Kevin walked over to the VCR and pushed play before sitting on the couch and turning his attention to the Bugs Bunny carton now filling the tv screen. I on the other hand was stuck in place, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Alysha had never left Kevin like this before. Where could she have gone? Is she ok? Is she coming back? The list of questions running through my mind seemed endless and after a few minutes I was finally able to bring that train of thought to a halt and just focus on the inexcusable problem right in front of my face. Taking a deep breath I walked around the couch, turning the tv off and taking a seat next to Kevin on the lumpy couch.
"Kevin," he turned to me with an annoyed look on his face, presumably because I'd turned off his cartoons, "did your mom say where she was going? Or when she was coming back?" Nodding his head before opening his mouth.
"She said she was going out and would be back soon." There was a knot in my stomach and I wasn't sure what was causing it, this situation or the fact that none of it seemed to bother Kevin.
"And she hasn't called and she didn't leave you with a baby sitter or anything?" The young boy simply shook his head no without making a sound. "Well then, I guess we will just have to hang out until your mom gets back." My lips lifting in a comforting smile. "You wanna spend sometime at my apartment?" Nodding eagerly as he followed me into the kitchen, where i left a note for Alysha. I locked her front door with my spare key and walked hand in hand back to my place with Kevin and as soon as we closed my front door he tugged on my hand, drawing my attention down to him.
"Can we have lunch?" It felt like all the blood drained from my face at his question, I hadn't even thought about that, he'd been alone for nearly a day.
"Of course we can. Have you had anything to eat since your mom left?" Remembering that there was little in the way of real food here since I'd been at Prince's place for the last few weeks I grabbed my purse as he answered my question.
"I made PB&J for breakfast." His smile and the way he squared off his little shoulders that were covered in a black t-shirt told me he was proud of hi breakfast choice.
"Good job. That's a fine way to start the day." Flashing him a quick smile "What do you say we walk across the street to Judy's Diner for a late lunch?" Another eager head nod from the small boy as his face lit with a toothy smile.
Our late afternoon lunch was a quiet one. The diner was nearly empty due to the time of day and our orders were promptly delivered to our table. Kevin scarfed down his cheese burger and fries kids meal and was beyond excited at the suggestion of finishing off the meal with a hot fudge Sunday. We barely exchanged a single word, but if the few words that were spoken, Kevin never mentioned his parents. I forced myself to hold back all the questions that were dangling precariously from the tip of my tongue; while Kevin may have had some of the answers, these were questions for his mother. The more I let myself think about his situation the more incensed I became. Little over an hour after our late lunch began we were stepping back into my apartment and the large yawn leaping from Kevin led me to suggest a nap, which he quickly agreed to. As I helped him settle into my bed and cover him with a soft blanket his tired voice filled the empty space in my room.
"Where Prince?" Turning to see his dark eyes, wide with wonderment at the mere mention of his name. The gnawing pain from this morning crept in for just a moment and may have had a chance to play out over my face before I caught it.
"Oh, well," stumbling under the gave that knew so much more than he should for his age, "he's really busy and couldn't come with me back here today." And maybe he'd never go anywhere with me every again I added as a silent afterthought for myself.
"You look sad." His words mumbled through a yawn, but still clear enough for me to try to get my face under control. "You miss him?" Blinking and forcing a smile across my lips.
"Of course I do." Pulling the blanket up tight around his neck. "Now you take a nap. I'll be right outside in the living room if you need me." Dropping a soft kiss to his forehead before leaving the room and pulling the door almost all the way closed behind me. I tried at first to busy myself by looking through my kitchen cabinets, taking stall of the staples instill had and making a shopping list of things I needed. Not having any idea were Alysha was or how long she was going to be gone for I wanted to ensure I had everything here I could need for Kevin for a few days. That, coupled with a small anxiety attack about the whole situation took up the remainder of my afternoon. Before I knew it the clock was showing just past 8pm. Kevin was still sound asleep and while i normally wouldn't have let him sleep so long, something told me he probably hadn't slept at all the night before in that empty apartment. Finally sitting in the couch I let out a weighty sigh over the fact that Alysha had still yet to make an appearance or any attempt to check on her child. Getting lost in my thoughts it wasn't until almost an hour later that I was yanked free of those concerns. The steady rap of knuckles against my door caused me to sigh in relief, as I opened the door expecting to see an apologetic Alysha. Instead I'm met with displeased looking hazel eyes under perfectly manicured eyebrows.
"So we have a little argument," pushing past me into my apartment, his body covered in black head to toe and his hair pulled back into a slick ponytail with a small section hanging free over the left side of his face, "and you just runaway?" His words heavy and suddenly I was right back in that office this morning.
"I didn't runaway," stepping up toe to toe with him, "I needed a breather. You made me feel like I don't matter," my words increasingly heated as my rant continued, "like there's no room in you life for me."
"There is room for you," he spat at me loudly, "I just...I..," his eyes were starting to soften, but his body language remained defensive and the anger continued to boil in the pit of my stomach. Anger that this had turned into a big argument. Anger that he could just apologize for how his words made me feel.
"What Prince? Please explain to me how there's room for me..."
"Damn it Alexa, just give me a minute..."
"Shut up." Pressing my hand against his mouth as I looked around for the source of the timid noise I heard. "Oh shit." Dropping my hand from his mouth, just after I felt his lips touch my palm, and headed quickly to the source of the noise. My bedroom was dark, but I quickly spotted Kevin. His sniffling, trembling frame was curled up in the far corner of the room on the floor with the blanket I had covered him with earlier. "Hey Kevin honey, what's wrong?" Coming up to sit in front of him as his sobbing started to quiet slightly. "Hey, everything's alright." Wiping the tears from his cheeks before I took his little hand in mine.
"I don't," a loud sniff shakes his little body, "wanna see you hurt." A few stray tears rolled over his cheeks.
"Oh no honey no one was gonna get hurt. We were just talking" his eyes got wide and looked over my shoulder.
"Daddy hits mommy when they talk." The words that his soft voice produced punched a hole right through my heart. Turning my head I followed his gaze to find Prince standing in the door way. His body language much softer than earlier, shoulders dropping, lips slightly pursed in confusion, and the sadness radiating from his eyes was a look unlike any I'd ever seen on his face. Turning back to Kevin, his eyes finally back in me.
"Sometimes grown ups disagree Kevin," Prince walked over, sitting cross legged on the floor next to me, "and they have to talk through their problems. That's all we were doing." His bright, inquisitive eyes left mine and drifted to Prince just as the child's stomach grumbled loudly. "How about I get us some dinner." Ruffling my hand through his hair as I stood and left the room. Not having time to go grocery shopping yet, I opted for a quick call to the local pizzeria. Heading back to the bedroom, I stopped outside the bedroom, listening to Prince.
"No Kevin, I've never hit Alexa and I never will." Listening to Prince softly talk to Kevin brought a smile to my face. Kevin leaned closer whispering something I couldn't make out which caused Prince to shake his head. "Real men don't hit women, ever." With that Prince reached over, gathering Kevin into his arms and carrying him into the living room.
The remainder of the evening was spent eating pizza and hanging out on the couch watching an old copy of Dumbo I found amongst my movies. Prince sat in the corner of the couch, his arms wrapped around me as Kevin laid on the couch wrapped in the blanket, his head using my thigh as his pillow. Kevin fell asleep not long after we started the film, but instead of chancing waking him up, we decided to let the film play on.
"Alexa." His chin rested on my shoulder while his arms tightened around me. "I'm sorry." Learning back against him harder, turning my head to see his face.
"Me too." Soft lips met my forehead.
"Now isn't the time, but we have to talk."
"We will, when we get home baby." I gave him a quick kiss and those were the last words we shared before drifting off to sleep.