The Center

Frank:

“Shit, shit, shit!”

I'm late! It’s my first day on the job and ofcoarse my damn alarm didn’t go off this morning! Mom even offered to wake me up and what do I do? I turn her down! Why? Well, you know, one who’s home from college and attempting to be mature and responsible shouldn’t have to have his mommy wake him up so he can go to work. A job at his mother’s own daycare center, in fact. And to top it all off he lives at home, too!

“Aww, shit!”

I'd managed to scramble out of bed an hour later than I was supposed to. Thankfully I'd been taught to set out my clothing the night before, so my staff shirt was ready and waiting for me. Usually I'm not too into the whole uniform thing, but I felt that the light blue went well with my black skinnies. I may be responsible, but I am also only twenty. There’s still growing room left in me!

I didn’t bother fixing my hair before I left, figuring that the kids wouldn’t care and my mother really wouldn’t be impressed no matter what my I did with it. She was pretty professional when it comes to her job. She wouldn’t just hire me because I'm her kid. I had to go through all of the standard background checks like any other worker, finger printed and everything! I took a child care class and a CPR class, too. Once I was certified she gave me a test run to see how I was with the children. Not only did I need this job for money, but I also wanted to be a music teacher. It’s what I'm going to school for, so I could use as much practice as possible. Luckily, I was blessed with my mom’s love for kids and they seemed to like me enough, they were fascinated with my tattoos for the most part. At first I was concerned about getting a job as an educator, but my mom assured me that I could always wear button down shirts and cover up to show that I’m serious about my chosen profession.

That’s most likely going to change the second I step into work, though. Mom hates being late and especially when people are late. She thinks it’s annoying and rude. I also gained that gene from her, but here I was, hurriedly brushing my teeth so I wouldn’t offend anyone or kill the children with my disgusting morning breath. I spit into the sink one final time, rinsing my tooth brush off and dashed to the kitchen where I'd left my car keys. Snatching them, I practically ran out of the front door, slamming it behind me and went to my old, beat up Volvo. Once the engine purred alive, I pressed the gas pedal.

Making it to “The Center” and chorusing shit the whole time, I parked in the staff lot and quickly went through the schedule I was given so that way I knew what I was jumping into. Before I turned off my hunk of metal I noted that it was 8:30, and that I was just in time for ‘Creative Play’. Even if I'd be getting my ass handed to me by my mother for being late, I smiled. Ever since I'd gone here when I was little ‘Creative Play’ had always been a favorite, aside from music, of course. It’s pretty much fancy words for arts and crafts, but it didn’t make it any less fun!

I unbuckled my seatbelt and sighed. Better face the music, I thought. I got out, finally, and walked through the parking lot to the back entrance. That led to the staff room where I had to punch in. I did so, and then pinned on my name tad. I was rather fond of it because it read Mr. Frankie. There was something about a title that made me smile. My smile faltered, however, when i was met with the boss. I had walked out and into the toddler area to find the tiny tables filled with kids who were messing with glue and glitter, some painting and some coloring. Mom was looking over everyone’s works of art, smiling fondly and telling them how beautiful or pretty their papers looked. Her lips frowned, though, when she looked up and spotted me. She double checked to make sure everything was under control and then came over and pulled me off to the side.

“Frank, you know that being late is unacceptable! Especially on your first day!” she scolded me. I sulked and nodded, looking her directly in the eyes.

“I know, I'm sorry.” Was all I said. Any sort of excuse wouldn’t be tolerated, mom was in work mode.

“Well you know what’ll happen if you’re late again, don’t you?” she asked sternly. I hung my head.

“Yes Ma’m.” I said. I directed my gaze to the kids, some laughing with each other and working together, some working on their masterpieces solo. There were at least two adults at each table, watching the children, and helping them. I heard my mom’s laugh which made me look up at her. She gave me a smile, a smile I knew just saved for just me. Instantly, I grinned back. She may be my boss and definitely isn’t kidding about firing me the next time I'm late, but overall, she’s still my mom.

“Tomorrow, I'm waking you up myself!” she said, making me laugh.

“Deal!” I said and looked back over at the tables longingly. She laughed again, so I glanced back over at her.

“Go ahead, Frank, go color.” I grinned and was about to make a mad dash to the crayons when she pulled me back by the shoulder. Her face was serious again, immediately straightening out my expression. “Remember, this is my profession. We are responsible for the kids! Now, no more being late!” she reminded me, before playfully pushing me towards my destination.

The daycare it’s self was a huge establishment. And when I say huge, I'm talking the biggest child care center in the whole state of New Jersey. There are essentially nine rooms as a whole, but one of them is pretty much the wide open space that you first see when you walk into the main entrance, other than the check-in desk that is. That’s where everyone meets up in the morning, and where everyone regroups at the end of the day. Depending on the child’s age and the day, we also have story time and a movie hour there, too. To the left is the kitchen, which is pretty much self explanatory, and to the right are separate boy and girl bathrooms. Then, four rooms are dedicated to certain age groups. There’s a room for infants that are three months to one year olds, a toddler area for children two through four and then a kid’s room for five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten year olds. Also, we have a nap room for anyone who needs it. In the very back is a staff area complete with our very own kitchen and bathrooms, and like the children, we get cubbies, too. Mom’s office is also back there. There’s plenty of help, and for the most part everyone is pretty happy with their jobs. Every room has at least ten workers, all who have had CPR and child care classes like me and most get to choose which age group they’d work best with. Even if I'd someday be teaching older kids, I secretly preferred being with the toddlers. Lucky for me, mom needed an extra set of hands in that room for the summer and I got the job!

I looked over my options carefully before entering. The first table with the glitter looked really messy, and was already full. At another table the kids were cutting out different shapes with safety scissors, but that table had already been occupied, too. The third table was all about painting and I was a little relieved that there wasn’t any space for me there either. My only option seemed to be the coloring table, which I gladly accepted, and I was happy that there were two empty seats.

About three or four kids were busy making up their own creations on blank paper, and two had out different coloring books to pick from. I ended up leaving a vacant chair in between me and a boy so that I didn’t completely freak him out and started looking through some Polly Pocket coloring pages. I wasn’t surprised when none of them caught my interest. The boy across from me had been looking through a Spiderman book, and even if I'm more of a D.C. Comics kinda guy, it’s better than Polly. While I was patiently waiting for him to finish, I thought I'd introduce myself.

“Hi, my name is Frankie, what’s your name?” I asked. He looked up and eyed my suspiciously before looking back down to the book in his little hands and then attempted to tear out the page that I guess he’d selected. Again, I waited to see if he’d answer me. He didn’t of course, which I didn’t really expect as his main focus was on not shredding his paper apart completely. I couldn’t stand to see him struggle any longer, though, and offered my assistance. “Would you like some help?” I asked. He peeked up again and scrunched his face up. I was pretty much readying myself for a ‘No’ when he, seeming reluctant, nodded his head and held the coloring book out to me. I smiled and gently took it from him, expertly tearing out his page. I didn’t even have to ask which on he wanted because the little rips on the side made it obvious. I gave it to him and kept the book for myself. He grinned, revealing his four missing front teeth.

“Thank you!” he said, politely, which made me smile back. I love polite kids!

“You’re welcome.” I said warmly. I left him to his picture and began to flip through, looking at ‘The Amazing Spiderman’!

“I'm Jonathan. Mommy takes me here ‘cause she works at the puppy store all day!” I heard. I glanced up to find the boy smiling proudly.

“Puppies, huh? That sounds really cool!” I exclaimed. His eyes grew wide, and his smile even wider.

“Uhuh. Mommy likes puppies! And me too!” he added, nodding his head.

“Well, Jonathan, we have that in common. I like puppies, too!” I told him, and then went back to choosing a picture; I was hoping to find a Green Goblin or Doc Oc., as soon as I saw him looking back at his own paper, grinning excitedly.

“How old are you?” I heard Jonathan ask a minute or two later. I had a feeling this kid liked to talk. It was nice to know that I'd already made a new friend, though.

“I'm twenty,” I said, looking at the boy who was waiting for my answer. I held my hands up and spread my fingers, flashing the number ten twice to give him a visual. The blue crayon in his left hand stopped coloring and his right hand flew to his face, his eyes bugging out. I heard a giggle from another direction and averted my gaze to see a little blonde girl laughing, either at me or Jonathan, I wasn’t sure.

“You’re old!” she cried out, confirming that she was laughing at me. I laughed too and scrunched up my face to give the kids a fake half smile.

“Yeah, I'm pretty old, huh?” I asked them, which got me eager nods from both. I giggled and smiled in the little girl’s direction. “Hi, I'm Frankie.” I politely introduced myself to her.

“I'm Ashley,” she told me, and I nodded, about to say that Ashley is a very nice name when she spoke up again. “With two e’s!” she shouted out. One of the other works looked up, but smiled at me after seeing that we were only going through intros. He and I, Seth I think his name was, had already been introduced when I came for my test run. I gave him a nod and he looked back to his picture, one that the kids next to him were ogling over.

“Well, Ashlee is a very pretty name!” I said to the little girl, finally. She blushed slightly and then decided to go back to her page. Jonathan had long gone left our conversation and I decided to do the same, feeling as if it was about time to pick something already!

Ten minutes later I'd managed to outline and scribble-free color a picture of Green Goblin swooping through the city to cause havoc, background and all. I sat for another two minutes, looking around to see that other than a new coworker of my who’s name I didn’t remember, I was the only person unoccupied. After checking my watch I'd learned that there was a good ten minutes until clean-up time, and I didn’t want to take another coloring page away from a kid who deserved it more than me. Seth had the three kids he was sitting near covered, and Jonathan and Ashlee were pretty set, so I thought that I'd see what the boy I was sitting a seat away from was up to.

He hadn’t made a peep during the previous conversation, and had quietly kept to himself, hand drawing his own picture. Not being able to help myself, I glanced over his shoulder and saw that he was concentrating on what looked like a coffee mug with a smiley face. For a little guy, it was coming out pretty great, too. A little scribbly and kind of shaky-looking, but still good for someone I'd guess to be three. I leaned over and smiled, clearing my throat to compliment him.

“That looks like a really good cup of coffee!” I commented, warmly. I regretted it the second I spoke, though, because he tensed up and dropped his brown crayon right on the spot. Extremely slowly, he turned and looked up at me with wide eyes and a blank expression. I felt like I scared this kid to death! I couldn’t show it, though, so I plastered a reassuring smile on my face. “I really like coffee!” I tried again, hoping he wasn’t too petrified. I heard him take a deep breath and then he blinked a couple of times before looking down at his page and then back up at me.

If I hadn’t seen his lips move then I wouldn’t have believed that he had even whispered anything, much less a ‘Thank You’, but just as soon as he said it, his head was bent again and he was back to his hard work. I shrugged, figuring that not every kid could be out going and loud. I just hoped that maybe I could possibly get to know him a little more over the summer. Before I found something else to do, I glanced down at his paper once more and noticed that he’d written his first name at the bottom in orange.

Sebastian. I'd always liked that name.