A Snack

Like a defibrillator, she jolted me back to life, making my heart move in ways It's never done before. Her words kept playing on repeat in my head. 'It just makes you cuter.' What does she mean by that? Am I cute looking? I don't really know what classifies as cute. People at work say I have a very serious face, which can't be cute. Do I act cute? I looked over to Sofía when I heard her breathing calm down. She had closed her eyes. If anything, she was pretty cute to me. Maybe second best to my daughter, who is in first place by a long shot. On a cute scale, I don't see myself being anywhere near either of them.  

“Are you that tired?”

“Maybe. I had a hard time sleeping last night.” Sofía nestled her head against my arm.

“Me too.”

“What for?”

“Just didn’t feel tired.” There was no way I’d tell her. “You?”

“Mmm, there’s no way I’d tell you.”

“Huh!?”

“What, do you really want to know?”

“Oh, no. That wasn’t it.”

“Then what was it?”

“Nothing.”

A cart rolled in front of us, and the person behind it was an older lady.

“Excuse me.” She spoke quietly, trying to grab my attention during our moment of rest. “May I get to what’s behind you real quick?”

“Oh sorry!” We awkwardly stood up and moved out of the way.

The older lady laughed and grabbed what she needed. “Imani, your parents are just as interesting and lively as you.”

Whatever being ‘lively’ and ‘interesting’ meant to her would never cross my mind, but to have Sofía mistaken as Imani’s mother was going to make me second guess how close I should be. Worst case scenario it makes her uncomfortable having such things said about her.

“My Papa is a winner!” Imani proudly proclaimed.

“Oh-ho-ho, that he is, darling.”

“Wait I think you might be misunder—”

“I’ll be going now. You three have a lovely day.” The older lady pushed her cart and examined the displays of meat just a little further down the wall.

“Bye Jannette!” Imani waved.

“—standing…” The hand I rose while trying to explain myself was turned into a wave goodbye.

Sofía was impressed with ImanI. “Wow Imani, you know almost everyone. Even Sammy has a hard time remembering his own family's names."

It's true, Imani has a really good memory. When she first started learning to speak, at a little over one, she picked up a lot of things extremely fast. It was pretty surprising when I was able to have a few lengthy and comprehensible conversations with her at two. Now she can chat up a storm when she wants, only struggling with pronunciation at times.

"Isn't my daughter just the smartest?" I pick Imani up and kiss her on the forehead, having become overly zealous in praising my daughter the moment anyone compliments her.

"Yes, she is a smart little cutie." Sofía squished Imani's cheek, making her giggle. "But Sammy is the cutest, and he is very creative."

"So it's a war huh?"

"Have you ever seen my son's drawings? They are so cool!"

It was Sofía's turn to boast about her son, and that she did. In her phone's photo gallery was an album with hundreds of drawings, all vibrant with color, and very detailed. Artistically, Imani isn't quite as interested. Her drawing skills have only reached a level where she will make big splotches of crayon scribbles. I think she just enjoys the sensation of smashing crayons on paper, and that's about it. Samuel's art, however, has not just stick figures, but actual anatomy, although cartoonish and wildly disproportionate. What was even more impressive was the personality of each character and place.

"You weren't kidding. This is so good!" I put my hand on the phone to bring it closer and have a better look.

"Hey, that's me!" Imani pointed at one of the drawings.

It was of a girl who had similar hair and colored eyes, and above her was Imani's name written very neatly. She was drawn with a very cute purple dress on and had a crown of various gems, but what stood out in very crude contrast was what was written below.

"Queen of Worms..." I read aloud with great confusion. 

"Oh, and that's Raj!" Imani pointed to another drawing.

It had dawned on me after Imani began to point out every name and drawing, these were all imaginative characters of the kids from her preschool. Everyone had a costume and a role. Were they planning some sort of screenplay?

"Wait a second. I get it now!" Sofía gasped. "They're like character sheets!"

"Character sheets?" 

"Yea for roleplaying games. Although this isn't as detailed as something like a D&D character sheet, more like an OC introduction sheet you'd see people post online."

"D&D? OC? Again you've lost me."

"D&D, Dungeons and Dragons. It's a game you can play with a group of friends and roleplay as characters while you explore an imaginative story guided by your game master. I was a game master once back in high school, but people said I was very ruthless to the adventurers."

"Ruthless? You don't seem like someone who would be ruthless." I let Imani down so she can run around.

Sofía shot me a glance. "Oh believe me. You haven't seen what I’m like during role-play." Her voice was strangely aggressive and very provocative.

"No I haven't, and maybe I shouldn't." I gulped down my ambitious thoughts.

"Please, you should join me sometime. I'll make sure to help guide you through it all.”

If she doesn't quit wording things so vaguely and with such a titillating voice, I'll need to leave her with Imani and visit the bathroom again, but not for the same reasons. I stretch my collar to cool myself down and take a deep breath.

"We should probably finish doing what we came here for, shopping. Let's go get our carts."

"Carts!" Imani ran ahead.

"Oh right, my snacks!” Sofía followed.

We all hurried to our carts to make sure they weren’t taken back after being left abandoned for our little game. Luckily when we came back to our starting line, nobody had touched them. Sofia’s cart was still loaded with snacks, and mine was empty just beside hers. We took our carts and started moving, but everywhere I went Sofía followed, and it bothered me. Trying to ignore it, I focused heavily on my shopping list. Along with the usual accouterments I regularly purchase, I was planning to whip up a dinner with this recipe I cut out of a book.

“What you got there? I see a whole chicken, garlic, and some chili peppers. Do you like spicy stuff?” Sofía snooped around my cart.

“Not so much as Imani. She’s got the palette of her mother. Figured I’d try something we can both enjoy without one of us burning alive and the other laughing.”

“Sounds good. I can't wait to try some."

"You? Wait a second." I stopped to think, having almost forgotten about the watch party proposition. "Were you serious?"

"Yea, why not? It seems like fun. I also want to see your normie impression of anime."

"Normie? At this point, I shouldn't even ask."

"Remember. I'm paying."

"You really don't have to." I grabbed two potatoes from a display.

"Please. Everything is on me."

Sofía started to pile up her groceries into my cart to make the checkout process easier.

"This doesn't feel right. Are you sure about this?" I worriedly stopped the cart before the checkout area and looked at our combined groceries.

"Just let me do this at least." Sofía hugged my arm. "I can afford it."

"Ok..."

This type of thing wasn't what I'd expect from her. I thought she was just a little nerdy and caring. Now things feel a little overbearing, and it's made me uncomfortable. I can't tell her no despite that. She's been so nice to me and my daughter. Whatever is going on in her head, I hope they have good intentions. The shopping came to a close, Sofía paid for everything, and Imani was enjoying a face full of sour gummies. Sofía gave me her address and I prepared for the journey to her place. The drive felt surreal. Here I am in a car on my way to Sofía's home if all places.

An apartment complex, that's where she lived. It was pretty neat, nestled in a nicely wooded area with a beautiful pond just to the side. A gaggle of geese wandered the acres of grass making lots of noise, and standing at the front face of the complex was Sofía, who already arrived and was waiting for us. When she saw our car pull up, she welcomed us with a gleeful wave.

"We've arrived!" I called to Imani, who was swinging her feet as she waited.

"Sofía's home? We're gonna wash animals!" Imani became jumpy in her seat, ready to bounce out of the car.

"It's anime, the cartoons."

"Cartoons!"