Nothing lasts forever
February 1 1986 - about midnight
Something must have woken him up, he sat up in his bed. He looked around, it was pitch black in the room, except for a small orange light from his night light across the room.
Yakko could hear faint yelling, he immediately recognized them to be his parents. It was nothing out of the ordinary, while it was quite a rare occasion, his parents had fought before.
He tried his best to listen in on the argument they were having.
"And I just can't believe you would have the audacity to do such a thing"!!
"Well it's not like I could just snap my fingers and I would just wake up on the spot"!!
"Well you could've...I don't know, Not hung out with your friends at the bar all night!? Now that could've helped now wouldn't it"?
He had no idea what they were fighting about, but he didn't really care that much either. He doesn't understand a lot about most things, as little to no information has ever been given to him.
Yakko layed back down in his bed, he yawned, realizing he should probably go back to bed now. He covered himself back up, closing his eyes, he went back to sleep.
February 1 1986 - in the morning
"Yakko wake up..wake up now"!
His eyes shot open, while his vision was a bit blurred from sleep, he saw his Mom standing over him, with a worried look on her face.
"Mom it's Saturday", he moaned,"can't I go back..".
"No", his mom interrupted,"this is very important, get up now"!
Yakko was very confused, his mom never did this before. Usually on Saturdays she would let him sleep in, then he would wake up just in time to watch Saturday morning cartoons.
Moaning, he slumped out of his bed, only wearing a pair of grey shorts. He followed his mom downstairs all the way to the kitchen. Yakko saw his dad sitting at the table, smoking a cigarette, he appeared to look exhausted.
Yakko pulled out a chair for himself, he sat down right across from his father. His dad didn't even acknowledge him, he was starting to have a feeling that something was horribly wrong.
His mom sat in the chair next to him, she scooted closer to him, facing in his direction.
"What's happening?", Yakko asked in a nervous voice.
"Yakko it's been...well..a very long night for me and your father last night".
"Why"?
"Well..um...it's very hard to say..".
"You always say that", he interrupted,"can you just tell me"?
"Yakko this is very hard for me", she yelled.
She looked down at the floor.
"I'm sorry..I just had a hard night, that's all. What happened was...well..your dad got fired from his job last night".
"What does that mean", he asked.
"Well it means that...Your father doesn't have a job anymore".
This confused him, people could just wake up one day, not having a job anymore?
"What", Yakko said, his voice shaky," do you really not have a job anymore Daddy"?
His father shook his head.
"Not anymore", he muttered.
He had nothing to say, this was all confusing to him. Why doesn't his dad have a job anymore? Not to mention that his dad looked like he was in horrible shape. The world seemed to be sunshine and rainbows up until now.
Yakko felt like he was about to burst into tears, this was too much for him to take. His mom must have noticed this as she put her arm around him.
"Please don't cry sweetie", she said," you don't have to worry. Just because your father lost his job, doesn't mean he can't get a new one, isn't that right".
He saw his mom cock an eyebrow at his dad. He looked up slightly, his eyes were red and swollen.
"Yes that's right", he said in a gruff voice,"I'll get a new job in no time, I promise".
Yakko didn't know if he should believe his dad or not. Something like this has never happened before, and he was still trying to soak in what was just said to him. Yakko knew this wasn't going to be a typical Saturday.
"What's going to happen today", he asked in curiosity.
"You're going to be staying at Arenias' house for a while".
"But mom, I usually go..".
"I know, you would usually go tomorrow, I know", she interrupted," But me and your father decided we need some time alone. You and your brother are going to be staying at your aunt's until Tuesday do you know when that is"?
"The fourth".
"That's right, why don't you go upstairs and get ready. Do you need help packing your suitcase"?
"No I can do it", Yakko said quietly.
"Alright, if you need help, just call me up ok".
"Yes mom", he said as he got out of the chair.
As he walked to his bedroom he thought about what had just happened.
Why does mom and dad need alone time?
Yakko has stayed at his aunt's house overnight before, but never for this reason. He wished that this was just a normal day, in the living room watching cartoons, carefree of the world around him. But that was a dream, a dream he couldn't live.
Hopefully this won't be as bad as it seems, he thought, dad said he would get a new job.
But he couldn't unsee that devastated look on his father's face. He wanted to vanish that face from his mind, he wanted this to be a nightmare.
Perhaps this is a nightmare.
Curious, he pinched himself, he flinched at the slight pain in his arm. He cringed, this wasn't a nightmare.
"Come on bud, it's only a few more math problems".
"But we did a lot already".
"Well you need to get good at math, come on you have 4 left, it's not like you have 20".
Yakko groaned, this was the last thing he wanted to do right now. He was still trying to take in what had happened, and doing math problems was definitely not helping the matter.
"Fine", he muttered, as he picked up the pencil with his aking hand.
Yakko tried to work through the problems as quickly as he could, he had already wasted enough time already.
8 7 = 15, 5 4 = 9, 9 7 = 16, and 3 7 = 10.
After he was done, he handed the paper over to his aunt. She held the paper close to her face, looking through every single problem.
"Looks like you got every single problem correct", she said," I see you're getting better in addition".
She then handed the paper back to him, he grinned, finally, his learning time was finally over.
"Can I play with toys now", Yakko asked.
"Of course, you deserved it. You want grilled cheese for lunch".
He nodded his head, grilled cheese was one of his favorite foods at the moment, next to Hershey bars.
Glad that he was done with boring work, he ran to the living room to play with his Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars. They were stored in small containers placed on a bookshelf.
He was just tall enough to reach the container and set them down on the floor. He was proud of himself, just a few months back, he had to ask his aunt for help if he wanted to play with them.
He decided to sit down next to a playpen, his brother was sitting inside squeezing his cheeks, and sticking his tongue out. Yakko giggled, he found Wakko's antics to be adorable.
He decided to put his toys aside for a while and spend some time with his brother. He leaned his arm up against the edge of the pen and watched his brother for a while.
Wakko looked up at him. The baby set his arms down, looking up at his older brother in curiosity. He got worried for a second, did he upset him? He didn't mean to.
Then, out of nowhere, Wakko stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at him. Yakko held his arm over his face as spit blew at him. He laughed, he didn't know his brother could be this funny.
"You really do live up to your name, don't you"?
As expected, Wakko replied with silence. The baby stared up at him, with a slight grin on his face, clapping his hands in excitement. Yakko sighed, he still couldn't get over how his brother couldn't talk. It would be nice, especially with the current situation their in.
"When will you ever talk?", he groaned.
The excitement from his brother died down, his grin turned neutral and he stopped clapping.
Maybe he wants me to blow a raspberry.
Without much thinking, He decided to do a raspberry himself. He stuck his tongue and blew at his brother, and as expected, Wakko's excitement returned, he was very happy.
"Hey", a voice yelled.
Yakko froze, he knew who that was.
"I'm sorry, I was just playing with Wakko"!
"No that was fine", his aunt said,"Just wanted to let you know your grilled cheese is done".
He sighed in relief, he really has to stop being scared about getting in trouble. He got up from the floor and ran to the round circle table in the kitchen. He pulled a chair out for himself and sat down. His aunt put the sandwich in front of him.
Yakko grinned, he was feeling a lot better now. He was still very confused about the situation, but he could put that aside for a while, he couldn't wait to eat.
"Thank you auntie", he said as he picked up the sandwich.
"My pleasure, I'm gonna put your brother down for a nap, call me if you need me".
His aunt left him, Yakko took a bite into his grilled cheese sandwich, it was delicious. As he ate, he thought back to what happened this morning. The look on his father's face gave him chills, he had never seen his dad look so depressed.
He knew that his dad was very upset, he wanted him to feel better. Yakko loved his father dearly, he was the best dad that he could've asked for. He hated seeing him in this state, he hoped he would feel better by the time things went back to normal.
Suddenly a high pitched ringing noise rang across the room, Yakko recognized the noise to be the telephone ringing.
"I'll get it", Arenia hollard as she ran to answer the phone.
Yakko continued to eat his grilled cheese as his aunt talked on the phone. He tried to listen in on the conversation.
"Oh yeah, things are going great here Ellie"!
Ellie?
"Oh, Yakko's doing fine, We practiced math together….Yeah….I made him grilled cheese for lunch".
Yakko realized she was probably on the phone with his mom, so he stopped paying attention to the conversation for a while. But then, he heard something a little weird.
"What, you're moving"!?
Moving? What does that mean?
"$120 a week...wow...That's not enough…..Do you want me to give you some money?...ok…...I'll tell him...take care, bye".
She hung up the phone.
Arenia slowly walked towards him, Yakko's happiness fell, he knew this was bad news.
She sat down next to him, she had a concerned look on her face.
"Your mom called", she said,"and I have some good news and bad news".
Great, Now I'm more afraid!!
"Can we start with the good news".
"Alright, the good news is, both of your parents applied for new jobs".
"What does that mean"?
"It's just a fancy way of saying your parents got new jobs".
Yakko brightened up, his dad got a new job. He felt better, he hoped his dad didn't feel miserable anymore.
"The bad news is..well..you're gonna be moving bud".
"What's moving?", he asked.
"Your family is going to be moving into a new house".
"But what does it mean"?
"I just told you".
"Oh", Yakko said, a little embarrassed.
"Later this month, your family will be moving into an apartment further in the city".
"What's an apartment"?
"A type of house".
"Why are we moving out of our house"?
"Because your parents don't have enough money to continue owning the house", she yelled,"did I answer your question"?
She instantly regretted lashing out at her nephew, she saw him start to cry. She never meant to scream at him, he was just asking too many questions at the same time, it was just too much for her to handle.
She put her arm around him.
"Please don't cry", she said,'' I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you. I know you're going through a hard time, but you're gonna get through this, I promise.
The boy looked at her with a sad expression on his face.
"How do you know"!?
"Because that's what a family does. We solve problems together, and we don't stop until they're solved. You don't have to worry about your parents, they'll be just fine ok"?
She saw him nod slowly.
"Do you really think so"?
"Of course I do".
Arenia then hugged her nephew, he gave her a hug back. They just sat there for a while hugging each other. She loved her nephew so much, the last thing she wants is for him to feel sad.
She made a promise to herself to never lash out at her nephew again.
End of Chapter 6