I
just left Shoprite when I saw Charlie walk into the store. I looked at him but he did not see him
and when I got to my car I started to remember the days when Charlie was a boy. When he came over and played with my
brother the two were always happy and ran around the yard. But sadly, Charlie’s days as a child
changed and when he was still very young, became a father.
Ten Years Ago
My
brother and Charlie decided to have a sleep over and my brother asked my
parents if he could dye he and Charlie could dye their hair. I remembered that night (with help from
my parents) the two dyed parts of their hair blue and they allowed me to join
them. We all laughed and loved our
new look. Just before the sunset
we walked to the convince store down the block to buy milk for my parents. One of the workers really liked
Charlie’s hair and he had this huge grin on that showed almost all his
teeth.
I
will also never forget the time when my mom took my brother and I to school and
Charlie was hiding his face when everyone was lining up for the day.
“What’s wrong?” asked my mom. Without lifting his hand, Charlie said, “I got braces,”
“Can I see them?” my mom asked and slowly Charlie took his
hand away.
“You got braces?” the kid behind Charlie asked and he closed
his mouth, “that’s really cool,” the kid said and Charlie smiled, showing his
braces. The other kids in his
classroom thought it was cool and Charlie quickly became comfortable with his
new braces.
I
was always afraid of growing up and I’m sure some of my friends and the other
kids at our elementary school were too.
To this day I’m still growing up and learning the ways of the world but
I felt bad for Charlie because he had to grow up when he was still a kid.
Four Years Ago
Charlie’s
mom was in the hospital and I heard it was really bad. Her body had a bunch of problems and it
seemed as if this was it. There
were just too many complications.
One night I overheard my parents talking Charlie and his siblings.
Charlie
was the second oldest in the family, at this time he was seventeen, his younger
brother was ten, and his younger sister was eight. His older brother was already in his early twenties but I
could not remember since I rarely saw him when my brother and I went over to
his house to play. My parents were
worried about Charlie because next year he would be taking the SAT’s (he was
left back in first grade) and his younger brother and sister were very young to
lose a mother and his father traveled too much for work. I overheard them saying that Charlie
might stay home but his younger siblings may be separated among their
relatives.
A
few days later we heard about his mother’s passing. My family and I went to the funeral and I saw Charlie
sitting with his younger siblings.
On his lap was his younger brother who kept crying and wanting his
“mommy”. When I saw his younger
brother I had to walk out as quickly as possible. I felt so sorry for those children and I wonder why God took
their mother. They know that they
would never see her again and his brother would not stop crying and asking his
“mommy to wake up”.
Present
Ever
since his mother’s death, Charlie took it upon himself to help around the
house. I would see him once and awhile at the grocery store with his younger siblings and I knew he picked them
up from school every day. My
brother called him to hang out, but he was never free. His father continued working and
traveling all over the place while his older brother did nothing. Charlie had to balance being a high
school student and a father.
It’s the summer of 2012 and Charlie seemed to have done a good job. His father still travels and his
brother is still a jerk, but his younger brother just graduated from middle
school and Charlie is taking courses at a community college while having a part
time job. I know life is hard on
Charlie and I wish that he didn’t have to worry about being a dad and could
worry about being a college kid, thinking about his future.
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