Free Hoodie by S. Walden Page B

I do,” she said thoughtfully. “It’s the only thing my mother and I share.”
    Emma did not know why she voiced that. Her impersonal relationship with her mother was certainly none of his business. And why should he care? But she felt like she could tell him and he would not look at her like she was some poor little rich girl whose parents ignored her but gave her expensive things. That wasn’t the case anyway. She was very close to her father.
    Anton wasn’t sure how he should reply. Did she mean to say that out loud, he wondered?
    “You wanna sit down?” he asked.
    She looked around the room, noticing a large pile of clutter on his desk chair, and made her way to his bed. She sat down tentatively and as far away from him as she could.
    “Not everybody got good relationships with they parents,” he said at last.
    “I guess not,” she replied. “It’s weird though, because it’s not like this out-and-out hostility between us. And I’m only talking about my mom here. My dad and I have a very good relationship. But my mom. She just expects so much. I have to be perfect all the time, and it’s exhausting.”
    He listened.
    “She put me in ballet. I was going to do it whether I liked it or not. So I learned to like it. And now I genuinely do. But just being forced. And I raised hell about the piano. My piano teacher told my mom that she was wasting her money. I never practiced. I didn’t care. So I got out of that one.”
    Anton nodded.
    It was pouring out of her and she couldn’t stop it. Once the gates opened, she felt like she could talk for hours, get everything out of her heart and onto him. Let him deal with it, carry the weight of it, because she was too tired.
    “It’s just so stupid and typical, I guess. Being wealthy and unhappy. I mean, I shouldn’t say I’m unhappy. I’m not unhappy. Just lonely, I guess. I just wish I had a sister or brother,” Emma said.
    She sat quietly thinking how her mood could change so suddenly. She was fine in the car earlier, happy even. Anton was thinking the same thing and decided he knew what she needed.
    “Come on,” he said, and grabbed her hand.
    “Where are we going?”
    “You’ll see,” he said, and led her out of his house to a building on the opposite side of his complex.
    They climbed the stairs to another apartment, and Anton knocked on the door. A large woman answered. Her hair was wrapped in a mustard yellow scarf, and she wore a house dress.
    “Anton, baby!” she cried and wrapped him in a tight hug.
    “Hey Mrs. Williams,” Anton replied.
    “Where you been? These babies be drivin’ me crazy!” she said releasing him.
    “I just been busy with school. I’m workin’ on this big school assignment. This my partner, Emma,” he said, and moved aside to introduce her.
    Mrs. Williams smiled at Emma and invited them inside. No sooner had Anton walked into the living room then three small children dashed towards him wrapping their arms around his legs. They squealed his name over and over, jumping up and down all the while clinging to his knees and thighs.
    He laughed and picked one up, tossing him in the air and flipping him upside down making him scream with delight.
    “My turn!” shouted another, and Anton did the same with her.
    “What about me?!” It was the voice of another little boy—he looked identical to the first one—and Anton threw him in the air as though he weighed as little as a bird.
    Once they had all been tossed, he lined them up in a row, made them stand up straight, and bent down to address them like a drill sergeant.
    “You listenin’ to yo’ mama?” he asked.
    They nodded.
    “You bein’ good at school?”
    They nodded.
    “You ain’t gettin’ into no fights with other kids over toys or nothin’ are you?”
    They started to nod, but then shook their heads vigorously. Emma smiled.
    “Good, because I brought a friend over to play today. And if I heard you was actin’ out, then she wasn’t gonna