Pancakes and Banter

*RRRRiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggg*

The alarm went off. It was five in the morning, I was a little drowsy but nowhere near yesterday’s level of exhaustion.

I brushed my teeth and then proceeded to do a hundred pushups and a little stretching to warm up and start my day.

Meditated for a few minutes, showered and went downstairs to make myself something to eat. Thankfully it’s Sunday so no school, I get the entire day to myself.

Getting a good side job is crucial. The bill’s are gonna be outrageous.

“Good morning dear, you’re up early!” Aunt May smiled and handed me a cup of coffee.

She tried her best to hide it but I knew she didn’t have a wink of sleep, the cancer diagnosis was looming on all of our minds.

I sipped on the coffee silently thinking of a way to comfort her.

I couldn’t think of one so I decided to keep quiet.

The idea of losing Uncle Ben was unimaginable. He was the pillar that held this house, a constant source of happiness and assurance.

The financial strain it would put on us was also another point to consider.

As an ex-soldier I understood the importance of morale.

In some situations you could have all the equipment, training and information you want but if your troops weren’t motivated enough. Then the whole thing would fail no matter what!

My biggest worry is if Uncle Ben…..If he thought for the sake of…….me and May….he…

I couldn’t finish the thought, I didn’t have the courage to even think of those words.

However my military mindset kicked in.

‘No think of the worst scenario and prepare for it. If you can’t visualize it then you’ll freeze if it ever comes to pass!’

The worst thing that could happen right now is If Uncle Ben committed suicide.

It’s entirely possible that he might view it as an act of mercy even, saving us from the emotional and financial turmoil of this horrible disease.

The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.

‘I would rather lose everything than give up Uncle Ben!’ I resolved.

My nails dug into my palm.

I hated to think about it even more but if he doesn’t believe in the treatment then that scenario could very likely come true. Especially since he’s unemployed now and he can’t ‘provide’ for his family, these dark thoughts must be swirling around his head.

‘I’m pretty sure that was the first thing he thought when he heard the diagnosis. I know I would’

Always worrying about us, never thinking about himself even for a moment.

‘Even if he was the one dying….’ That’s who he was.

“Where’s Uncle Ben, Aunt may?” I asked

“He went out for a walk, said he needed some morning air.”

My heartbeat spiked. ‘What if…what if he really?’

“Pete, would you be a dear and get the newspaper!”

“Oh sure thing, May!”

The uncomfortable feeling didn’t go away, ‘I need to calm down. I know Uncle Ben he wouldn’t do anything stupid like that. Relax Pete!’

I picked up the Newspaper lying near the front door.

“Heya Peter.” I heard the voice of a girl, when I turned around I saw the red haired Mary Jane, she was in her pajamas.

“Just woke up I see!” I waved

“Yeah, I have an audition today.” she said with a smile.

‘Oh that’s right. MJ in the movies wanted to be an actress.’ Strange how everybody in this world is a fictional character! Thinking about it was trippy.

“All the best MJ, break a leg.” I gave her the double thumbs up.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I heard about your Uncle, hope he’s okay!”

“He’s fine now, thanks for asking. Well anyways all the best”

She looked like she wanted to talk more but nodded once she saw me turning to leave.

‘I’m sorry I’m not in a very conversational mood right now!’

Entering the kitchen, I handed over the newspaper to May.

“Thanks dear.”

She began making pancakes while I was sat at the dining table. Staring into space wondering when Uncle Ben was going to come back.

We didn’t say anything to each other, simply content with the silence.

Usually Uncle Ben would be leaving for work by now, he worked even on the sundays.

He had to worry about so many things, Mortgage, school fees, Insurance and not to mention my upcoming college tuition.

I wanted to go to MIT, if that didn’t work out then Stanford, they had an excellent Biophysics course. I could go for Biochem too if that were available.

I always considered Super Memory to be the best part of my powers. I'm pretty sure before I could have passed the test with flying colors but now it’s not even a challenge. I could take the SAT’s blindfolded and still top it.

He really didn’t have to worry about the student loans, my GPAs were perfect and I know for a fact that I’ll ace the SAT’s.

Still the medical bills are gonna be a problem, his insurance coverage doesn’t extend to Lung cancer.

He never smoked, so why would he opt for one of the more expensive policies when that money could go for my tuition.

Fate had a cruel sense of humor.

Everything was going well a few days ago but now….I guess it’s true what they say; When it rains, it pours.

“Pete, we'll survive this!” Aunt May said, breaking the eerie silence.

“Huh…” was all the response I could muster up.

‘Pete, we’ll survive this! Have more faith in him!” she said with complete certainty in her eyes.

‘How did she-’

There was incredible steel in her eyes, I never knew this side of her! She looked so different from how she used to usually.

.

“Ahh how many days has it been since I went for a morning walk!” Uncle Ben was all smiles.

‘Thank god! I was overthinking it. God, I can be such a moron at times.’

*Sigh*

“Oh you’re up already kiddo! That’s quite rare for you!” he playfully ribbed

“Gosh you know you love me, despite it all.” I played along to the banter.

He shrugged his shoulders and said, “That wasn’t a joke, Pete. You need to wake up earlier, staying up late isn’t good for your-”

“Oh there it is, here comes the lecture. Argh why are all the old people like this!” I interrupted him rudely.

He began shaking his head, “Kids these days really don’t-”

“Alright, here's one plate of hot pancakes for Old Ben and another for the handsome young man.”

This time it was Aunt May’s turn to interrupt him. She brought us both pancakes along with some maple syrup.

‘God I love these.’

Uncle Ben dropped his jaw, then he pointed his index finger at himself, “Me?Old!”

Aunt May looked at him blankly and said, “Who else has white hair here Ben!”

“Not you too May.” he said with a pout

He just looked at us in disbelief for a few more seconds then all three of us dropped the act and started to laugh out loud.

“I almost started crying when you called me Old! May you hurt my feelings.”

She blew him a kiss,,”You know I was playing around honey.” and went back to the stove.

Uncle Ben had a slight blush.

He turned to me and said, “Alright kid let’s see who can eat the most pancakes!”

‘Oh it’s one of these eating challenges..eh.’

“I’m not losing this time!”

“We’ll see Kiddo, We’ll see!”

I began tearing through the pancakes one by one. ‘Damn I’m famished, oh that’s right I didn’t eat anything yesterday. Seems like it’s gonna be my Victory today Old Benny Boyo.’

When I turned to see his progress, he had already finished his plate and was going for the second serving.

‘Damn, I forgot how much this man can eat. I have to step up my game.’

I increased my speed but I forgot how hot they were and burned my mouth like an idiot.

Uncle Ben started laughing out loud. In between his fits of laughter he would say, “That’s…what…you..hehe…get…for calling me Old.”

Aunt may began chiding me for goofing around too much and brought me a glass of water which I humbly accepted. I couldn’t refuse the boss’s commands.

It was fun getting scolded for doing stupid silly things again.

For a few moments it felt like nothing had changed, it felt like we went back to the way it was before. It felt like everything was gonna be alright.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Later that day in the afternoon.

“You don’t have work today Pete.” Uncle Ben asked as I changed the TV channel to NBC. jeopardy was on.

“Nope, Oh and it's more of a temporary internship for students. My grades were good enough to qualify and I get paid in Stipends.”

“Was it okay to pay the taxi with that? Don’t you have like research…ing? to do.”

“Don’t worry Uncle Ben, I got it.”

Lying to him became easier with practice.

The truth of the matter was that I was stumped,

‘dammit If I took that gold from Curtis’s condo, then I wouldn’t have to worry about this.’

It was a silly thing to think about. I had no idea how to fence stolen gold and chances were I would attract the wrong kind of attention and get caught.

I knew this wasn’t rational but regret often wasn’t rational.

I know that my instinct told me that it’s not possible to do all that without getting caught. I knew it in my bones but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I missed quite literally a golden opportunity.

I looked at Uncle Ben whose face was stuck to the TV.

‘No he wouldn’t approve. So far I’ve made sure to stay on the right side of the Law and I intend to stay on the right side.’

However that brought me back to the initial question,

‘How can I earn enough money to pay for all the bills heading our way? He’s gonna start chemo on monday!’

What made it even worse was that Midtown High School prohibits its students from working!

‘So what do I do now?’

I checked the newspaper for any job ads, there were Pen scribbles all over that section.

I guess Uncle Ben, like me, is intent on finding a job as quickly as possible.

Uncle Ben changed the channel to sportscenter. They were playing the highlights from yesterday’s game.

New York Knicks Vs the New Jersey Nets.

I skimmed through the newspaper.

Harlem based Human trafficking ring busted.

The article caught my attention, ‘Oh yeah that’s right I tipped them that Info.’

Upon reading the article though it was disappointing, there was no mention of Curtis by name or The New gate plaza hotel. Nothing about prostitutes used as mules either. It was a nothing burger praising the DA MIke Pondsmith more than actually covering the story.

I could hear the excited breaths of Uncle Ben, he was really into the game wasn’t he. I was about to put the newspaper down when another article caught my attention.

It was in the sports section.

Frederick Harris, star college basketball player for Duke University accused of taking money under the table. Scandal to be investigated by the NCAA.