Babysitting

She grabbed her keys and sighed. "Please nothing crazy, okay?" she said to her cousin as she collected her things. "I'll be back in three days. You've got this right?"

Ontario shrugged and studied the tattoo across his knuckles. Pain. It was only two weeks after he'd been released and he somehow missed the chaos of jail. His family assured him it would get better, which was why his cousin, Arina, was leaving him to babysit while she went to a convention for her job. He looked up to see she'd gone in the kitchen. Her voice bled into his thoughts.

"Didn't get a chance to go grocery shopping, so I left some money for food. Pizza or something should be fine. I set up the guest bed and there's a TV ans stuff in there. Bedtime is at ten but I mean it's summer so what the hell. Let them stay up until they crash."

"Like you used to?"

She smiled. "Kinda. But you know, I'm an adult or whatever. Can't sleep my life away."

Ontario smiled. She continued to babble about medicine and chores.

"So where's their dad?" he asked.

"Why does that matter? I can assure you he ain't making a surprise visit or nothing."

"So you can tell me where he is."

"You've been gone for fifteen years. Why do you care where their dad is?"

"Just tell me."

Arina rolled her eyes. "Keith went to the military and was shot in the face and kept in China where he slowly died. Happy?"

Ontario's face soured. "I'm sorry."

"It's whatever. People die, right?"

He nodded.

"Well, my plane leaves in two hours, so I'd better get going. They're in the basement watching a movie. Please lock the door for me. And if anything happens call me."

"Of course."

"Wait! Of course, I forget the most important fucking thing!"

She set her suitcase down and raced downstairs. Ontario followed. In the dimly lit basement, her two kids were on the couch. Music from Ice Age resounded off the walls. the oldest one was eating popcorn while the younger one was slumped over, half-asleep.

"Okay, I'm about to leave," Arina told them as she began to kiss them. "Be good. Don't give your uncle a hard time. If you need anything call me."

"Okay Mom," they replied in unison.

"Don't forget your stuff," the younger one chimed.

"Yeah, do you have your keys and your portfolio?" the older one asked.

"Yes."

"Show us!" the younger one asked.

She presented them with her keys and a brown archival binder. Then, she went through to make sure everything was in there. The boys smiled and hugged her again. Ontario watched, rubbing another tattoo on his arm. Michelle, his mother's name. She'd died three months after he was arrested in a car accident. He didn't even get to go to her funeral. The older boy paused the movie and he and his brother went upstairs to help her carry her things to the car. Ontario followed. The boys lugged their mother's bags to the car. She kissed them both and got in the car. Ontario stood waving with the boys. Their mother smiled and pulled off.

"She'll be back," the older one said to his younger brother.

"What makes you say that?" Ontario asked.

Arina's car pulled back into the driveway. She hopped out, ran to grab her phone from her son, and hopped back into her car and sped off. "Nice instincts, um... Which one are you?"

"Xavier. This is Sam."

"Sam? Xavier? Thought she'd name you after food. You know how she likes to eat."

Xavier rolled his eyes. "Come on, Sam. Let's go finish the movie."

"Whoa whoa whoa, where are you two going?"

"To the basement to watch the movie," Sam said.

"No. That's boring. We're going out."