The Burden Of Love (Jonathan Toews)

Passion. 1

"Miss Emmie" a soft voice calls out into the hallway of my apartment complex and I turn around. I see my favorite little man standing next to me as I lock the door to my apartment. He had on a dirty bright yellow t shirt that made his dark brown skin pop and his curly black hair a mess on his head. I've taken care of my little neighbor friend a few times and he always seems to find his way over for a nice meal or maybe to watch some cartoons with me. His mom never questioned it so I get a friend to hang out with for a few hours.

"Hey there Kenneth. How are you" I ask as I bend down so I can see eye to eye with him. He looks up at me with big brown eyes that can just melt your heart.

"Can I come with you to school" he asks me and I look at him weird.

"If your mom says it's okay sweetie" I tell him. I often time watch over Kenny. He's spent the night a few times before when his mom was... unwell. Just crashed on the couch and went back home in the morning. I don't know if she knew he comes over but he's safe with me and that's all that matters. He's just five years old but he's a total sweetheart. He follows me around a lot and I never mind another pair of helping hands.

"Mom hasn't been home in a while" he tells me. I furrow my eyes brows as a deep breath passes my lips. This can get messy before I know it and I needed to get to work soon.

"Did she say if she was coming back" I try.

"No. But her things are gone" he tells me.

My head shakes as I struggle to process what this child just told me. I'm no stranger to helping people but I'm not exactly jumping at the knees at the idea that there is a chance of me helping someone because of child abandonment. How someone could leave a kid and never come back or know if he's okay? I grab his hand and walk over to their door. It takes me no time to get in and look around. The couch was there and some of Kenny's toys but other than that it was bare. I go into his moms room and it was completely naked. Nothing but Kenneth's stuff left in the apartment.

"Ken how long has your mom been gone" I ask.

"Almost two days" he tells me. "I wanted to come tell you yesterday but she told me not to talk to you" he claims.

"Why not" I question.

"She said she doesn't trust white women" he says.

Nice. Real nice.

"Alright. Well I'm looking for a little helper today, do you still want to come with me" I ask him.

"Yes please" he smiles.

I pick up his place a little and find some clean clothes for him to change into. We hop on the bus and get to the school just in time. I explain to the principle what's going on and she lets me have Kenneth come hang out with me. It's early January 2013 and he had no right being stuck in a apartment with no heat by himself. She's pretty understanding given the neighborhood we're in and she has kids of her own, she gets it.

Ken and I have gotten close over the past year since his mom moved into the apartment building. It hasn't always been good but I've grown fond of the little man as I usually do with all the kids I teach. I hope I can figure something out for him and know that he is in the best situation for him.

We get through the day and head back to the apartment building. I call the landlord and ask if he has heard from Kenneths mother but he didn't know where she could be. She hadn't paid rent in a while and was about to be evicted anyway. I would have helped her out but I was the damned white girl so I never had the chance of getting through to her. I actually had a decent amount of money saved up, I had a job with benifits and a whole lotta heart. That can get you far in life. Giving up on your kid like this... that gets you nice spot in hell.

After we talk it over we decide that for now Kenneth with stay with me. My spare is filled with a bunch of kids stuff from planning for school anyway. We gather his things up and move them into the spare. I find a air mattress for him to crash on until I can get him a real bed. But he didn't mind sleeping on the air mattress for a little while, I make him a warm dinner and he was the happiest kid in the world.

"What do you want to do this weekend? Anything fun" I ask him.

"Can we go to the zoo" he wonders and I laugh a little.

"It's cold outside, the animals are somewhere nice and warm. But how about we go to the field museum? They have animals" I try.

"Dead ones" he reminds me as I laugh. "But I think that will be fun too."

"Perfect" I smile.