~ Nagi Non Vuole Mangiare ~
By Italianissima
Birman
glared at her six-year-old son who bore a Japanese forename and an American
surname. She had been trying to make him for the past 3 hours but he wouldn't
touch anything that she presented to him. This made her worry, of course,
because usually the kid munched on everything that was on the table, whether it
was breakfast, lunch or dinner. Sometimes she even had to make special dishes
for brunch, afternoon and midnight snacks. The child was an eater.
Today,
however, something was different. Not only didn't he eat anything, he wasn't
saying anything. He woke up this morning quietly, not jumping on his parents'
bed, which he usually did every single morning. He just sat on his bed quietly
until his papa, Brad, came to say that it was time for him to go to school. He
did go to school but without the usual excitement he had every other morning.
When he came back home, he wouldn't touch any food at all.
What
worried Birman the most was that this afternoon he had a soccer practice. If he
didn't eat Birman feared that he might collapse because of lack of calorie.
"Oh,
Nagi! Won't you eat?!" Birman pushed one more time before she lost her
patience.
"No,"
was her son's answer.
That's
it. I am calling Brad.
Miffed,
Birman stalked her way to the telephone set in the living room. She dialed her
husband's cell phone number and it was answered three rings later. Brad's voice
came into line.
"I
know something must be urgent because you know better than to interrupt me at
work, so just tell me the bad news now. Is it Nagi?" he asked straight to the
point.
"Yes,"
Birman said. "He is not eating. He is not talking. He is acting strange.
Something is wrong. Go home now and handle this problem because I almost can't
take it anymore."
Brad
cleared his throat. "All right. I'll be there in half an hour the latest."
Knowing
that her husband would keep his promise she felt better when she closed the
phone. She could always count on Brad to handle matters of Nagi. Since the
16-year-old Nagi turned into a baby a few years ago, she and Brad, ex-cruel
assassin group Schwarz member turned benevolent, had got married and decided to
raise Nagi normally so that he could have the best of the 16 years missed in
his life before. No killing, no murders and no crimes.
For
this they were willing to do everything and anything. They spoiled Nagi. They
gave him everything he wanted. In return for their endless effort, Nagi turned
out to be a very bright and happy child who made them smile all the time,
except for when he was being naughty. He was intelligent, too. That part he got
from his previous 16-year-old self before he mysteriously turned into a baby.
So,
it was no wonder that Brad came home 10 minutes earlier than he had promised to
his wife before. He dashed out from the car, into the house and arrived at the
kitchen three minutes after the car pulled over.
Birman
was giving Nagi a bowl of cereal. "At least eat something like for energy,
Nagi-chan!" she persuaded sweetly.
"No,"
her son menacingly answered for the hundredth time that day.
"Nagi!
Papa is home!" Brad announced.
Nagi
didn't turn to look at him expectantly the way he usually did when he came home
from work. Instead he glanced sideways at his father and kept a dark frown. It
made his cute, babyish face very serious.
"Oh,
Nagi, what's wrong? Are you all right?" Brad asked. He took off his jacket and
dropped it on the floor.
Nagi
didn't answer. Brad came over to sit next to Nagi. "Mama told me that you
aren't eating. Do you have a stomachache that you don't feel like eating?"
There
was no response. Brad persisted. "Do you feel sick at all?"
Still
no response from the kid. "Nagi, aren't you hungry? I am very hungry…
because today at the office I didn't get to eat at all! Can I share the cereal
with you?" Brad asked.
Nagi
sulked even more. Brad grabbed the spoon on the bowl while Birman poured milk
into the bowl. Brad started eating.
"Yummm…
this is absolutely delicious!" Brad said as he ate a spoonful of cornflakes.
"Very sweet… do you want some?"
Nagi
shook his head fervently.
"Are you
sure, Nagi? This is very good… you know, I prefer cornflakes with honey instead
of the plain one. It's sweeter and it makes the milk taste better too," Brad
said as he spooned another bunch.
His son
was still shaking his head.
Birman
took out strawberries from the refrigerator. She said pleasantly, "It's even
better with strawberries! Here, let me put some for the cornflakes. Don't you
agree, Brad, darling? Have some strawberries, Nagi!"
"No,"
came the curt reply from the black-haired kid.
Brad
took one of the biggest strawberries from its box and plopped it inside his
mouth. He chewed and swallowed. "Delicious! Do you want to know how to say
delicious in other languages too? I know what it is in English, German,
Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin and many more… don't you want to
know, Nagi?"
To
their surprise, Nagi now nodded at the suggestion. Brad seized the opportunity
right away. "But if you want to know, you must eat some of the strawberries and
then I will tell you how to say them!"
It
failed. Nagi shook his head again and said sternly with all the austerity a
six-year-old could muster, "No."
Birman
sighed and prayed for patience. Brad was now taking off his necktie and dropped
it on top of the jacket that was sprawling on the floor. He decided to try
again and harder.
"All
right, don't eat then," he said. His tone was more serious now. Gone was the
soothing tone of persuasion. He decided to use the "guilty feeling" trick. "You
know, Nagi, there are a lot of other kids out there in the world who long to
eat delicious food like we eat everyday. Many of them don't eat, even, because
they have no money to buy food. They are all thin and unhealthy. Do you want to
be like them? Do you have the heart to waste away the food that could have been
eaten by them?"
Nagi
started to look guilty when Brad said that. He once had this conversation with
his father about poverty and famine and he was saddened by the stories his
father told him. He was told that these kids were not as fortunate as he was to
have a house, food to eat every day and wealthy, loving parents. He cried for
those kids, actually. When the words "have the heart to" came out of Brad's
mouth, he looked as if he wanted to cry.
"No,
no, don't cry, darling. If you really care for them and want to help them,
please eat the food, sweetheart," Birman said.
Nagi's
attitude changed 180 degrees then. He shook his head again, more violently than
before, and screamed, "NO!!!!!"
Brad
rose from his seat now and banged on the table. "Nagi! Do not be difficult with
me!" he scolded his son. "Eat or you won't play with Omi again for the rest of
the week!"
Birman
usually didn't approve of harsh manners to handle Nagi but she did feel that it
was time for them to take action. Nagi had been naughty before; running around
and practically doing things that could wreck their house with his best friend,
Omi, who was "babyfied" too at the same as Omi did. However, this time, Nagi
was being stubbornly difficult – something that he had never been before in his
new life over the past 5 years – and it had hit her nerves.
"Nagi!
Listen to your father! Eat or there will be punishment!" Birman said.
Nagi
stared dangerously at them and then he closed his eyes. He gathered his
strength and his voice to scream louder than ever before,
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
Brad
was about to grab Nagi and shook him a little to put in a bit of conscience
when suddenly the cereal bowl, the strawberry box, the milk bottle and their
contents floated along with the bowl, the spook and the napkin that had been on
the kitchen table. The items danced in front of Brad and Birman's face before
they returned to the table surface with a loud smash. Fortunately the bowl and
the bottle were strong enough not to break into pieces but milk and wet
cornflakes as well as mashed strawberries got to all over of Birman's blouse
and Brad's chemise.
Nagi
stared at his father and started to shake his head as he said, "No, no, no, no,
no, no, no… NAGI DON'T WANT TO EAT!!!"
His parents had been too surprised to
see their son's telekinetic powers and were too preoccupied about Nagi finding
out about his own telekinetic ability to pay attention to Nagi's rants. They
exchanged extremely worried looks and decided to mollify him once again. Whatever
happened, they didn't want him to know that he had special capabilities to lift
things just by using anything but his hands. They had kept this a secret
strictly for all his baby-years with them so that he wouldn't be involved into
anything threateningly dangerous for his life and future career and they
weren't about to give away the secret now.
"Okay,
okay, Nagi… don't eat if you don't want to… it's all right. I'm sorry for
forcing you," Brad said.
Nagi
was crying. In between his sobs and hiccups, he was saying, "I don't want to
eat."
"No,
no, you don't have to!" Birman said, picking up his son and lifted him in his
arms to cradle and cuddle him.
Suddenly…
"Crawford? Birman?" called a familiar voice.
It
was Youji Kudou's voice. Youji, Brad's ex-enemy from the opposing assassin
group of Schwarz, Weib, in the
old days, appeared in their kitchen. He was holding his son's hand. Youji took
the role of father for Omi, his former 17-year-old teammate in Weib, just as had Brad to Nagi. Six-year-old Omi, Nagi's best
friend and (practically) brother, looked confused at the mess in the kitchen.
His father was wearing the same expression.
"Birman?"
Youji asked.
Brad
looked at Youji and Omi. Omi was already neatly dressed in the soccer training
jersey that they had to use for every soccer practice. Brad sighed.
"Sorry,
Omi, Nagi cannot go to soccer practice this afternoon. You are going to have
shoot goals on your own this afternoon," Brad said.
"What
happened?" Youji asked, still puzzled.
"I'll explain to you
later," Brad said. "But right now, we must get changed… the kitchen's a mess."
"Here,
take him, darling. I will clean up the kitchen," Birman said, handing over Nagi
to Brad.
Brad
took Nagi to his room, followed by Youji and Omi. Nagi had stopped crying since
he saw Omi. Omi didn't know what was happening but since Nagi looked troubled,
he sympathized right away. When the reached his room, Omi stayed with Nagi on
the bed while Brad took some new clothes for Nagi's change. Youji followed him.
"He
didn't want to eat and when we forced him to eat he broke down," Brad explained
to Youji. Meaningfully and whisperingly he added, "His telekinetic powers
surfaced for a few seconds when he did."
Youji
gasped and turned to look at the innocent child who was sitting next to his
son. "Does he know?"
"I
don't think so but if he does, I am going to find a way to deny him the truth,"
Brad said determinedly.
Youji
nodded understandingly. He understood Brad's motives and he fully agreed. There
was another thing that interested him, though, and he decided to ask. "Why
didn't he want to eat, though?"
"I
don't know. I asked him but he didn't want to answer. Something's wrong and I
am going to try to find out tonight, if I can persuade her," Brad said.
Suddenly,
Omi called for the both of them. "Papa! Uncle Brad! Come here… quick!"
Brad
and Youji moved away from the closet and approached the two kids on the bed.
Omi was pointing at Nagi's bleeding lips. Youji gasped again and said that he
was going to get the first aid kit box. He left as soon as possible. Brad too
quickly wiped the blood with a tissue he found next to Nagi's bed.
"Nagi!
What is wrong with you?" Brad asked worriedly.
Nagi
opened his mouth to talk but when he opened his mouth, Brad saw that one of his
lower teeth was about to detach. Comprehension dawned instantaneously. He knew
now why Nagi didn't want to eat nor talk. He had a sore tooth and it pained him
to eat and speak.
"Oh,
Nagi, you could have saved us the trouble and show us what the problem was,"
Brad said affectionately to his son.
Youji
and Birman arrived with the first aid kit. Birman had seen blood before,
especially during her days as a Kritiker agent, when one of the Weib members were injured and asked for her help. But seeing
one of their blood and her own son's blood was very different. Instant panic
rushed to her mind and she could have collapsed if Youji hadn't been next to
her to catch her.
Youji
stared skeptically at the blood that was coming from Nagi's mouth. "Crawford,
the bleeding doesn't stop. Do something about it. Maybe we should take him to
the dentist."
Hearing
the word "dentist", Nagi reacted the way other kids do. He began to whine and
shake his head. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no…"
Brad
glared at Youji. "Thanks a lot, Kudou," he replied sarcastically.
"But
you know it's necessary!!!" Youji replied.
"But
Nagi don't want to go to doctor," Nagi moaned.
The
three adults in the room searched for the best way to explain to him that he
really needed to see a dentist. Omi beat them to it. He said to his friend,
"Nagi-kun, it's going to be all right. I saw Mr. Dentist last week and he was
very nice. He gave me a sweet lollipop!"
At
the words of his friend, Nagi stopped crying. "Really, Omittchi?"
Omi
nodded. His big eyes widened and said, "I get to sit on his chair that moves up
and down like in an airplane!"
Nagi's
eyes widened too. "Oh!" he said in wonder.
"It's
close to being in a real airplane! It's practice for us when we grow up, we're
going to fly together, ne?"
Nagi
was now nodding in excitement too. "I want to try the chair!" He turned to
Brad. "Papa, can I try Mr. Dentist's airplane chair?"
Brad
didn't waste this chance. "Of course! In fact, the sooner we get to Mr.
Dentist's place the better it will be!"
"Yes,
yes! Let's go, Papa!" Nagi said. He then said to Omi, "Omittchi, you come with
me, okay?"
"Okay!"
Omi replied gleefully.
"I'll
start the car!" Youji quickly said.
Birman
found strength again. "I'll take some clothes for us to change, Brad. You
change Nagi's clothes first. Omi, wait here."
As
Brad slipped a clean new T-shirt over Nagi's body, his son said, "Omittchi,
after we try Mr. Dentist's airplane, we eat mama's brownies, OK?"
Omi
nodded and smiled. "Yes! Agree! I'm hungry."
Nagi
then replied, "Yes, me too. Really, really hungry."
----- FINE -----