"It's your turn today," Kai says, slamming his bag on the table and spilling its contents.
"I thought it was yours," I reply, looking up from the computer screen.
Ever since we moved into the apartment, we'd been taking turns staying and watching Lloyd while the rest went to work. That way, we have at least five people working and getting paid while someone keeps Lloyd from getting into trouble. Today's Kai's day, or so I thought.
"You're mixing up your days. Kai's tomorrow. Remember?" Nya asks, walking up to snatch a few things from the spilled bag. She pauses, apparently realizing something, and says, "Why is my lipstick in your bag?"
"Huh?"
"Never mind," she replies, before hurrying out of the door, Kai right behind her, asking her to repeat her question.
I roll my eyes, shaking my head and turning away from the door when I almost run into Lloyd, his ruby red eyes almost making me jump.
"Lloyd!" I say, backing up and bumping into Jay as he tries to squeeze out the door.
"Hey, watch it!" Jay cries, before slipping out.
"Sorry!" I call after him, right as I turn back to Lloyd. "Well, what do you want to do today?"
"Can we follow the rainbow?"
"What?" I ask. A rainbow? Why? I thought the kid would beg me to take him to some arcade, like he always does. Or maybe want to watch some movies. Or he'd ask me to teach him some "secret" move. Not rainbow chasing.
Lloyd gestures for me to follow him and brings me to the small window in the apartment, facing the busy city streets below.
"I don't see anything," I tell him, glancing out the window.
He silently points up near the top left hand corner, holding his hand there until I turn to follow where it's pointing. There, hanging faintly above one of the shorter buildings, close to the park I think, is a rainbow.
"OK…–" I say, trailing off.
"I want to follow it."
"Why?" I ask, still not getting what he's getting at.
"Because we have to help…right?" He looks up at me, eyes bright but not in the happy or teasing or excited way. He's oddly…serious. "They have to spend all day at work. Why can't we help?"
"You want to follow the rainbow…–"
"To help," Lloyd cuts in.
I bite my lip, thinking.
He wants to follow the rainbow…to help…he wants to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
He's worried about money, which no kid as young as him has to worry about. We're fine. It's not like we're poor poor. We just have to watch our spending. We have to work, like any normal person, but Lloyd must still not be used to that. He's worried.
I open my mouth to tell him that we don't really need help when I remember how mad he gets when we tell him that he can't help. I remember how frustrating it was being told that you couldn't do anything because of your age when I was a kid.
But…how am I going to explain that there isn't any gold at the end of a rainbow without breaking his heart? He's still a kid…he still thinks stealing candy is "evil mastermind" material. He doesn't understand how cruel the world can be…and I kinda don't want to be the one that makes him lose that magic.
Lloyd sighs just as an idea starts to form, taking root.
"I knew it," he mumbles, looking down at his feet. He pads away, hands stuff angrily in his pockets, and a few seconds later, the TV flicks on.
I glance in the TV's direction before pulling out my phone.
There might not be real gold at the end of the rainbow, but there will be something gold at the end of this rainbow. A few minutes later, I get a response, then another, and soon, I have a huge text war. Laughing inside my head, I tell whoever has the earliest break that they're going to be doing it and pocket the phone, turning it onto silent.
"Hey, buddy," I say, leaning over the back of the sofa. "Still want to go chasing that rainbow?"
"No." Lloyd's response is quick and decisive, but Lloyd is rarely decisive. I once saw him spend seven minutes trying to figure out if he wanted a mint chocolate chip ice cream or a just mint ice cream. So, he must think I'm messing with him or he's really invested in this…cheesy, kinda annoying movie.
"C'mon, I thought you wanted to do this," I say, bumping his shoulder.
He rolls out of my reach, shooting a burning glare in my direction, and curled up around a pillow, his eyes glued back on the TV screen. He doesn't look at me as he says, "I thought you said 'no.'"
"I didn't say 'no,'" I correct him. Then, though I don't like it, I lie, "I had to ask your uncle."
"You don't for the arcades," he points out.
This kid's smart. It's like a fight. You have to be fast or you'll get swept off your feet. Luckily, I come up with a good counter: "That's because he assumes we go to an arcade or a store, not chasing a rainbow."
"OK," he mumbles, getting up and turning the TV off. He still looks a little suspicious, but says, "Let's go, then."
"We're gonna have to walk," I warn, heading to the door, him close behind me.
"OK!" he chirps.
Not even ten minutes later:
"This is taking forever!" Lloyd complains.
"Well, good things come to those who wait," I reply.
"Stop quoting Master Wu!"
"I'm not…at least, I think I'm not. Who knows?" I shrug, turning to make sure Lloyd is still behind me.
"It keeps moving!" he adds, ignoring my last statement.
"Well, whaddya say we take a break?" I suggest, checking my phone and acting like I'm looking for the time. Instead, I make sure that it's in place before continuing, "How about we get lunch and stop at that park?" I nod in the direction of said park, making sure Lloyd knows which one I'm talking about.
He nods, bouncing ahead of me to guide me to the noodle stand he wants. It costs a lot more than I should have been willing to pay, but I can't win against those puppy-dog eyes the kid keeps giving me. And of course, I have a little extra dough that I keep in case of emergencies, even if this doesn't count as an emergency.
Once we get our food, we head over to the park, claiming a bench for ourselves as we eat.
Before long, Lloyd seems to forget our quest and bounds off for the playground, instantly bonding with half the kids playing on the equipment. Man, it was so much easier to make friends as a kid. They don't even seem to recognize him, though their parents probably do.
I give him maybe twenty minutes before calling him over and telling him we need to go.
"But what about…–" he cuts himself off and glances at the sky. "It's gone!"
I glance in the same direction. The rainbow isn't there, which will make this a lot harder. "Yeah, that's what happens when you wait too long," I say. "I guess we got to go back home."
"But…but…," he splutters, as I take his hand and guide him out of the park. "But what about 'ninja never quit'?"
"Well, ninja never quit," I say, more than a little irritated that the kid would try to use that against me, "But that's not one of those times."
"That's not how 'never' works!"
I roll my eyes, searching for the place it's at, and head toward it, away from our usual return route.
Lloyd notices this, and, trying to be helpful, points it out. "Isn't home that way?" He points but I don't turn to look.
I'm fully aware of where we're going. It's a longer route home, but I don't explain that to Lloyd. Instead, I just shrug, continuing forward, making him have to jog to catch up to my longer strides.
Eventually, we're walking past the tree when I trip. I had hoped that it would hurt as much as it did, that I'd be able to fake tripping, but of course, I get ahead of myself and end up tripping before the box. So, I land on top of the box, sending a sharp burst of pain through my knee.
I groan, rolling to the ground and clutching my knee, waiting for the pain to subside.
"What'd you trip on?" Lloyd asks, glancing at the tree. He doesn't ask if I'm OK or if I'm really hurt. No, none of that typical pleasantries you say after someone gets hurt. Not that it matters to me. Well…he still needs to work on his manners.
"I don't know. But I did land on something," I grunt, pulling the said something out of the clump of grass that hid it.
"What's that?"
"Why don't you open it?" I reply, pushing the box to him.
That's the right box. I'd recognize it anywhere. It's a plain, undecorated box, with rough edges that seem like they must be intentional, but really aren't. I also recognize the smiley face carved into its top. It's Kai's. He must have chosen this box to make sure that I'd recognize it.
Glad to see he came through.
My thoughts are interrupted as Lloyd opens the lid and pulls out a ball of that cheap gold tinfoil. His grin instantly brightens the area around us, competing the sun's brightness. But it only lasts a second when he loosens his grip around the ball to reveal a smear of chocolate.
I watch, waiting for and hoping against the threatened tantrum. Instead, Lloyd licks the chocolate off and smiles.
"It's not leprechaun poop," he tells me in such a matter-of-factly tone that I almost laugh.
"So…it's chocolate?"
"No." He looks offended. "Don't defile it with the ibnoble, generic name 'chocolate.' It's mint chocolate."
"'Ibnoble'?"
"It means 'not noble.' Zane taught it to me," Lloyd explains in a duh-manner.
"He's been teaching you words?"
"Yep." He looks proud at his listening skills, but changes in an instant, adding, "We should go and put these in the fridge. So they're not…" – he squishes one of the golden balls to illustrate – "You know."
He then leads the rest of the way home, like a general leading his troops. I gotta say, the way he's taking this, "finding out" the gold at the end of the rainbow was really just chocolate and then acting like he's got to get it to safey, is pretty funny, though I make sure not to say that. Still, it makes me wonder, do parents always feel or think this way about the actions that kids take so seriously?
We put the chocolate in the fridge after taking a victory photo (Lloyd insisted) and pass the time watching those cheesy movies Lloyd likes. After an hour or so of (horrible) movies, I take the chocolate out and give it to Lloyd, who practically inhales it. It smears across his face that only happens to someone who doesn't really care, and he, of course, fights me when I approach him with a wet cloth. So, you know, I decide it isn't worth the fight and I drop the matter. Let him learn his lesson.
A few hours later…
The door opens, a faint creak that makes me jump awake, almost waking Lloyd up. Luckily, the others catch on pretty quickly that it's silent because Lloyd's asleep and quietly make their way inside the apartment, putting their things away. Kai's the first to slump onto the free space on the sofa, with Nya and Jay closely following, though Jay has to sit on the ground.
"Hey, did you know that you got some…uh…" – Jay points to my jeans – "On your pants?"
I glance down and have to stifle a groan. Lloyd's cheek is pressed against my left leg and I can see the chocolate smears in the poor lighting.
"It'll wash out…probably," Nya says.
"So I take it he enjoyed it?" Kai asks.
"We didn't get some…stuff," Lloyd mumbles, his eyes fluttering open before closing again. He shifts once and doesn't move after that.
"He wanted to help," I explain.
"He shouldn't have to worry about stuff like that," Jay replies, with Kai, although reluctantly, agreeing.
"I'm just glad that he had fun," I say. I end up telling them about our little adventure, including his little comment about leprechaun poop, causing some pretty hard giggles to suppress.
"He really said that?" Kai asks incredulously.
"Why would he lick that?" Nya asks, looking disgusted.
"Who wouldn't?" Jay replies.
"WHAT?" Nya grabs a pillow and whacks Jay with it. "You're disgusting!"
"Why are you fighting about melted chocolate?" Zane inquires, interrupting them before they can wake Lloyd up.
"Because…–" Nya starts but I cut in so there isn't another fight.
"Hey, Zane, did you teach Lloyd 'ibnoble'?" I ask.
"'Ibnoble'? No. Perhaps you are thinking of 'ignoble'? It means 'of humble origin or social status' or more simply, 'not noble,'" he replies. Then he adds, "Why?"
"He tried to tell me calling the mint chocolate just 'chocolate' was an insult. Good call, by the way," I turn to Kai.
He shrugs. "Kid's got specific taste. Might as well splurge occasionally."
"Hmm…you should have seen his face," I say, "You would have thought he just won a lottery or something."
"He practically did," Nya points out. "He just found the gold at the end of the rainbow."
"Sometimes I think the real golden years are when you're a kid," Kai says unexpectedly. "You haven't really lost that magic the world has. You can't really enjoy it as much when you're an adult. I just wish he doesn't lose it anytime soon." He reaches over and brushes a strand of hair away from Lloyd's closed eyes.
"Since when have you been philosophical?" Nya asks.
Kai shrugs. "It's true, isn't it?"
"It is," I agree. "That look on his face…he…he doesn't deserve to live like this."
"At least he has us," Jay points out. "At least he has love."
Nya whacks him with a pillow again, groaning. "Stop being cheesy!"
"Give him another whack, will ya? That was mega-bad," I say.
"Oh and one for me!" Kai adds.
"And me," Zane interjects.
"Why are you all ganging up on me?" Jay shouts, waking Lloyd up.
"Huh, what's going on?" Lloyd demands, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, looking more than a little annoyed.
We all exchange glances before looking at Lloyd.
"Nothing," we say simultaneously.