Bodega Dreams

It was a typical morning. You woke up and sat up in bed and pulled your phone off the charger and checked your emails. Other than junk mail and a few reminder emails from canvas, there wasn't much to look at. You pulled your hair into a bun before leaning over the bed to give Miles a few pecks on the cheek. Like always, he didn't even flinch. As you kissed him, you could taste the metallic on her lips. Pulling back gently, you saw a healing gash above his eyebrow and a hint of a green bruise under his eye. Your brow furrowed and a couple of questions popped into your mind that you quickly pushed to the side. Even if you were curious about where and when that happened, it wasn't like you were going to wake him up out of dead sleep to ask him. Not to mention how busy your day was going to be.

You had an English final, then had to go to work directly from school; you work at the daycare of a Hot Yoga studio. Most of the moms were young and entitled. They considered the crumpled-up 20s at the bottom of their purses to be pocket change. You couldn't complain about them too much though because those 20s became your tips more often than not. You grabbed the dirty laundry around their room and walked it over to the washer; after starting a loud, you make your way into the kitchen to start breakfast. You grabbed the carton of eggs from the fridge and started cracking them into a glass bowl. Hearing bare feet sliding against the wood floors, you greet the only person it could have been.

"Good morning, babe, hungry?" you asked while stirring the scrambled eggs.

"Why are you up so early?" he mumbled into your shoulder, wrapping his long arms around her waist.

"Really busy day, school and work right after." you said, turning the burner off. He groaned playfully at the thought of you being gone all day. You set the pan on the back burner and turned around to face him. For a second you thought about asking him about the wound above his eye. You ignored this and grabbed his braids, pulling them to sit on his shoulders.

"Are you coming to school with me today?" you asked looking up at him, knowing there was a considerable chance that the answer would be no.

"My teachers are fine with it as long as I turn my work in on time. As long as I maintain my grades, I feel like perfect attendance is a nonfactor." he said, tucking a curl behind your ear.

"I know, I'm not saying you need to be going more because you're not doing well; not at all, you have a better grade in history than me right now," you laughed before continuing, "Now that I work and everything with school.. I don't know; there are sometimes when I'm eating lunch I just wish we could spend that time together. Especially when I get home at 10 pm and you're gone for work." you said taking a cooled-down piece of egg and walking over to your hamster enclosure.

"Alright I get it, I'll come with you today but I have to leave after lunch. I told Uncle Aaron I would go down to the warehouse and help him fix the computer system," he said, walking over to her and pulling you into a reassuring hug. You rubbed her arms down his and noticed more bruising on his forearms.

"What are these from?" you asked, rubbing her index finger over them.

"Carrying heavy loads of boxes from the shipment trucks into the warehouse." he said kissing the top of your head before going back into the kitchen. After you gave Peaches a bit of egg you walked over to the table where Miles had made a plate for you.

"Have you done the reading for Bodega Dreams? My English final today is going to be a question-and-response essay. It isn't open book but we can bring a sheet of notes so I'm pretty sure I'm gonna ace it." You said this made Miles laugh.

"You read that book cover to cover, even if you didn't have notes I think you'd still nail it." he said, starting to eat his eggs. You smile and pour yourself a cup of coffee.