Black and Blue and Red Somewhere

I opened the door to the apartment. Sadly remembering how crappy my new home was. "Hey Robert I have some new..." I cut my sentence short as I saw Robert he looked devastated sitting on his mattress. I would have thought someone had died, if I didn't know that it was just Robert and I against the world. "Hey." I said as I sat down next to him, "What's the matter. Did something happen?" I asked giving Robert my whole attention. He looked at me dead in the eyes with a look of defeat. I knew this was serious, what had happened to make my cocky brother so down. "Hey Violet" He said. I knew things were serious, he only called me Violet when something was wrong. I let him talk. "I...I lost my job today. I promised I would take care of you, that was the deal. That is why you are here with me now. I thought I could be enough for both of us, but I won't be able to feed either of us now, let alone pay rent. I can find another job, but in the meantime I don't know what to do. This might mean we lose, Ed might send you back." I smiled and ruffled his hair, much like he does with me when I am sad. "Well then," I said "That makes my good news all the better." He lifted his head and looked at me confused. I continued "Today I got a second job as a childrens stylist. The company pays well, will give me a cellphone, and even complies with my schedule with Olive." He grinned so wide "Are you serious, you aren't just making this up?" He asked excitedly. "I promise I am not joking, and while Olive is at school, I can help you look for a job. I am going to keep us afloat for a while, but if we actually want to thrive, and not just simply survive, we will both have to work. My work is only contract, so it isn't exactly steady, but from what I can tell it is better than yours." I got him to laugh a bit. Tomorrow is Monday, so after I am done getting Olive ready for school, I'll7 take the bus to the studio and ask for an advance of some kind, and a schedule to use, until I get a phone. Then I will come back and do some job hunting with you." He smiled again. "How are you always so put together?" I smiled back and said "I am just awesome, and according to some people I might be bluer than you." After that I filled him in on my amazing day. "God Q-Tip, is there nothing you can't do?" I knew he was feeling better, because he didn't call me Violet. I yawned. "Okay now that I am done cheering you up, I worked all day and am dead tired. I am going to bed. Sleep tight." I said in a sleepy voice. He looked up to me half dead himself, "Night, Sis." That night I dreamt of actually being blue.

When I woke up the next morning I knew I had a busy day ahead of me. I got dressed and left the apartment early to get Olive ready for school. I got to Olive and Ed's house and knocked at the door. Ed opened the door with unexpected smile. "Good morning Miss Foster. Olive is waiting for you. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the house. "I love my baby more than anything in the world, but right now she is being a nightmare. She only wants you no one can do anything about it. Now hurry up and fix this." I knew this was a good opportunity to get something Robert and I needed. I spoke before doing anything. "You know I might be able to have a talk with her, if you will pay for this months rent." I said knowing I would win this. "Done." Ed said. I smiled. That was too easy. I ran up the stairs and into Olives room. There were stuffed animals covering the doorway. She had obviously thrown them at Ed for trying to enter. "Hey Olive! What do you think you are doing?" I shouted seeing her and the scene of the bedroom. She ran to me and hugged my leg. "Daddy didn't seem to like you, and I thought you got fired like all the other nannies." I remembered that I had to be careful with this kid at her last statement. She likes me now, but if I lose her favor it is back to the orphanage for me. "Hey squirt, remember I am tough and smart. It would take more than your daddy's sour mood to get rid of me. Now about these tantrums..." Olive straightened up, "I know it is bad, but I thought you were gone. I needed a day off of school to console myself." she said. I smiled at her and crouched down to her eye level to speak "Well if that is the case then I forgive you, but you can't do this again. You being a brat reflects poorly on me. Besides as long as you like me, I am pretty sure your dad won't fire me. He loves you far too much." after saying this I gave her a hug. I stood back up. "Okay Olive let's get you ready for school." I said. I grabbed her hand and she followed me to her closet. "Can you pick out my clothes for me again?" Olive asked. "Of course. You go brush your hair and teeth while I pick out your clothes" I said. She stood there for a moment. "Brush my own teeth? The other nannies brushed my teeth for me." Olive said stunned. "Welp" I said "You are the smartest five year old I have ever met. I am sure you can figure it out. Now go." She smiled at my compliment and went to the bathroom. She came out a bit later "I did it. I brushed my teeth all by myself!" I gave her a fake proud smile. "Good girl. Now put on your clothes, then come to your mini salon so I can do your hair. When she was done she came out in the patterned sweater dress I had picked out and ran to sit down on the chair. With how many orphans I had taken care of and magazines I had read, I knew how to do just about any hairstyle. I braided her hair into a waterfall braid, then I slightly curled the bottom of her hair with a wide barrel curler. I backed up to see my work. "Okay Squirt, all done." I said. She looked at herself displeased scrunching up her brow. what about makeup, you gave me makeup yesterday." said Olive. I gave her a crooked fake smile. "Yesterday you were going to get photos taken, today you are only going to school." I said. Olive looked up at me. Her face changed from annoyed to puppy dog eyes "Please do my makeup. Vi, please please please please." she begged. "Fine" I threw my hands up in the air, "but only a little bit of lip gloss." She smiled at my surrender. I applied a layer of clear lip gloss. "Okay Squirt, you are ready to go. Put your things in your back pack and meet me downstairs. I'll make some breakfast. I went downstairs and prepared scrambled eggs and toast for one. She came down wearing a pony covered backpack that didn't match her outfit at all. Something I would have never noticed on any other child, but at this point she was my miniature model, and I had to keep her looking pretty. "Okay eat your breakfast. I can put on your shoes after you are done." I instructed. Ed silently appeared beside me. "Miss Foster, you are one in a million. No one has ever cared for Olive, because Olive has never cared for anyone. For some reason she loves you, but this is the first time that she has ever gotten truly mad at me. The funny thing is I have no idea what I did to make her so angry." I looked at him. I knew the answer to this, and it may as well as given me tenure as a nanny. "She got mad because she thought you fired me." He looked shocked. "Don't worry" I said, "I had a talk with her about it, and it shouldn't happen again." He handed me a small black card. "If Olive trusts you, then I trust you" he said. He handed me an unlimited withdrawal credit card. My eyes widened. I had only heard of the existence of these cards. I had never seen one. Ed could still see that I was dumbfounded. "Using this you can use taxis instead of the subway, and you can treat Olive to lunch. Since you are caring for Olive now, and will be starting a new high paying job, you will need some new professional looking clothes. So buy some things for yourself, but only what I say you can buy. This is mostly for Olive." I smiled and gave him a hug. "It is very stupid to give someone you have known for three days your credit card, nevertheless a child, but I won't take advantage of it. Don't trust people so easily." I said. He looked a little scared and I smiled. "Don't think too much about it; your daughter and money are in safe hands." I said. Olive finished eating, so we left.

"Vi, why do you always smile when you talk?" Olive asked. I looked at her amazed that she had noticed such a detail. "Well Olive," I began, "a smile can say a million different things, IF you know how to smile the right way." She looked utterly confused, by my explanation. "Okay Squirt think of it like this. When you see bad guys on TV, do they smile or do they yell when they are scaring someone?" She paused for a moment, "They smile, but it is still scary." she said. I smiled "That's right. Because if you yell, it means that you are losing control. If you smile and stay calm, that shows that you have more control over someone else. Because people only yell in one of three situations: one, they are angry, two, they are scared, and three they are losing." I tried to explain. "Then why do you smile?" Olive asked again. "Because if I keep smiling that makes people think I am in control. Even if inside I feel angry or scared, I smile, that way people think that I am on top and not afraid. That can be intimidating to other people. Sometimes I smile because I am happy, just like everyone else, and sometimes I smile because other people need me to smile." Olive was obviously trying to understand, but I forget she is five sometimes. "Don't think to hard about it Kiddo. Just remember smiling is more effective than yelling." The cab pulled up to the school, I walked Olive inside, I left after seeing Olive joining a group of friends. Instantly I was jealous of this girl, even though I had no right to be. Just the fact that she had so many friends at such a young age was a blessing. At her age I not only didn't have friends, I had bullies. This girl has friends, a loving father, a big house, and all of the toys she could want. At her age I could only read about people like her. Still it did make me happy that despite all of these things; I seemed to be the thing that made her happiest. As Olive dissapeared into the school I left, and headed towards the bus station. I needed to go back to the apartment to meet up with Robert. I think his job searching will go better if I come along.

The next bus stop was about three blocks from our apartment, so I decided to walk the last leg of my commute. I walked up the stairs and into the apartment where Robert was sitting on his mattress, still in pajamas, eating a bowl of ramen. I walked up to him and hit him upside the head. "Ow what was that for?" My face was scrunched up, I was frustrated with this golden idiot. "I will tell you what that was for. We have four job interviews for you today, and you haven't so much as showered in preparation. Go get ready now. Dress to impress too I don't want to see any holes in your clothes, and for goodness sake use some deodorant." He looked at me exasperated and said "Fine mom, I'm going. Uhh." What would he do without me. I wasn't going to tell him that I got us out of paying the rent this month. He needed something to light a fire under his butt, so he would be more motivated to work. "Don't mom me. You know today I have already been to three places, prepared a spoiled child for the day(he doesn't need to know that Olive is so sweet when it is just the two of us), made breakfast, taken her to school, used the bus and walked to get back here to help you!" I yelled again. He came out of the bathroom clothed and clean. "Better now cotton ball?" He asked. I glared at him "Better. Now hurry up" I said. I dragged him to the bus stop, where we had barely made it in time. "Okay Q-Tip where to first?" Robert really was a man child, having a fifteen year old schedule his day. "You know you are supposed to be taking care of me right?" I asked. He waved his hand "Yeah right. You have been taking care of me for years. You may be smaller, but you are still the boss." he said. "You aren't wrong." I said then continued "The first place is at a grocery store, they are looking for a golden to carry boxes. Next we have a café looking for a young man to be a barista. That's kind of sexist in my opinion. I think they are trying to attract a wider array of customers using male baristas. Then a gas station, that's an entry level job, so there isn't anything special about it. Finally there is a small construction company that is looking for workers. Since you are golden, and I personally have trained you I know you are strong. Don't mention who your trainer is, just say you have been working with a personal trainer for years. You will lose credibility if they find out that your trainer and career manager is a kid. When people ask who the girl waiting for you is tell them I am your little sister that you have taken in since our parents died. It technically isn't a lie, don't tell anyone I am working two jobs. When you are interviewing at the café put on all the charm you have. No one wants a boring barista." I said "Did you get all of that?" I said. He nodded. He smiled at me and pointed his thumb to himself, I don't have these blue eyes for nothing, I will nail these interviews, and I will follow your instructions." He said. I shoved several resumes onto his chest. "Great, give one of these to each of the jobs you apply for, not just interviews, I only made ten; so use them accordingly." I said. He looked confused, he began to speak "When did you...". I cut him off. "Okay this is our first stop." We entered the grocery store, and he left me alone, and followed the manager for his interview. I used the credit card that Ed gave me, and I bought supplies to make and decorate cupcakes with Olive. I waited for a while. My brother came out looking proud, and the manager came out looking disappointed. "Whelp I pretty much nailed that one." Robert said. I rolled my eyes "Onto the next interview" I said. I followed him and helped him until two o'clock. I knew I had to head back to Olive's school to pick her up. I left my brother to continue his job searching. I got into a cab and headed towards Olive's school. The traffic was running heavy, so I ended up being ten minutes late. As we finally pulled up to the school I saw Olive standing in front of the two men who tried to kidnap me before. I jumped out of the cab without paying. I ran towards Olive and pushed her behind me. "Hey" The taller man said. "You didn't drain that girl's color just now. So you WERE lying before." Olive squeaked behind me, "Do you know these guys?" Olive asked a wavering voice. Without turning my head to look at Olive I started giving her orders calmly. "Olive, go back into the school, find a grown up, tell them to call 911." Olive was shaking, but she listened. She ran through the gate into the school. "So what. if she calls 911?" The shorter man said "We'll just take you and be gone before police can get here." They both started to walk towards me. "You don't want to do this." I said. They continued to get closer "Oh I think we do." Said the taller man. "Fine, you asked for this." I said with a small forced smile. All my years of physical training and studying mixed martial arts and self defence were finally about to be worth it. I punched the taller man in the stomach then kneed his groin. While he was writhing on the sidewalk the smaller man had started charging at me. I elbowed his nose obviously breaking it. As he gripped his nose I elbowed the back of his head, rendering him unconscious. The taller man stood back up. I went to punch him again, but he grabbed my fist and pulled me in tight, not letting me go. "See you just had to do things the hard way." I panicked for a moment before I pushed my head forward then snapped it back again, headbutting the tall man's face. My head throbbed upon impact of the man's head. Before he let loose I kicked his groin once again with the back of my foot. He fell to the ground once more. I took the belt off of the still unconscious man's waist and tied the taller man's arms behind his back. Both men were subdued, and I had no visible injuries.The police came out and took the two men to the hospital in handcuffs. Olive ran to me, when she saw the police she started crying uncontrollably. "It's okay Squirt. Your safe and I'm safe." I hugged her tightly, holding back tears of my own. A felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see a police officer. "Miss, we need to take you in for questioning." The officer said. At this point the entire school faculty was outside watching. "Why?" I asked, "I just saved this child and defended myself. I did nothing wrong." I stated. The police officer began again, "Well you have a mysterious color on you, and from what I can tell those men are in far worse shape than you. I sighed. Olive was still pressed against my thigh holding me tight. "I will be with you in one moment officer, I need to find a suitable person to watch Miss Parker in my absence." Olive's teacher waved to me and grabbed Olive in her arms. Though Olive cried harder still wanting me. "I will call Olive's father to pick her up. I will explain everything." the teacher said. "Thank you" I replied. I looked at Olive and kissed her forehead. "Everything is okay." I said "You were very brave today, and you did everything I told you. I am very proud. I will see you later. Remember I am not leaving forever okay." Olive rubbed her nose and nodded in response. The officer cuffed me and sat me in the back of his police car. We began to drive, and the officer began to speak. "I have no idea how someone as tiny and not gold or red as you managed to subdue two grown men. There is no way that white means nothing. You have something. Those two were black and blue, and bloody too." he said. I smiled at my handiwork. This is the first red thing I had ever done.