Taste of Melanin

Saving People

"Come on, Victor, time for dinner." Thomas spoke to his son as he ushered for the six year old to enter the patio door.

"Can we just stay outside for a little longer?" The boy pouted as he played in their in- ground pool Thomas built three summers ago.

"No, you've been out here for hours. Come in and eat or I'm telling your mother." At the mention of the woman, the boy sprung into action.

Thomas couldn't help shaking his head, a smile on his lips, as he watched his son quickly dry off before entering the home. He'd already spent the day cleaning nearly every room so it smelled of fresh laundry and warm vanilla.

"What time is mommy coming home?" Victor asked as he seated himself at the table while Thomas moved to prepare his plate.

"I don't know, buddy. You know she's busy saving people." He cooed as he placed a plate in front of his son and kissed his head.

His son's untamed curls would have earned him a scolding but since she'd begun working doubles he wasn't so nervous. The boy nodded in understanding before quietly beginning to eat his meal.

Thomas felt a sadness fill his stomach as he eyed the empty chair alongside him. Wynona, his wife, was an ER physician whose schedule had gone from 60 hours a week to nearly 85 when the Scythorax disease rolled around. Thankfully, Thomas could continue his job online so he could care for their son full time.

"Daddy, why doesn't my hair look like yours?" Victor interrupted the silence, his curious eyes on the strand of hair Thomas had been unconsciously pulling at.

"Because you're half black, Victor. You have hair like your mom." Thomas smiled as the boy beamed in being compared to the woman.

Before she began working such long hours, Victor and Wynona were inseparable. The boy looked up to the woman as if she were a God while Wynona spoiled him rotten.

"I miss mommy." He mumbled as he pushed a piece of chicken around on the plate. "She cooks better."

"I agree." Thomas sighed as he eyed the simple chicken breast, white rice, and sweet corn meal. Their diet used to consist of dishes from all sorts of cultures, but Thomas couldn't cook no matter how much Wynona attempted to teach him.
...

"Goodnight, buddy. I love you." Thomas whispered to the sleeping boy before leaning over his bed to place a kiss to his cheek.

He stirred for a moment before gripping his stuffed bear closer as he returned to a deep sleep. Thomas placed away the story book he'd been reading Victor back on the shelf before half closing the door and cutting off the light.

The silence of their home filled him with feelings of loneliness, his wife's playful banter missing. Thomas and Wynona had met their freshman year of college but didn't beginning dating until their sophomore year.

By the time they'd graduated, Thomas knew she was the woman he'd spend the rest of his life with so he proposed just two weeks after she was accepted into medical school. She'd declined at first, noting that she was in a largely transitional period in life, but Thomas pushed on.

He followed her across the country like a lost puppy before she finally accepted his proposal during her third year of medical school. They waited to marry until she'd finished her residency. Thankfully, Thomas focused on himself as well scoring a job at an insurance company that allowed him to help pay off Wynona's student debt.