Bennie

It's Gonna Be Okay

I feel the car come to a stop. I open my eyes to see a convenience store out the window, and squint due to the sudden brightness outside. I sit up from leaning on the door, realizing I'd fallen asleep. I look at the tiny clock on the dash, that reads 12:10, then to my left to see Mama rummaging through her purse. She looks up at me. "Feeling better Buggie?" Well, I do feel a bit better now after napping for a bit, but I still feel bad for making Mama worry...and everything else.

"I'm sorry Mama. If didn't I like adventures so much, we wouldn't have gone on one, and you wouldn't have been scared and drove fast, and you wouldn't have worried about me either, and-"

"Bennie." She says cutting me off. "None of this is your fault, and I'm sorry if I scared you Bennie...I-I'll explain everything later Buggie, but for now I just need you to trust me okay Bug?" She looks  at me with kind eyes, no longer filled with tears, and gives me one of her signature warm smiles. I smile back and nod.

"I trust you Mama." She reaches over to brush my hair out of my face, then holds my head in her hands. She looks and me for a second, and then looks off somewhere for a second as if she had something on her mind.

"Wait, right here, Buggie!", she says in an excited tone. She pushes a button I can't see on her side of the car, and I hear the sound of the trunk popping open. She opens the car door and rushes to the back of the car. In seconds she closes the trunk, but I can't see what she pulled out. She holds it low enough to where I can't see it in my view of the window. She opens the car door smiling at me and hiding whatever it is behind the open door. I stare at her with anticipation until, she swiftly maneuvers her hand from behind the door. She holds out in front of her what looks to be...a panda bear! A plush panda bear of course. It's huge, and looks so soft and fluffy. Climbs in and hands it to me, and I immediately give it a squeeze. Panda bears are one of my favorite animals. When I was four Mama took me to the Zoo, and we nearly spent the whole day just looking at the Pandas.

"His name is Alvar", Mama says to me after a while. I smile at her, and give Alvar  another squeeze. As I hold Alvar in my arms, Mama grabs her purse, and closes the car door, then looks in at me out the window.

"Think you'll be okay with Alvar while Mommy's in the store?" I nod at her. "Good! Make sure she stays safe Alvar." I giggle and make Alvar wave at her as she walks away. When she's at the door she looks back at me for a second, with a troubled look on her face that disappears within seconds. I just brush this one off since Mama's been acting strange all day. Maybe she's just very tired.

                                                                    ~~~

It's been a couple minutes since Mommy went inside the store. In the mean time I've introduced myself to Alvar told him all about myself, all of my favorite things; favorite colors, animals, movies, snacks, plants, and places to explore. As I was telling Alvar all about our adventure and everything that happened this morning up to now, in the corner of my eye I see a black van park right next to the driver side of Mama's car. I take a mental note of it, and continue talking to Alvar. Not even two words into my conversation with Alvar, I hear a car door slam loudly, turning my head in the direction of the van. A man about the height of Daddy, but stronger looking, stands next the van, looking in my direction. He has a emotionless expression for only a second, when he puts on a friendly smile. "Oh, uh, that was loud wasn't it? Sorry if I scared ya kid!", he says in a friendly way, but his voice was very deep. I'm a little unsettled by this...he's a stranger, and Mama always says to not talk to strangers. I give a shy smile and a nod, then turn my attention back to Alvar, and continue to talk to him in a quieter voice.