POV JULIE
Arthur had already ridden on almost all the rides in the park, except for the ones that his age didn't allow. My parents and I just watched him while he seemed to be in another world. The expression of joy on his face was the best thing to see. The ear-to-ear smile, the shining eyes, the rosy cheeks and the laughter were things that were so common and at the same time grand.
Since Mom decided to work, Arthur has become my responsibility for most of the day. My parents have very little time in his life and although he doesn't show how he feels about it because for him everything can be solved with a cartoon and his favorite teddy bear, Ted, which isn't very good since children are the most sensitive and transparent beings, I notice in the way he behaves that he misses spending more time with them. Today, for example, I can see the joy on his face, a different kind of joy, with more emotion. He's happy and that's all I need to be happy too.
Now my little brat was getting off one of the many rides in the park. It was a kind of slide that led to a large metal bed filled with colorful balls. With his arms up and a smile on his face, he lands on the metal bed and a shower of balls starts falling everywhere. The other children clap their hands in excitement at his beautiful landing and take turns to see who will be the next to make those balls fly through space. The fact that there were other children together around us made him feel even happier.
Everyone was already tired just watching and he seemed to renew his energy with each round. Because it was not possible for such a small body to have so much battery.
- Arthur, time to get off. - My father says and Arthur looks at him with a sad expression.
- Just a little bit more, daddy. - He says sweetly and shows a smile that makes anyone give up on what they were promising. - Okay, just a little bit more. - Dad agrees and he turns to his new little friends.
- He doesn't seem to get tired. - I say and Mom agrees with a smile.
- Children have more energy than adults. And you, Julie, don't you want to go to any of them? - She asks and shakes her head.
- Why? You have to have fun, you spend the whole day either studying or taking care of your brother. You have to take some time to do things that young people your age do. Go out at night with friends, travel on the weekends, enjoy life. - She concludes with a smile on her face as if she were somewhere else.
Maybe she noticed in time and relived all the things she did when she was young since I mentioned a few times how much work it was for my grandmothers. Most young people would give anything to have a mother who encourages her children to "enjoy life", but as fate is ironic here I am being persuaded by my mother to live a life that doesn't match my personality. It's not that I don't like my mother, far from it, but she tries to change who I am, my way, my clothes, what I do and what I don't do. She doesn't do it in a way that puts me down or makes me feel different or pressured, she always does it in a sweet way and with a voice that sings affection even when she tries her best to seem convincing. It never works. And this used to happen more often some time ago, now she understands that this is my way of being, but what she can't accept is the fact that I stay at home while I could be having fun with a group of friends. Friends that I don't have.
- I have to agree with your mother on that. It's not healthy for a girl your age to spend all her time indoors. - Dad says and Mom looks at him ecstatic that he agreed with something she said, since they disagree on practically everything.
- Let's leave this for another time and another place, because Ferris wheels and roller coasters are not fun. I'd rather stay stuck in my room all day reading a book than die of cardiac arrest inside a deadly toy like that. - I say dramatically with the intention of ending this story and mom and dad laugh at my poor acting.
- Okay, let's not talk about it anymore. But remember what we said. - Mom says and I nod just so they think I was really interested in going to places that "young people my age go to".
- Okay, I want to go to another one. - Arthur says still inside the trampoline and Dad takes him out of there. We walked to find out what new toy Arthur would want to spend his unlimited energy on. Dad was holding Arthur in his lap and Mom was gently holding his arm. I watched them for a while until Arthur's face took on a strange grimace.
- Dad put me down. I'm already big - He says and we burst out laughing.
- Sure, very big. - Dad agrees laughing and puts him down.
- Sis, I want to ride a toy with you - He says grabbing my hand.
- How about that one? - He asks pointing to a toy that looked like an elevator where people were trapped and tortured inside. It moved slowly to an extremely dangerous height and fell hard. With each descent I could hear the screams of the people inside and fear began to run through my body.
- No way. Too dangerous. - I say and he looks around as if looking for the ideal toy. I follow his gaze and turn around, but when I look Arthur is already running through the crowd and I lose sight of him.
- Where's Arthur? - Mom asks when she realizes he's no longer by my side.
- He ran away, I swear I don't know where he went. I only saw him running over there. - I point, already desperate for having let Arthur get loose and not having done anything to stop him. What a great sister I am! I let him disappear when he was right next to me.
- Calm down, we'll find him. - Dad says trying to calm me down and the panic I was feeling begins to intensify. I look around and there's no him. The worst part is that the park is extremely large and dangerous for a child to walk around alone, and its immense size makes it a bit impossible to find him before he hurts himself.
"Did you say he went that way?" Mom asks and I can hear the desperation in her voice. I nod. "Then let's go there." She continues and we walk in the direction that Arthur had run past a few minutes ago.
The flow of people moving around had decreased, which made me mentally curse my stupidity for not having followed him before he got lost in the crowd of people walking from one side to the other. We walked past the people and when I saw a small being in the distance among a group of large bodies, I let out a sigh of relief. He was holding someone's hand and smiling happily at the others.
I recognized the people who were in front of where I was standing as being from college, I had already seen them walking through the hallways and despite the fact that I almost never left the classroom or the library, I was sure of it. I also noticed Mark, one of Scott's friends. After a while Arthur waves to everyone and turns around, still holding on to the person's hand. When he turned around, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Scott Wayans was holding my little brat's hand tightly as if he were protecting him from the crowd, as if he were keeping him safe.
I couldn't help but smile at such an act. I looked away from their joined hands and could see an excited smile on Arthur's face. They seemed to be having an animated conversation because they were both smiling at each other as they walked towards us.
My parents seemed confused by the scene they were watching, but who wouldn't be? When Scott looks in my direction, his lips curve into a smile that made it possible to count the white, well-aligned teeth that filled his mouth.
- Mom, Dad. This is my tall friend. - Arthur looks at Scott as if he were Superman and was about to save the world from an attack by enemies. It seems like Scott deserved a tenth, no better, a thousandth of the admiration that was written on Arthur's face.
- Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Bloom. My name is Scott and I go to college with your daughter. - He gave his friendliest smile in the direction of my parents and Mom looked like she was going to jump on Scott's neck at any moment, because she wouldn't stop smiling at him. I already know what must be going through her head at that moment.
- Alice. Call me Alice. - Mom corrected him and he nodded.
- And me Richard. - My father extends his hand to Scott and for a few minutes he lets go of Arthur's little hand and squeezes my father's.a encenação.
- Alice and Richard. Okay. Hi Julie. - He talks to me for the first time since he arrived and I just nod. Mom looks at me with a disapproving face but I pretend not to see and look back at my little brother who was now trying to get Scott's attention.
- Scot, Scot - His little hands were glued to the hem of Scott's shirt as he pulled the fabric. Scott looked down at him. - Shall we go to that toy over there? Julie is scared and didn't want to go with me anymore.
His little face was touching to anyone who didn't know that it was pure theater. My brother could get everything he wanted when he kept his eyes half open and pouted. I'm sure he would make a great actor in the future.