Puppy Boy

Monday 7:00 a.m.

A big black woman pounded on her son’s bedroom door. “Kamon!” she shouted. “Get up! You start school today!” She listened for the sounds of groaning on the other side of the door.

“I don’t want to get up!” a boy complained inside.

“You start school today.”

“Leave me alone!”

The youth’s mother frowned and pounded the door wide open. She marched over and yank the covers off his bed.

“Hey!” the boy shouted, shielding myself.

“Get up right now!” his mother shouted. She started whacking him with a pillow. Her son tried to push her away.

“Okay, okay!” he shouted. “I’m getting up! I’m getting up!” Kamon ran to the bathroom. His mother stood in his room with her hands on her hips.

“You better hurry up!” she shouted.

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled.

“I will be watching the clock!”

“Yes!” Kamon had time to shower, get dressed, and brush his teeth. His mom handed him a breakfast bar.

“You can eat this on your way out,” she said. Kamon raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t I get a real breakfast?” he asked.

“You don’t have time!” she shouted. “Get out the door right now!” Kamon threw up his hands and walked out the door. This is so stupid, he thought.

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8:49 a.m.

-Kamon-

I liked my old school. My friends were there and everything was cool. We hung around, smoked dope, and got into fights. Man, those were the days. I sneered as I walked down the sidewalk. Ma didn’t like my grade and decided to change. She threw it in my face three weeks ago.

“What?!” I shouted at the dinner table. Ma folded her arms across her chest.

“That is a bad school,” she said. “Your grades are terrible!”

“So?” I asked. I probably should not have said that. Ma threw down her fork.

“So?!” she yelled. “So?! So?!” I was quick to draw my mouth closed. She slammed her hand down on the table that it shook, making the plates bounce.

“I refused to have you living like a thug!” she shouted. “You are going to Tokyo-Zion Academy this fall for a better education!”

“But what about my friends?”

“You will find better friends. Those thugs will drag you down!”

“But…” I was quick to shut up when Ma gave me a glare of death.

“I will not argue with you anymore, Kamon!” she shouted. “You ae changing schools and that is final! Do you understand me?” I gulped as I nodded. We didn’t speak for the rest of dinner, but Ma’s frozen eyes was enough to scare me.

That conversation at dinner led to this moment here. I stood in front of the Tokyo-Academy building. Utter disappointment came across my face. What the hell is this? The building was in front of a forest and needed some serious repairs. I tilted my head. Is it… cracked? What kind of school did Ma send me too? I could just play hooky. No one would notice, right?

I shuddered as I could hear Ma’s voice yelling at me if she found. “You skipped school?! You skipped school?!” I don’t think the police would be able to find my body when she got done with me. I shook my head, sighing. Might as well get this over with. I walked up to a new semester in this pathetic dump. Oh great! I have no friends in a shitty school that no one in Japan has ever heard of, really! What the hell was Ma thinking? I pressed my palm to my forehead.

“Why does God hate?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t know,” a voice answered. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?” I lifted my head.

“Who said that?” I asked. I looked up and saw a girl with dark red hair standing at the top of the stairs. She gave me a weird look like I had escaped from the nut house.

“Are you a new student here?” she asked. I stared at this girl about my age with empty eyes. This lil mama was fine! I never got why people in this country found school uniforms so hot until today.

“Am I dreaming?” I asked.

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“Are you an angel?”

“Are you feeling okay?”

I bowed my head. “Hey there, Lil’ mama! I’m Kamon and I’m attending this academy! Do you know where the principal’s office is?”

This girl blinked at me before she saw what I was saying. “Oh! Sure, I can take you there if you want.”

“Yes, please,” I said. I followed Lil’ Mama into that worn out building. You know? This new school might not suck after all.

Little Puppy