Matt

CAPO

I was a bit worried that my teeth weren’t getting any whiter.

“Quit checking on your teeth bro. They’re still as yellow as the daisies at the corner of my room.” Matt jeered. I could see him through the mirror observing me as I checked my teeth.

“One day I would have pristine white teeth. I’m very hopeful about that Matt,” I said and laughed.

“Well since I was born you’ve been trying so hard but to no avail. Stop wasting your time big bro,” he continued the caricature.

“But I have complete set of teeth unlike you. I can count how many teeth you have in there,” I returned the sneer.

“Well once upon a time you were as little as me. i’m still growing and I’d soon have complete set of teeth. It might take some time, but one thing is sure. They’ll never be as yellow-brown as yours,” he said in defence.

“You can never be so sure, you little boy,” I replied. “By the way, lots of girls still drool over me even though I don’t have the best set of teeth as you think,” I added.

“Then those girls are either blind or they simply don’t know how to make good choices.”

“Hey Matt, get into the bathroom. You’ve got to be early to school today so your teacher wouldn’t be angry at you,” Mum said, walking into the room.

I pulled out my phone and began to check my messages. I had not done that since I woke up.

“Chris I’ll need you to help me drive Matt to school this morning. For some reason I have to be at work extra early today so I’d be taking the other car and Michael said he won’t be back from the gym till 10:00 am this morning,” she said from the bathroom as she bathed Matt.

“okay Mum. I’ll do that,” I replied.

In a jiffy, she was done. “Please help me get him dressed. I’ve got food on the cooker. Let me go check it,” she said.

Mum seemed so tensed up that morning probably because she needed to be at work in time. Nevertheless, for some reason I felt she woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

“I’m looking for my little capo. I can’t remember where last I kept it,” Matt said.

“What’s that though? I’ve never heard about it before,” I replied.

“Okay, Dad bought me a capo few weeks ago. He said it would help me quickly change my guitar’s key whenever I need to do so. But he added that as I advance in learning music, I might not need the capo any longer,” he replied.

“Alright, got it. It’s almost 8:00 AM and you’re running late so I guess I’d just take you to school now then we can talk about finding your capo later in the day when you must have come back from school. Are you okay with that?”

“No I’m not,” Matt replied. “Well I guess you don’t have a choice. Get in the car let’s go.”

Matt began to cry as he walked to the car. Carrying in my hand his little school bag, I rushed to the kitchen, picked up his lunch box.

It was until I was about to start the car that I noticed he had been crying all the while. “Come on Matt! Your school comes first okay? When you’re back from school you would have all the time in the world to look for your capo and trust me, it’s not lost. It’s definitely somewhere in the house,” he didn’t say a word.

“Okay let me get you some Twinkies, I hope that makes you happy now,” I said as I pulled over in front of Mr Pony’s - a grocery store across the road.

I walked in and picked some Twinkies, moved over to the counter and paid for them. I tried to do this as quickly as I could, knowing we were out of time, then I went back to where I parked the car.

He became calm and smiled as I handed him the snacks. “Thank goodness,” I mumbled.

“What did you say Chris?” he asked.

“No I wasn’t talking to you. I was just thinking aloud,” I replied, turned on the ignition and began racing to school.

We both sat in silence until we got to Matt’s school. The car’s clock read 8:20 AM when we arrived.

“Be a good boy at school, Matt.” I said as I stuck out my head from the window.

“Okay big brother,” he replied, raising his voice a little bit as he was already at a considerable distance from the car.

While I drove back home, I began to think about what I’d spend the rest of the day doing. I had graduated from college and there was a handful of options as to what was next after College.

It was clear that I needed to take like a one-year break from education but the direction my life would take after the break which was already on, was of great concern to me.

I could proceed to graduate school for my Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme or I could just go ahead and apply for a job right off the bat.

Alternatively I could become an intern at any firm of my choice so I could gain some experience and that would help me properly transition into my career or job routines.

I almost forgot to stop in front of the traffic light which was red at the time. I now had to stop thinking so I could be more alert while I drove home.

“Yes you promised to help me look for my capo once I get back from school,” Matt said, as i pulled off his shoes.

Time and again, Matt’s assertiveness and intuition baffled me so much. For a child four years of age, some of the things he did and said were far from the routine but inasmuch as I was consistently taken aback by this, I knew it was a good sign.

“That’s true. We’ll do that but I want you to first come have lunch and do your homework before we look for your capo okay?” I said in a bid to buy time. I knew it was going to be difficult to locate that little object considering how Matt often kept things in awkward places and seldom remembered where he kept them. This wasn’t the first time.

“Yes big bro,” he replied with his tiny voice.

“By the way how was school today?” I asked him, “School was fun although in the morning, Ms. White was not happy with me because I came late to school,” he replied.

“Can you see the result of your stubbornness this morning?”

“I’m sorry Chris. It’s just that i can’t play the guitar without my capo. That was why I was worried about it. I’m even scared that we may never find it any longer,” he said.

“I’d join you to search for it and if we can’t find it I’d get you a new one so you don’t have to worry okay?” I reassured him.

All the while, I never knew that I was getting myself ready for full-time parenting, neither did I see the calamity ahead of us.