A Million Days

3

I woke up and I hadn't moved all night with my head resting on Aleena's shoulder. I felt the bed moving softly and I opened my eyes to see Aleena was already gone and Richie was at the end of the bed. He was rocking back and forth gently. "Richie, what's wrong buddy?" His head turned to me. "Huh? Nothing." He said before standing up. "Where's...I want mom." He said. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "Mom's at work, bud. You hungry?" I asked him. "Mmm, no. Mom fed me." He said. His hand was making a fist and he was lightly tapping on the side of his head. He wasn't harming himself but I knew he was self soothing. "Mkay. Where's your brother?" "Mom, took him to school." I sighed. I wanted to be awake early enough to take him. I got out of bed. He was starting to get really anxious. "Richie, let's get you changed buddy. We're gonna go out." I told him. Richie left the spare bedroom and walked to his room to change. I walked downstairs to get my tea going and as the water was boiling, I changed into my clothes. "Dad." I heard Richie in the kitchen. "Coming." I said a little worried as he sounded a little worried, too. He might have forgotten that he's not in his room. I walked into the kitchen and he was pacing back and forth between the living room and the kitchen, each time touching one of the chairs. "Did you take your medicine yet?" I asked him. He shook his head. "Fridge." He said. I looked at my fridge. I didn't wanna ask any questions.

"The fridge." He pointed to it while he was pacing. He was obviously really freaked out about something. I walked over to the fridge and opened it. There was a bottle of water on the top shelf so I grabbed it for him. "Mmmmm." He was pacing faster. He walked over to the counter where his medicine was and he opened it before putting his pill in his hand and I almost put the bottle of water down before he grabbed it out of my hand. I watched him take his pill and he was breathing slightly heavy from the pacing he did. I don't know how long he had been doing it.

He left the kitchen to walk outside and I watched him put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. I sighed sadly before grabbing my tea and keys and locked up the house before stepping outside the already open front door. "Did I do something wrong?" I asked him. "I...I don't like fridges." He said. "Mom gets them because I don't like them." I nodded. "I'm sorry, buddy. Is that why you're late on your medicine?" He nodded. "I...I'm sorry." He said before hugging me hard. I hugged him too and rubbed his back. I was shocked Richie was holding me. He abruptly pulled away before walking to the car and I opened it for him and got in the car. "Where are we going?" He asked before playing with the window. "Your mom's shop. It's haircut day and I'm getting mine cut, too." I said reassuringly. "You'll...okay." I backed out of the driveway. "I'll what, buddy?" "You'll...you'll get it done, too?" He asked. "Mmhmm." "Mom knows I hate haircuts and salons. She does my hair." I smiled. "She only used to do mine, too." I said. Our drive to Rochester was pretty quiet but he was now playing with the radio which I gave him permission to do. "Oooh." He said hearing Metallica. He was smiling and rolling the window up to the beat. "Hey, how about after that, we go to Chanhassen and I'll let you destress with the drums?" He gasped. "Wait really?!" He asked. "Mmhmm. I need to destress too." I realized that if I did something, he did it with me. I knew that wouldn't apply to everything, but he probably thought he was being weird making so much noise, but I knew he had the musician bug, I just had to bring it out of him.

"Do you know where your mom's salon is?" I asked as I turned the music down a little. "Mmhmm. Two lefts, one right, and three lefts from the house." He said. That seemed pretty easy to follow. I was sure I would find her maroon Camry in the parking lot, too. I followed his directions and I could tell his medicine was working because he was calmer. Not rolling the window up so much and was just listening to the music. I spotted her car in the parking lot and Richie patiently waited for me to open the door for him. His hair was definitely getting on his nerves as he was constantly moving his curls out of his eyes. I opened the door for him and Aleena was in the middle of doing a perm. "There's my boys." She said as I was watching her putting the rolls together. The salon was super clean and smelled homey, besides the perm smell. "Baby, your wipes are-" he had a clean wipe in his hand before wiping a chair down and sitting. I sat next to him watching her work. "Valerie, this is Prince and you already know Richie." "Hi." Richie said. He was being polite. Saying yes ma'am and no ma'am. Aleena did a wonderful job raising the boys. She asked if he was in school, but Aleena said he had a doctor's appointment and wanted to get his hair done beforehand...which was a lie.