The next day at work went really fast which I was thankful for and also my arch nemesis Alex was off. Alex had been the daytime dishwasher before he was promoted to whatever the hell he did because to me all it looked like was him slacking off and getting paid to do so. He was also a dick and acted like he was so much better than me. I know half the time whenever there was a grease spill it was because he did it on purpose. He and his buddies would stand back and laugh at me while I cleaned up their mess, then sometimes to get an even bigger laugh out of it they would wait until I was just about finished before dumping more shit all over the clean floor.

Onetime I even snapped back which ended up with me getting my ribs slammed hard into the metal counter when Alex pretended to slip in the mess. I tried to tell Chef Sid all he did was yell at me and basically said I was 'worthless' for not doing my job. The end of the day was fast approaching and soon I would be free from this hell hole. I told myself that I should be looking for a different job because one I needed more money and two my co-workers treated me like shit. About fifteen minutes before my shift ending, I started breaking down the dishwasher to clean out for the next person, once I was finished with that I could leave. After clocking out I pulled out my phone and called Kenny.

"Sup..this is the Ken-dog,"

I rolled my eyes before talking into the phone "Hey Dude, Amy doing?"

"She fine," he replied "just like she always is."

"Great," I said "I'm on my way home."

"Okay," he said "see you in a little bit."

I hung up my phone when I saw my bus coming and I had to make a run for it. I was really glad Kenny had agreed to watch Amy until she started school. I showed the driver my pass before going to find a seat. I let out a heavy sigh as I leaned up against the window of the bus watching the many shops and restaurants pass by. Twenty minutes later I pressed the yellow strip signaling the bus driver that the next stop was where I would be getting off. I opened the door to my apartment and was greeted right away by Amy.

"UNCLE STAN!" she exclaimed as she leaped off the couch and rushed over to me and embracing me in a tight hug.

"Hey," I smiled bending down to her level to hug her bag "did you miss me?"

She smiled and nodded...my smile widened it felt good to have someone miss me they that she did. Sometimes I wished other people would miss me as much as she did and it hurt knowing that the people you cared so much about were the ones who disappointed the most in you because of the choices you made when it came your sporting career. Well more of my father then my mother but still. It was so uncomfortable the last time I went to visit them and it ended with my dad doing his best to make me feel guilty about things that were out of my control. Even if I wanted to become then next big football star I was never able to keep my grades up in high school because how distracted I was with my girlfriend and resulted in me getting kicked off the team. My father only made matters worst when he lost his temper and decided that he would get into a fist fight with my coach. My coach was so pissed that he told me that even if I did get my grades up I was forbidden to ever play again.

"Alright," Kenny said walking out of the kitchen "I'll see you tomorrow, I got to get home and get some sleep before my shift. We're hosting a bachelorette party tonight and I need to look my best to for the performance."

"Thanks man," I said releasing Amy from my hug and standing up straight.

"Sure," he replied before waving to Amy "I will see you in the morning Shorty."

"Bye Uncle Kenny!" she replied happily

"Let's get ready to go to the store and some supplies," I said to her.

xoxoxoxox

All through the store Amy stuck by my side as I tried to be an adult and pick out what pots and pans I thought we needed. I even picked plates, dishes, bowls and utensils. On our way to the checkout Amy's eyes caught sight of something glittery, she stopped midway and stood there staring. I looked down at her and followed her eyes and found that she was looking over a pair of black and pink glitter sneakers. I looked down at her shoes and for the first time I noticed just how dirty and worn they were.

"I tell you what," I said "next week we'll you a new pair of shoes."

She looked up at me and smiled "Really?"

"Yeah," I replied putting the last of our items on the counter for the cashier. Amy wanted to help me carry some things so I handed her the lightest bag which made her so happy she was helping her me.

As soon as we got home I washed all the items we got from the second hand store before pulling out the package of hot dogs I got last night at the store. I quickly placed them in some water and let them heat up.

"So, how's Uncle Kenny treating you?" I asked Amy while I prepared her a plate of food.

"Good," she replied with a smile "he's really funny."

"Funny?" I asked with a raise eyebrow "he's not telling any of his dirty jokes is he?"

She shook her head (no) before giggling "He told me how Mommy use to call you and your friends Turds all the time."

"Yeah she did call us that all the time" I replied with a tiny smile as I set her plate down in front of her.

"Don't worry Uncle Stan," she said picking up her hot dog "I don't think you're a turd."

"Oh well gee thanks!" I replied in a playful tone as I walked back to grab my own plate.

We were both about halfway done with our dinner when a loud knock at the door caught us by surprise. I quickly got up and walked over to the door to see who it was, I opened the door a small amount to find Mrs. Stevens standing there. "Oh hell," I said in my head as I put on a fake smile "what the hell does she want?"

"Hello Mr. Marsh," she said flatly before shoving herself past me and right into my apartment. "I heard you got a place of your own and I had to come inspected it."

"Oh sure," I said "we just moved here yesterday so I don't have much stuff yet, pretty much just a couch and one bed."

She just looked at me and rolled her eyes "Why don't you show me around then?"

"Right," I said leading the way through the living-room and towards the bedrooms. On our way I caught a glimpse of Amy who was still eating her hot dog just watching Mrs. Stevens silently.

"This is Amy's room," I said opening the door to the first room where I had placed my bed so my niece had something to sleep on until I was able to buy one for her.

Mrs. Stevens seemed pleased with the tour of the apartment "Have you registered Amy for school yet?" she asked pulling out her damn note pad.

"Well not yet" I replied rubbing the back of my neck, I could tell by the way she was staring at me she was judging me.

"And why not?" she asked in a mocking tone "I think you have had plenty of time to do so, don't you?"

"I thought it was best to wait until after we found a place of our own before I registered her." I explained

She nodded before writing something in her note pad. "So, when exactly do you plan on getting her registered?" she asked preparing to write down my answer in her note pad.

"I was going to stop by tomorrow after work," I lied hoping that Kenny wouldn't mind watching her a little longer tomorrow.

She quickly wrote it down before going to visit with Amy, asked her a lot of questions and Amy did the best she could to answer her. "I am going to be keeping a close eye on you Mr. Marsh." Mrs. Stevens said stuffing her note pad into her oversized purse and walking towards the door.

"May I ask why?" I asked innocently as I opened the door for her.

"Because I don't like you," she replied bluntly.

My eyes widened when she said that "I don't understand."

"I just don't believe you are ready to be caring for this child." she replied before turning on her heel and walking out the door.

"Dumb bitch," I thought as I watched her make her way to her car and get it. "Uncle Stan?" Amy whispered from behind me

"Yeah?" I asked turning back to her

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," I repeated with a heavy sigh.

That night I was having a hard time sleeping, for some reason I just couldn't get comfortable and no matter how much I tossed and turned nothing felt right. I closed my eyes and was just about to finally fall asleep when I heard the door of my room squeak open, I sat up to see Amy's outline standing there holding her teddy close to her.

"What's wrong?" I asked sitting up and staring at her.

She stood in silence before she came rushing over to me and I could tell by the way the light shined off her face that she was crying. "Amy what's wrong?" I asked wrapping my arms around her the moment she slammed into me.

"I want my Mommy," she cried burying her face into my chest

My heart sank I did not know what to say or what I should do "I know," I whispered hugging her close.

"When is she going to come back?" she sobbed bringing her face up and looking at me before gently laying her head between my shoulder and neck.

"Amy, your mommy got really sick," I tried to explain feeling a lump starting to grow in my throat "and she's not coming back."

"But why can't she come back?" she asked

"Because" I said saying the first things that came to mind "where your mommy went she can't come back."

"She went to go see the angels huh?" she asked as more tears fell from her eyes.

"Yeah," I replied

"I miss her," she whispered

"I do too," I whispered back.

She cried for a good half hour before it all got quiet and I knew she had finally fallen asleep. I knew I should return her to her room, but she looked so comfortable that I did not want to risk her waking back up. So, I gently laid her down softly on one of my pillows and as I slowly removed my arms from under her I heard her whisper..."Don't leave me Uncle Stan."

"I won't," I whispered before laying down beside her and covering us both up.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

The next day felt like forever from not getting enough sleep, my eyes burned, and muscles ached. To make matters even worst Alex was in one of his pick on the dish-boy moods and no matter how hard I tried to ignore him he just pressed on. I was about to pick up one last pan to fill an empty spot on the dish rack when a different one came slamming down hard onto my hand.

"Son of a Bitch!" I snapped pulling my hand away and looking at it because not only had it smashed my fingers, but it was also still extremely hot.

"Sorry my bad," Alex replied with a smirk knowing what he did was on purpose. I glared at him as he walked away before going to the hand washing sink to stick my stinging hand under cold water. "Asshole," I mumbled under my breath as he waved at me from across the kitchen. I wrapped my hand in a damp towel before marching right into Sid's office "What do you want?" he asked without even looking up.

I opened my mouth to say something, but my words never came out, I knew I would be wasting my breath telling him about Alex's cruel joke. I needed to find another job before I even thought about quitting. "Nothing," I sighed lowering my head looking down at my hand "nothing at all."

"Then get back to work!" he snapped.

Back in the dish pit I slowly unwrapped my hand revealing how red and painful looking it was. I could hear Alex and my other co-workers laughing most likely about me, I swallowed hard as I attempted to put on a pair of gloves hoping that it would cause less pain to my hand. The sting from the burn brought tears to my eyes but there was no way in hell was I going to let them show, I held my breath as I slowly slid the glove over my hurt hand. For the rest of the day I tried as much as I could to not use that hand.

By the time I was done from work I just wanted to go home and put my hand in a bowl of ice but instead I had to go register Amy at school. After clocking out I wrapped my hand in a bandage then went grab my wallet from my locker. I turned to leave the restaurant when Alex grabbed me by injured hand "Hey Shitbag," he said making sure to give my hand a tight squeeze sending waves of pain through it. Without holding back my reaction was to use my other hand to sock him right in the middle of his smug face, I watched as he stumbled backwards holding his face in his hands. I could tell by his face that he was pissed, and I knew I had better get out of there.

"You little shit!" he hissed before using all his strength to shove me as hard as he could in to the dumpster behind me, my back slammed into the corner as he continued to push his whole weight into me. He laughed at my failed attempt to push him away, but the truth is he was a lot bigger and stronger than me. His two friends cheering him on only made him want to hurt me more.

"STOP!" I snapped trying to shove him off, but it only caused him to pull me forward ruining my good work shirt in the process by stretching it out and slamming me back against the dumpster again. He nodded to his friends before pulling his fist back and punching my cheek then shoving me forward tripping so that I landed on my hands and knees.

"Dishboy!" one of his friends called as he and the other guy can rushing back with a trash can and dumping it out on me "You forgot to take out the trash!"

Satisfied by what they had done they left leaving me covered in puke smelling rotten soup other gross food from the kitchen. I slowly got to my feet holding my cheek where Alex had punched me, the 'asshole' had been wearing a ring and split my cheek open. I know it's not manly to cry but I couldn't stop the few tears that fell from my eyes. I had no idea what I even done to them, all I did was show up and do my job. Now because of what they did I would not be able to get Amy registered for school today and I was going to have to walk home, I was too embarrassed to take the bus.

"Dude why the hell are you so late?" Kenny asked the moment I opened the door "You're over an hour late."

"Sorry," I replied closing the door behind me.

"What happened?" he asked noticing the condition I was in.

"Where's Amy?" I asked walking into the apartment.

"Taking a nap in her room," he replied, "now what happened?"

I told him what had happened "That Prick had no right to do this to you," he said "you need get his ass fired or call the police."