12. Kairo

12Kairo

Why couldn’tanything go right? It seemed like everywhere I turned, something else happened, causing another fire that I had to put out. It was exhausting, and I was ready to be home and just crash. Although maybe not immediately for the latter, because Justin was here and I really wouldn’t mind a repeat of dinner. I parked in the driveway and stared up at the house. Home sweet home!

I realized all my problems wouldn’t be left at the door when I entered the condo. The first clue was the frantic, high-pitched yelp from Justin emanating from my living room. “Get down from there! Do you want to end up in the hospital?” Peeking around the corner, I wasn’t prepared for what I saw-- the living room had been completely destroyed. Toys were scattered around the room as if there had been a toy party—was that even a thing? If it was I certainly hadn’t been invited to it. My eyes were wide with disbelief. I inched back from the noise so Justin wouldn’t notice me as he extracted Sara from the stairway banister. After he corraled her under his arm, I went back to watching the show. Mypoor sweet Justin.

“Unca, Jusin,” she whined.

“No. Don’t Uncle Justin me. That’s dangerous. We don’t do that.” I heard the exhaustion in his voice, “I don’t know how much sugar Ashley plowed you with, but I do know that if it happens again, I might have to find another sitter for my dynamic duo .”

“Nooo, Unca Jusin!” Sara yelled. “I wike, Ashwee.”

“Ashee!” Theo screeched. Justin whipped around to look at Theo as if the kidlet had scared him.

“Noooooo!” Justin yelled, charging over to Theo before he could launch the remote control into my big-screen television. “What did I tell you about throwing things in the house?”

“No,” Theo said. “no,no,no Teo!”

“Yes, that’s right. I said no. Now, we need to get these things cleaned up before Kairo gets home. Do you have any idea what he’ll say or do if he…” Justin shuddered, his body shaking with a tremor. “I don’t even want to think about it. So, be good little children, and help me figure out where everything goes. It all goes into its own spot, so let’s get to it.” As Justin started to clean up the mess, I heard the exasperation in his voice. “Theo…Sara…Theo…Sara…Theoooooo…you guys, come on. Work with me here.” I felt so bad for him. He looked completely exhausted and hanging by a thread.

Retreating from the toy massacre, I slipped away from my hiding place to go to the kitchen. If the living room was trashed, I could only imagine how the kitchen must look. I stopped in mid-stride to survey the disaster area known as my kitchen, tilting my head to take it all in. I brought my hand to my head as I stared at the mess that was strewed all over the floor, table, counters, and walls. A headache started at the base of my skull and slowly moved up until my temples throbbed. It was nothing that a little cleaning wouldn’t take care of. But even the thought of that amount of cleaning made my head pound. Who wanted to clean up? After the stressful day I had at work today, I had no intention of lifting a mop and broom.

Continuing to survey the damage, I saw one of the kitchen walls had several layers of pudding smeared all over it. I reached out and touched the gooey mess with my finger. As I grabbed a napkin to wipe my finger off, I thought itmight be easier to bulldoze the house and start over from scratch. In the middle of the table, two bananas had been slathered across it. I only knew it was two because both peels now rested on the floor. Part of me even questioned if Ashley had blacked out or maybe lost her mind. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to come home to my house looking like a wild keg party had taken place. How did to mini people create such chaos? And how did my mate cope on his own?

“Saraaaaaaaa! Noooo! Don’t do that. Stop!” Justin wailed as if physically in pain.

I ran from the kitchen when Justin let out a blood-curdling scream that echoed through the house. When I reached the living room, Sara was creating a masterpiece on the pristine living room walls… with crayons. My eyes flew open as I gasped and slapped my hand over my mouth. The beautiful walls were being demolished by a three-year-old. Okay, so now I was seriously considering bulldozing the whole thing.

“I said stop that!” Justin picked her up again and gave her a stern reprimand, right in front of me. “These walls are not paper for you to color on. Do you know what Kairo is going to say about this?”

Grabbing two crayons and rushing over to a clean spot on the wall, Theo started to draw on the walls, making gibberish noises that I could not possibly understand.

“Theo, you’re killing me here,” Justin cried. He scooped him up into his arms, and Theo immediately dropped the crayons. The minute Justin deposited Sara onto the floor, she went back to drawing. Justin grabbed his hair and stared at her, appearing frazzled and at his wit’s end. I was almost certain he was five seconds from ripping his hair out, or maybe bursting into tears. Possibly both.

“Sara, stop that. Please.” He groaned, “Kairo will be here any minute.”

Now was the time I could swoop in like a superhero and save the day for my Justin. I cleared my throat. “Wow. What’s going on in here?”

Justin whipped around and stared at me. His eyes went wide as I watched all the blood drain out of his face. I needed his eyes to be bright and happy.

Inhaling a shaky breath and holding his hands up like I might charge at him, he whispered, “I can explain.”.

I looked over at the wall, where Sara was still having the time of her life doodling across the blank white sheets. I heard Justin groan and brought my eyes back to him. He was frazzled, and I knew his thoughts. We’re going to be out on the streets in no time. He coughed to clear his throat, then reached for his forehead.

“When I got home,” he started, shaking his head. “This has never happened before. I don’t know what’s gotten into them.” He rattled off a hundred other statements, his eyes still that dim and dark shade that startled me. He collapsed down in a chair and looked up to me, a pleading look that nearly broke me. “I’ll clean it all up. I’ll paint the walls. I’ll do whatever I have to do. I’m so sorry, Kairo. And I completely understand if….”

“Are you kidding me?” I broke in. “I wouldn’t dream of covering up this artwork. This is a fine masterpiece if I’ve ever seen one. Come on, kids, let’s finish it up.”

I felt Justin’s gaze on my back as Theo, Sara, and I grabbed crayons and really tore up the walls, making sure not that every spot they could reach was colorful, and very much untouched.

“Don’t forget this spot,” I pointed out, motioning towards a corner. I looked over at Justin, and he looked stunned. His eyes had brightened up, and his smile had even returned. He grabbed a crayon and helped us doodle across the wall. There was a relaxed vibe that flowed through us now. I needed to make sure Justin knew that I wouldn’t throw them out, and now amidst our colorful walls, I hoped he would finally believe that.