The Lion King In The Human World Part 3

The Lost Son.

JASIRI

Two-year old Asher toddled up to me. "Mommy," he cried, "Me food. Me food."

I put my head down on my drawings. I had to get these done by morning for my class. What possessed me to try to balance art school and motherhood. I love Asher, he's the center of my world and has been ever since I found out he was coming, but I also need a job so the state doesn't take him away from me and an art degree so that I'm not working as a maid my whole life. But Asher comes first. I lifted my head up from my drawings, picked up Asher, and went to the fridge.

There wasn't much inside, but I gave Asher a big red apple and took him with me to work on my drawings. Asher likes to watch me draw and will even help sometimes. He just picks a random color and colors something blank. My teacher loved those eye-catching colors spots that don't match the rest of the palate but still work. He's even talked to one of his friends about getting me a job as an illustrator of children's books.

Asher reached for my pencils now. He held up a dark green one. "Mommy," he said, "Yelo."

Yelo? Did he mean yellow? But it's green. Why was he saying it's yellow?

I didn't worry too much about that now and added "yelo" into my drawing of a campfire. A green mug was easily added, though I still wondered about Asher.

I took Asher to an eye doctor with the money I had saved up for a car. A check-out for my boy is more important. I get rides from a friend for free anyway.

I told the doctor that he's been mixing up colors, that last time wasn't the first. He held up different colored papers and asked Asher to tell him what color it was. Asher didn't get a single one right. "It looks as though your son's colorblind," the doctor told me, "Don't panic. Many people with colorblindness go on to live normal lives with little difficulty. Though, I will ask about that mark on his left eye before you go."

"It's only a birthmark," I answered, "He got it from his dad." Asher did have Kion's birthmark, but in every other way, he was my little copy. He didn't get his dad's sickness, thankfully. "I have a picture of his dad to prove it if you want to see it."

The doctor shook his head. "No need. I'll take your word for it. Just take care of your son and when he's older, you might consider colorblind glasses."

My boy's colorblind. The son of an artist is colorblind. Does that seem strange or is it just me? I paid for the visit and took Asher out onto the streets of the city. The warm California sun shone down on all the Christmas decorations. Asher pointed to the cane canes and snowflakes that hung from every lamp post with a bright smile on his face. I'm sure they look much different to him.

I picked Asher up in my arms as we climbed aboard the bus, I let him drop in the coins for our fare. "Mommy," Asher said, pointing towards an open seat, "Me watch cars." I took that seat and let him look over my shoulder at the cars going by. Things were tough for me, but I couldn't let Asher down.

"Jasiri?" My art teacher stood in front of me. No one at my college knew I had a kid, I had worried they would call C.P.S. on me and I'd never see Asher again. I didn't know what to do now. "Who's this?" Mr. Jackle asked, surely talking about Asher.

Before I could answer, Asher turned away from the cars and to my teacher. "Mommy, who dat?" he asked.

Mr. Jackle's eyes widened. "I didn't know you had a son," he said, "I guess this explains why have trouble staying awake in class."

Mr. Jackle took the seat next to me as the lady who was there got up and turned to Asher. "How old are you young man?" he asked. Asher held up two fingers. "You're two, that's why I didn't know you existed, your mommy started classes this year." Then he turned to me. "How in the world do you handle my classes and this little one? I can barely teach and I get my classes planned out in June the year before. Your husband must be a big help."

I looked away at the word husband. Kion still doesn't know Asher exists, let alone helps me with him. "Boyfriend then?" Mr. Jackle asked. I still didn't answer. "Jasiri," Mr. Jackle said, "Are you doing this alone?" I had to nod, there's no point in lying.

Asher sat on my lap and gave me a hug. "Me wov Mommy," he said with his dark blue eyes.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Jackle said, "I never knew. Single mothers are wonder workers." I had to get off then, the bus had gotten to the stop closest to my apartment.

THE NEXT DAY

I brought in my drawings, this time re-colored in how Asher would see it. Mr. Jackle looked over my drawing and graded it right there. Highest marks for my colorblind drawing. "What?!" Brianna, a spoiled rich girl in my art class, shouted, "Why does Jasiri get  the highest score for that mess? It's so gray."

Mr. Jackle handed me my drawing back. "For her one of a kind color choices. How did you decide to use only gray?"

I took a deep breath and looked down at my drawing. "This is how my son Asher sees the world. He's colorblind and I've been looking into colorblindness and it's been interesting to find out how little is known about colorblindness."

"Eww," Brianna said, "You're a mom. How lame." Brianna's spoiled friends laughed with her.

I sighed and shook my head. "Brianna," I said, "In case you haven't noticed, there's a lot of moms in the world and they're kinda important. Don't tell me that you're the one person in the world who came to be without a mom." Brianna quieted. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

I went back home with a great grade and an illustrator's job. A hundred dollars per picture and I can finally quit that housekeeping job I hate. All because of my little Asher. 

Oh, wait. I was suppose to pick Asher up from daycare. I quickly turned around and went right to the daycare.