It was getting dark already. He has to be home.
That was the only thought stuck to this young boy's mind. He has to go home.
He sped up his pace little by little, yet he knows better than to rush. Should he risk it? No. He should not.. Right?
His stomach turned at the thought of his mother worried sick about him, he hoped he wasn't too late.
A cold breeze blew onto the streets, his face becoming slightly flushed, making him shiver in response. It's gonna be a cold night for them. Which only meant one thing, it's that winter is slowly creeping up the corner.
His eyes light up as he sees the roof and a small part of their home in the near distance. He begins to speed walk, eager to see both his mother and sister waiting by their porch. A smile found its way to his face. He's almost home.
There was a small wave of an exhilarating feeling that ran throughout his veins, he hugged the plastic bag close to his chest as he sped up his pace. Beginning to lightly jog, still mindful about the possibly fragile items in it.
Brent remembered what he was carrying, a bag of food given by the friendly faces of the marketplace, most were what he was asked to buy. A task given to him by his mother.
They have food for at least a few more days with this.. He got too carried away, gazing and drooling at a shop full of sweets that sent him into a state of trance.. By the time he regained his conscience, the sky was already shifting to a scarlet shade with hints of an orange tint.
He slowed down his pace, not wanting to trip on anything and ruining the food, that would be a considerably big problem for them. The reason as to why? Simple. They weren't really living the best life, having to pitch pennies here and there.. but he couldn't ask for anything else. The boy was content.
Their house came into view, it wasn't anything fancy, big, nor impressive, either way it's the place where his family settled, therefore it was their home.
One thing was out of the usual picture though. No one came outside waiting for him, it was weird. He'd gotten used to seeing their faces as he came back. Was he too late to come home?
"Mom? Sis?" The creak of the door echoed throughout the tiny living room. He scrunched up his nose, making a small note in his mind to 'fix' the noise.
He went inside the house, it was quiet. He checked their room but only saw his little sister scribbling on a piece of paper. The boy sighed in relief as he made his way to their dining table to set down the bag full of food, then returning to where his younger sibling was.
"Winchestein??"
The little one was still scribbling away at the same piece of paper, he sat down next to her to take a look at what she was writing down when she suddenly tugged on his sleeve and showed him the paper.
"B! Lookie! I wrote my name! Wimfestin!" The child greeted her brother with the biggest smile she could muster up, filled with excitement and pride.
She eagerly shoved the paper on his face. Causing the boy to lean back with a hearty laugh.
"Really? Let me see then!" He was eager, but he was gentle as he took the paper from her tiny grasp.
He kept giggling as he held the paper properly, now being able to see the contents. He could definitely read her name from her silly writing, in which he admits that was getting better than before. Suddenly, he trapped his little sister in a bear hug. Earning a squeal from her and a slap on the back, mixed with giggles.
"Aahh! You're growing up so fast!"
He can't help but be proud of his sister. They were both homeschooled by their mother so he'd help out with teaching sometimes.
"Ewww! Stinkyy!"
She jokingly covered her nose as her big brother was hugging her. He tightened his hug, squeezing her gently.
"Better get used to it!"
Brent grinned ear to ear. His chest filling up with warmth, he couldn't help it.
"Nooooo!"
Another tiny squeal. After a little while, he decided to let go of her and pat her on the head. Giving her a loving big brother smile.
"You're getting better with writing, My little sister is learning so fast." Wiping a single tear from the corner of his eye.
The boy stood back up, now in the search of their mother.
"Hey, have you seen mom?"
He asked her, placing his hands on both his knees and he lowered himself to her level as he bent down. Winchestein also stood up to climb their bed, where she had continued to repeat her name in the paper.
"Nuh uh."
Receiving a quick reply, with a shake of the head too. He thought it was very adorable, heck he could argue all day that everything his little sister does is adorably cute.
He walked out of the room, going back to the dining table to put away the food he'd brought home but to his surprise, it was gone. He noticed the same plastic bag that he carried was on their trash bin, his mother had probably put them away already. Which means it was almost dinner soon.
Having a little time spared, he decided to take a quick shower. Afterall, he was covered in sweat from walking all around the market the whole afternoon. He needed to remove the stench so that he won't get called stinky again..
As he walked into their living room, he overheard a nearby conversation. One voice belonged to their mother, the other was very unfamiliar. It was from outside their home, just behind the front door. He was about to go outside to check on his mother but he froze in place, his hand gripping on the knob.
"It's about your husband, Mrs.Tepes."
'They're talking about.. him?' Not sure if he heard that right, he listened intently behind the closed door.
"His debt is almost overdue and there's no excuse that's gonna change our minds."
The man's voice was stern, he wishes to never hear it again or else he might scare Winchestein more than the boy right now.
"I understand.. I'll try to make it happen by then.."
His mother's voice was breaking, it sent a sting to his heart. He hated it when his mother would get sad and cry. He's always done his best not to let that happen. He wanted her to be as happy as she can be even if it was just the three of them.
"I'm just here to remind you, Mrs. Tepes. The day is nearing. I do know that we're not asking for too much from you anymore.. We hope you'll be able to pay it off by then.."
The man talking to her started walking away, his footsteps fading as he stepped off the porch and drove off with a revving engine of a vehicle.
Quiet sobbing emitted from his mother, he couldn't process all of this at once. He never met his father, nor was he ever mentioned by his mother. He knows that his father is now just a painful memory to his mother, and would probably stay that way. That was enough for him to hate the man, he could care less why he left but he should've at the very least, taken care of his own problems and not drag his mother into it. But now he finds out he left a huge trouble in the hands of their mother. He was enraged.
With the silent gritting of his teeth, he ultimately knew that he should come outside to comfort his mother.. but that would mean he was eavesdropping, that he was being very rude. He hesitated, but told himself that he shouldn't ask right now.
Feeling regretful that he can't do anything to calm her down, he decided that he'd be making dinner today. His mother had already taught him a few recipes before. He decided that she shouldn't tire herself out now. She deserved a well needed rest.
This was not the only reason as to why. Lately, he's been noticing that his mother has gotten somewhat weaker and she was always so tired after a few chores. He didn't want her to stress herself over anything anymore. He wanted to take care of her.
He began to prepare a few ingredients for a dish he had in mind. It was just a simple bowl of mashed potatoes. He had to make do with what little food he had managed to get without running out shortly for the next few days.
"Brent?"
The soft voice called, the boy turned his head around to see his mother giving him a worried look, her eyes were tired and pinkish, she walked over to him.
"You didn't say you'd be cooking tonight." Her voice had confirmed to him that she was concerned.
She rubbed her son's shoulder.
"Don't worry about it mother, I wanted to cook tonight. My treat." The young pre-teen turned his full attention to her. "I don't want you to get too tired tonight.. Plus, this is what I can do for you so.. I wanna help as much as I can."
He shot her a reassuring smile before continuing to peel potatoes.
"You should go take a rest, I can handle this."
The mother felt proud, but also she thought she'd been burdening her own son with having to take care of mostly everything.. What kind of a mother was she? Letting her own child to worry about all the things she should be doing.
"You don't have to worry about me that much, Brent."
Only a tired smile was found on her face. It was true though, she was getting weaker for some reason. She wanted to know why but.. not being able to pay anything in the price of a check-up, she did everything she could do to get better by herself instead. Even if it was just resting at home.
"I know.. But it's good for me too.. I'm learning more and I really want to do this, mom."
He stood up with the ingredients and made his way towards their kitchen to begin cooking.
She only sighed in defeat as a response. The least she could do was kiss her son's forehead in appreciation before making her way to the living room to rest on the couch. Winchestein had come out of their room to sit next to their mother, showing off her writing skills, getting praised yet again.
Brent smiled as he heard the two interacting, keeping an eye on the boiling potatoes.
———————
The small family had finished eating their dinner and the boy is now washing the dishes, despite his mother's protests. In the end, she couldn't stop him from being a very responsible son at a very young age. He'd take care of his sister just fine.
Their mother had already tucked in her younger child., who was now sleeping soundly in their bedroom. She waited patiently for her son to finish before calling him over to sit next to her.
"Mom, shouldn't you sleep early? You know.. get a lot of energy.."
He said in a worried tone, drying his hands with a towel, sitting next to her.
"I will soon.. You've done so well today."
She cupped his cheek.
"I'm so proud of you."
She said, swiping his bangs to the side, and kissed his forehead.
"Thank you mother."
He closed his eyes and leaned onto her touch, she was very warm and he noticed quickly but the question still bothers his mind as of right now.
"Mom..?"
"Yes dear?" She hummed.
"Who was the man you were talking to earlier?"
His tone was careful. He wanted to know.
She was surprised of course, not expecting that question out of him..
"You heard..?"
The boy only nodded slowly. She sighed.
"He knew your father before, they didn't get along well but your father still did a bad thing. He's here to collect a.. compensation for what your father took.. But now that he's gone, the man has turned to us ever since."
Her smile dimmed into a sad one. She held her son's hand and squeezed it a little. He gently squeezed back in a reassuring manner.
"We'll figure something out, mom. I'll go to the market tomorrow and find a way to help you okay? We'll get through this!" He was very optimistic about it considering his young age.
Brent didn't understand much about debt.. work.. jobs.. taxes?? He's only ever heard those from the townspeople.
The young boy leaned onto her shoulder. Her eyes swelled up at his response, kissing the top of his head and rubbing his shoulder. He took note that she was a lot warmer than usual.. He hoped to himself that it was the cold night.
A gust of wind has entered through their window, making her shiver and laugh at the realization.
"I'll go get you a layer of warmth for tonight."The boy stood up and left to fetch a jacket for her. Closing the windows first.
His mother felt an irritating itch in her throat as well as an upcoming cough, it wasn't what she thought it would be. A normal cough turned into a violent coughing fit.
It was obvious that her cough attacks weren't as normal as she thought anymore, but she did her best to not let B notice. She used a piece of cloth or tissues whenever she needed to cough, but she felt her stomach drop from the sight of blood. Hastily, she went to the bathroom to wash it off as best she could.
"Is everything alright mom?"
Brent had noticed ofcourse. Worried, having heard his mom, as he came back to knock on their bathroom door.
"Of course, Honey! I uh.."
She cleared up her voice, mustering up everything she had to hide the shakiness and hoarseness of her voice.
"I was just able to cough out the itchiness in my throat."
The bathroom sink now had drops of salivated blood. She spat out as much as she had been able to, until the blood had been reduced greatly. Gargling out all the traces of blood, she cleaned off the cloth and made sure she didn't leave anything behind.
She came out of the bathroom and her son was already waiting with a jacket in hand. He helped her put it on and assisted her on the way to their room where a lightly snoring Winchestein was snuggling onto her blanket. She let her consciousness rest for the rest of the night.
Brent noticed something else that was unusual as he came to process what has happened today. His mother felt lighter and her hands felt skinnier. He decided to let them both eat a lot tomorrow or maybe just anytime soon, as he'd find a way to work for the payment needed so that man could leave his family alone. 'It's gonna be a big day tomorrow.', he thought to himself as he drifted to sleep.
———————
He woke up earlier than the two and immediately made breakfast for them, even heating up the leftover potatoes from last night for their lunch, putting it away in a container that was sealed nicely and easy to be reached by his sister. He put a note on the container indicating that it was for lunch, hoping that his sister would understand if she's got the hold of it instead.
Having to head out early if he wanted to get a job at the same day. True, he was too young to have anyone make him do some work but he had a place in mind, the marketplace surely needed a helping hand with countless stuff.
He finished his piece of bread and took one last glance at his peacefully sleeping mother and sister. Off to the market he went.
The lively market had always put a huge smile on his face, it was crowded with so many nice people and kind vendors as well as travellers looking for advice about great tasting foods and directions..
"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez!"
Brent had spotted the same couple that had given him food as gifts everytime he visited the marketplace, he lightly jogged up to them, and greeted them with the biggest smile.
"Someone's here early, Good morning chum!"
The man turned to him and warmly greeted him back, followed by his wife.
"How are you, Brent?"
"I'm doing good Mrs. Ramirez.. I was hoping I could work for you two, today.. So I could help my mom.."
He fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. The boy looked away sheepishly while the couple chuckled at him.
"I suppose we shouldn't say anything about this to your mom, then?"
The lady jokingly said, ruffling his hair. Brent smiled nervously, accompanied with an unsure laugh.
"How about that, hun?"
The brunette turned to his husband as she was asking him if it was fine or making sure that he was okay with it.
"Sure! We could use a helping hand these days."
The raven-haired man put his hands on either side of his hips with a toothy grin.
"Come on! No time to waste!"
Beckoning the boy over.
Brent eagerly followed him as his first job of the day had started.
"Blake! Be careful with him!" His wife called out laced with a loving warning.
Since the Ramirez's had always been one of the busiest in the market, they gladly accepted the boy's offer.
He did nothing major, just carrying the light boxes of customers' orders to their vehicles, sometimes he was instructed to prepare the orders himself. Of course the payment from each customer would always be given to Mrs. Ramirez.
The day passed by quite quickly, it tired him out nonetheless. He agreed that he could do this everyday and get used to it. The couple let him go home by the late afternoon and gave him his salary for his hard work that day.
"Thank you two so much! I'll be back tomorrow!"
He hugged the both of them before rushing home, along with a few snacks and tips received from some of the friendly faces of the customers he had helped.
In a state of euphoria, he was thrilled to see how his mother would react with what he had earned today. She's gonna be so proud of how much he's earned.
He could already see her bright smile appearing on her lips and hug him tightly, telling him how proud she was of him.
As the boy neared his home again, he went to check the money he had on him but he stopped dead on his tracks as he saw his little sister crying her eyes out on their porch.
Was he too late to come home?