Huey woke up with a start Sunday morning. Riley was not in his bed, odd. He rubbed his eyes and hopped out of bed. It was Rosalina's last day there and he was determined to figure out what happened to this Craig person.

Caesar and Jazmine weren't there either… they must have been went home early. It felt strange. He was usually the first one awake.

Turning around the railing of the stairs, he padded into the kitchen where he stopped suddenly. Instead of being faced with a tastely dressed back side of a young woman, he was met with the wrinkled brown face of his grandfather, sitting at the table, reading a newspaper.

"Huey!" He exclaimed happily, "Good morning, sleepy head,"

"What are you doing back?"

"Well… Missed you too, Son," Grandad chuckled, getting up and giving him a light hug, "Want some breakfast? I made bacon,"

"Where's Rosalina?" Huey wanted to know, "Is she packing or…"

"I'm sorry, boy," Grandad shrugged, "She left when I got here,"

"She's…. gone?"

"Riley was pretty shooken up by it when he woke up, too," Grandad muttered, "I'm just surprised yall aint dead… and she was okay, too,"

"She just left?" Huey seemed pretty sad, "But… I wanted to talk to her before she went home,"

"Oh… Wait a minute," Grandad snapped his fingers and walked over to the kitchen counter. He picked up a little envelope and handed it to him, "She left this for ya,"

Huey's eyes were a bit puzzled as he took the white paper covered note from his elder and stared down at the item that stuck out boldly in his dark hand. He carefully tore the flap off and took out the delicate paper. It wasn't anything special. Just notebook paper with words scribbled on not too perfectly with a black pen.

Huey,

I wanted to wake yall but I figured you were still pretty tired from last night. I'm sorry for making you feel pressured, but that was never my intention. It's important that you find a way to communicate with your grief in a healthy way, but you need to discover what way is best for you. Your voice is still louder than the wisest of scholars. Don't be afraid to love, Huey. There are so many in your life who haven't given up on you, so don't give up on any of them. We all need room to stumble. Help them up, but don't shove them into place.

Again, I apologize for leaving so suddenly, but, I'm going to Woodcrest U this fall so, I'll be sure to come visit.

With Love,

Rosalina Garza 3

PS- Take good care of Riley. He looks up to you more than you know.

Huey sighed as he lowered the note to his side. Looking back up at his grandfather, "Grandad, we got her number still?"

"Boy, you aint gonna call that girl and talk her ear off bout no stupid politics,"

"Grandad, this is serious,"

Riley dragged himself into the room, his eyes were puffy and his face was pouted. He rubbed his brown orbs and groaned a little bit.

"What'chyall makin all dat noise fer?" He muttered drowsily.

"Yo brother wants to call Rosalina," Grandad snipped.

"Grandad, why can't she stay here with us?" Huey offered, "This fall, can't she stay and be a… I don't know… full time nanny?"

"A nanny?"

"Yeah!" Riley jumped, "You'd love her, Grandad! She… She got mad cookin skillz! An' an' there's a good chance I'll stop cussin' fer good if she stay here,"

Grandad shook his head indignantly and just fluffed Huey's head as he walked casually by, "She'll visit when she comes back up here for college. Don't be needy, boy,"

Huey looked at Riley, who looked right back at him. It came clear to Huey that they were trying to peg their desires for a mother onto her. Was that fair? No… probably not. But, that didn't mean they weren't in need of one, right? She gave hugs and kisses out so easily and willingly. She seemed like the type of girl to kiss booboos and help out with school projects.

She took care into the food she made, trying to match the correct foods with the individuals tastes. Everything she did, she did out of love. It was addictive and hard to not long for more of it. Even her smile was something that was hard to get out of his head. She had that patient smile that his mother had.

That is what made her leaving kinda hard. It was so easy for her. She had tons of people in her life that loved her. A big family waiting for her back at home, and a billion kids to babysit. She didn't need them… but Huey couldn't help but feel they needed her.

He was being left alone all over again.

"I'm gon' miss her," Riley muttered to himself, "Think she'll miss us?"

"She has a huge family and she babysits a billion kids," Huey snapped, "What do you think?"

Riley's eyes welled up, tears threatening to spill. Sheesh. Anything made him cry. He was such a baby, sometimes.

"Stop cryin, baby," Huey told him, stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking up the stairs to get dressed, "No wonder she left- you're so annoying,"

"Whatever!" Riley barked, running after him, "She left cos you a gay ass little boy! Prolly ran outta here when Grandad got back! Always makin her talk to ya bout stupid stuff! Bored her outta her mind!"

"Oh! And I'm sure she loves watching kids who wanna be thugs and cuss like sailors even when they don't even know what half the words they say mean!"

With that last hurtfilled comment shouted, Huey trudged up the stairs. He was about to storm off into his bedroom, but stopped. Riley was probably going there soon, too. He didn't feel like starting the bicker off again, so, he went into the guest room.

It was bare. Everything Rosalina had brought was gone. As if she was never there. Huey sighed and went over to the window sill, taking a seat where she did. He gave the outside a good look. Hm. If you looked beyond all of the communist type styled houses, one could see the many trees and mountains in the distance. Had those always been there?

A glint caught his eye, turning his attention to the floor. There, resting on the carpet was a small photo. He delicately picked it up, his eyes widening a bit. It was a picture of Rosalina. She was sporting her big toothy smile, crammed into the photo with a little boy. He couldn't have been a day older than twelve. He was dark brown in color and had a buzz cut.

Something seemed… odd with him, though.

Huey stared at the picture, until it hit him. The boy in the picture didn't have a buzz cut… he was a chemo patient. He… he was sick.

He turned the picture over, "Rosalina Garza, Craig McCollins, 2005,"

A sick feeling came to his stomach. The whole story coming to him like a prophecy. She was his sitter and he got the cancer. After everyone found out, she would visit him very often in the hospital. She cared and loved him.

What caused such devotion?

Did he have a mother?

Was he all alone, too?

How long did it take for her to get over such a fatal blow?

Staring at the photo, Huey felt his grip go slack and loosen on the shiney paper. She would probably really miss this picture. It could be the only picture she had left of him. He took it to his room with haste and opened up his top dresser.

He set the picture down under a pair of pajamas, right next to the crumbled up photo of his mother.

He'd make sure she'd get it next fall and then, he'd get some of his questions answered. He swallowed hard and looked up at his ceiling.

"Mom…? Take care of Craig, okay? I'll be okay… but I think Rosalina would like you to watch him while she's… not able to, okay?"

OooOOOooOOOooOOOooOOOOoooOOOOoooOOOOOoooOOOOOoooOOOooOOO

XD awww! Huey!!! I so love Huey… but not in a creepy way

Uh… idk if im gonna do another chapter for this. But I kinda like this endning.

Craig McCollins was a boy I babysat for many years, he had a mom but she died when he was really little. He lived with his grandmother and he just called her mom, she wasn't really THERE enough to take care of him so he was taken care of by the state but since he stayed in the parish, he got to go to the community center, which is where I volunteer teaching acting.

Anyway, he was one of my fave students, very sweet, very, very smart. Well, one day we found out he had cancer. They caught it late, but they still put him through chemo and all that. It was horrible. He died, peacefully, in his sleep at 12 about three years ago.