When Stupid Peasants Disturb Jim.
It started with his mother.
"Hey, mom?" Jim raced down the stairs two at a time. Being cooped up working on a project in his room all day, he didn't look his best at the moment. A few random tufts of his brown hair stuck out in places around his head. His eyes were watering a bit from concentrating too hard on connecting small objects, and his clothes were wrinkled considering he wore them yesterday and fell asleep on his desk. "Mom! It's an emergency!"
A few moments later, Sarah Hawkins appeared near the bottom of the stairs holding a sippy cup. "What is it? Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?"
"No, it's worse than that." Jim told her, exaggeration obvious in his words. "Okay, I was upstairs working on re-wiring this-- I was working on a thing," He corrected, knowing his mother wouldn't know what he was talking about, anyway. "And I realized that my flat-head screw driver was missing!"
The look of worry on Sarah's face turned into one of those 'are-you-serious' looks. "Not amused, Jim." She crossed her arms and continued, "Besides, your screwdriver's only missing because I took it."
"What?" Jim shot Sarah an astonished look, throwing his arms up in the air. "Mom, that's so not fair! I haven't even done anything--"
"Exactly." His mother stated calmly, which kind of got on Jim's nerves. "Which is why you'll get it back... after you do what I tell you."
This outta be good, he thought. He didn't say it out loud, of course, he simply rolled his eyes and turned his full attention towards his mom.
"I've arranged for you to hang out with Hellen's son this afternoon." She announced, glancing at Jim for his reaction.
He simply blinked, searching his mind for any recollection of this 'Hellen's son'. "Uh..." He stalled, before coming up with a vague memory. "The spazzy kid?"
"Jim!" Sarah scolded, "His name is Dash, and he's a very nice boy. Hellen and I thought you two could have some fun together, so he's coming over to hang out with you today." She explained, and much to Jim's dismay she seemed serious.
"I don't see why you have to take away my screwdriver."
She didn't seem to like that he keep bringing up the screwdriver. "Because if I give it to you, you'll continue to work on your project the whole time he's here."
She knew him too well. "Fine."
Sarah nodded and smiled at her son. She set the sippy cup, Jim assumed it belonged to his sister, on the coffee table. "It'll be fun, Jim. I promise."
A knock at the door interrupted their conversation, Jim's head snapped in the direction of the living room. "That must be him!" She said excitedly, "Come on, Jim."
Begrudgingly, Jim followed his mother to the door. Feeling somewhat empty without his screwdriver, not to mention used and forced into hanging out with some kid he didn't know. This kid better be worth it.
"Come on in, Dash." Sarah opened the door expectantly, a smile instantly appearing on her face. Along with the cool air, a boy stepped in from outside. "I'll leave you guys to it, then." And then she was gone.
From first glance, the kid really didn't seem that bad. He was a a couple years younger that Jim himself, maybe twelve. Although it had been cold outside, he didn't seem to show any signs of being so. No red cheeks or shivering, one thing Jim found odd. He also noticed his feet were bare except for a pair of dirty socks. Didn't this kid own shoes?
Just when Jim thought things were looking up, the kid had to open his mouth.
He stared at the other boy like he belonged in a mental institute, then shook his head. He probably heard wrong. "Sorry, what?"
The boy, his mom had called him Dash, smirked. "Your mother is one spicy mamacita." He seemed pleased with that last statement, "Ha, that's a good one. I'm gonna remember that! Spicy mamacita." He mused to himself.
Jim had taken out his iPhone and opened a new google window at this point.
"Hey, what are you doing?" He asked, suddenly right behind Jim looking over his shoulder. When did he even get there?
"Seeing if there are any shrinks on the island." Jim responded easily. "I'm going to need one after your last statement."
Dash laughed, "You're funny, kid."
"I'm like, what, four years older than you? How old are you?" Jim demanded, shoving the phone back into his pocket.
"Thirteen." Well, that explained why he was so annoying. "But I could easily be eighteen for you mom. Where'd she go, anyway?"
"Probably to take care of my sister." The arrival of Perse had served several affects on the Hawkins' house. If Jim thought he lacked sleep before, he certainly did now. Yes, it was pretty cool making new stuff for the baby. However, dirty diapers and screaming children in the middle of the night were not.
"Dude! She's not even a year old yet!"
"Oh... we'll give it some time, then."
