“One kid on the team. He said that’s why my mom left. Is that why she went to heaven? Because she was tired of not having nice things?”
Kids can be such little assholes!
“Your mom was sick, and that’s why she went to heaven. As for being poor, do you think we’re poor?”
He shrugs. “Sometimes. We don’t have cool things, like Beckham.”
He’s not wrong there. One day he will know just how poor we are, but today is not that day.
“We have a warm place to stay, food to eat, and clothes to wear. Some people don’t even have that.”
“I know, I know.” He gives me an ornery smile. “It would still be cool if I was a prince or something.”
“A prince, huh?”
“Yeah. Then we’d live in a castle, have lots of toys, and no one would be mean to me because I’d have a bodyguard.”
I wonder if I should be alarmed that he thinks he needs a bodyguard.
But then he says, “And I’d have enough money to hire the Avengers to come to school with me, too.”
“You’ve given this a lot of thought.”
He wipes his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. “Yup.”
“So, if you’re a prince, does that make Belle and I princesses?”
“I think so. Or you might be a queen.”
“A queen, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Does that mean I marry a king?”
He nods. “And guess what?”
“What?”
“He makes sure that Dad can’t hurt you anymore.”
My eyes mist over. “Then I hope you are a prince. But, today, you’re still Chip Potts, and you have to go to school.”
He groans playfully but throws away his trash. Hand in hand, we make our way outside. It’s amazing how talking to my little brother can make me feel so much better. As we get closer to the school, I pull up the hood on the hoodie, hoping to hide some of the bruising. Thankfully, Chip sees Beckham and tells me goodbye as he runs over to his friend. I manage to slip away without getting looks from anyone.
Since I have time to kill, I decide to walk. What I’m really doing is trying to figure out what I’m going to tell people when they ask what happened. Like Kyle. I’m sure he’ll have plenty to say. Digging into my pocket, I pull out my phone. He never texted me after class the other day because he doesn’t think he did anything wrong. But I should give him a heads-up.
Me: Hey.
Kyle: Hey.
Me: Are you at your place?
Kyle: No, I swung by my parent’s house to do some laundry.
Me: Are you skipping class today?
Kyle: What are you, my mother?