smeared his forehead. "H--hi," he said. "I'm Dan."
He didn't accept the offer to shake hands "Why are you here?"
Dan looked at everyone else in the room, who just kinda shrugged. "I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'm going to be honest with you. I'm dating your daughter, Michelle."
Mr. Reyes' jaw was practically on the floor, and for the longest time, the room was painfully silent.
"Dad, don't freak out," Michelle said.
"Well, Dan, I've got a question for you."
He gulped. "What is it, sir?"
Mr. Reyes suddenly broke out into a joyous smile. "Do I hear wedding bells anytime soon? How about grandkids? Hmm?" He lightly smacked him on the shoulder, and finally shook his hand. "It's so good to meet you. I'm glad Michelle finally found someone for herself."
Now it was Dan's turn to drop his jaw, around with the rest of the people in the room.
"Wait, you're actually okay with this?" Michelle asked.
"Of course!" her dad said. "Sweetie, if you're happy, then so am I."
"Who are you and what have you done with my father?"
Ding dong.
"Ah! The special guests are here!" exclaimed Mrs. Reyes. "Ro, can you get that?"
Roselle was still in bewilderment because of the event that just took place in front of her, but she snapped out of it. "Uh, sure," she said, heading towards the door.
When she opened it, Armani Parker was outside with his secret service men. He greeted her with a warm smile. "Hey, Ro."