When Mom came home, John told her what happened and she didn’t get mad either. As a matter of fact, she came up to my room, crying too. She kept telling me how sorry she was, that it happened and how it would be alright. I didn’t believe it would be alright. Actually, I believed, that by the next morning, it would be all over the school, that I had peed my pants and ran home crying like a baby.
Well, that is partially what happened. Though no one had seen me, most everyone was able to put the clues together in such a way, that by the end of the day, which wasn’t long at all, rumors were running rampant. The one thing all the rumors seemed to have in common, was that I had wet my pants. Some of the rumors were stupid, like I’d attacked a teacher, or that someone had got into the school and kidnapped me.
I did not go down for supper that evening. I just didn’t feel like eating. Living here was bad enough, now I went and made it downright horrendous! Around ten o’clock at night there was a soft tapping at my bedroom door. I was supposed to be in bed sleeping, but I couldn’t sleep and had taken to sitting on the floor at the foot of my bed, with my surfboard lying on the floor in front of me. I had my knees up to my chest and my arms wrapped around my legs, because I was being too stubborn to get up and find something to keep me warmer.
“Come in,” I whimpered.
I’d been expecting it to be Mom or John, but it was neither of them. Instead it was Micah, the cook… uh, I mean chef.
“Micah!?” I asked with genuine surprise.
In her hands, she held a silver tray that contained a plate and glass under a glass dome.
“Micah think Al-ben maybe hungry, so Micah brought Al-ben special treat.” She said, as she pushed the door closed with one foot.
To be honest, I was happier to see her, then the tray of food she brought for me; that was until I saw what she had for me.
“Wow, thanks Micah!” I said.
“Micah think to self, what Al-ben like most for Micah to bring for him. So I bring greatest treat ever in history of all peoples.” She said, squatting down and setting the tray before me.
She lifted the silver dome from the plate to reveal a chilidog with cheese, curly fries and pickle wedges.
“Ah Micah you are the best!” I exclaimed, as I eyed that chilidog like a hungry shark.
“Yes Micah am best! That is why I am Micah!” she said and then chuckled quietly.
She then grabbed my face with both hands. I thought for a second she was going to squeeze my head like a pimple, but she didn’t. Instead, she planted a kiss right between my eyes.
“If Al-ben leave tray by door, Micah get in morning.” She said, patting my cheek.
“Thank you so much Micah!” I said, as she was leaving the room.