Nay-nay and Me

A new day. The sunlight seeps in through the triangle window of my room. I open my eyes, rub the dried tears with my fingers, and sit up on the bed, pillow still on my lap. I stand up and walk over to the slightly open door. A pleasant smell of garlic rice flies in the air. It’s Nay-nay’s trademark. I know when it’s not she who cooks, because I don’t like the smell. I climb downstairs and went to the kitchen. She sets the eating utensils on the table.

Nay-nay knows that I’m already at the table, though she has not seen or heard me coming. She is busy putting garlic rice on my plate. “Son, you eat your breakfast now,” she orders, not looking at me. She turns her plump body and smiles at me, a motherly smile. “You must arrive early to school.” She always says it to me.

I nod while showing her a grin. I sit down on the stool and begin eating the delicious breakfast. I never forget to appreciate Nay-nay. She is a good nanny, as a mother to me.

After the meal, Nay-nay readies my school uniform. She puts it on my bed gently to avoid messing it up while I am busy taking a bath. When I’m dressed up, she comes out of my bedroom and starts other chores. Cleaning the entire house, from the toilet up to the attic. She sweeps from every corner of the room.

Before noontime, she prepares lunch for Pa and Ma. They go home from their work to have lunch. In the afternoon, she washes clothes and irons them. At night, she fixes supper before Pa and Ma arrive. And after supper, she cleans the kitchen. Before she sleeps, she goes to Pa, and he does something on her nape.

Pa says I must pay respect to Nay-nay. But, my classmate Jessen says people like Nay-nay must not be treated that way. She is being paid for her duty, says Jessen. I don’t believe him. I love Nay-nay, even though he says she’s different from us. I even love her more than Pa and Ma. She’s always with me. Pa and Ma don’t seem to have time for me. They put hard themselves on work. I don’t know.

At school, Jessen always hits our teacher in the face with crumpled paper. Ma said it is a bad thing. We must also give teachers respect, even though they differ from us. I don’t know. But Jessen says they are being paid like nannies.

Once, Jessen threw off his digital notepad at our history teacher. He hit her on the head, but she didn’t react, seemed nothing happens. She just went on talking, telling us how the first human had landed on Jupiter. Several of my classmates also hit her with crumpled pieces of paper or sometimes their grimy shoes, but she did not react. She never reacts to any violent action from her students. I don’t like how my classmates treated her. She has taught me a lot about Earth’s and Mars’ history.

Sometimes, knowing that Pa and Ma are not yet around in the house and Nay-nay is still doing household chores, I remain at school busy talking with teacher J23. She always tells me the history of Sol, from the time of Neil Armstrong to the time of Rob Cushaw, the first man to land on Ganymede 50 years ago. It’s nice talking to her, especially hearing her pleasant voice.

One time, we forgot it was already dark outside. The old principal went in.

“Oh, Mr. Kenneth, you’re still here?” He had memorized the students’ names in school, so I expected he knew me. “It’s late. Have your Ro-bike arrived already at the gates?”

I bowed shyly.

He looked at teacher J23. “How’s your day, J23?”

“Fine, Sir.” She smiled at him. “I love talking to students. Mr. Kenneth is a talented student and a good listener too.” She glanced at me. Her smile didn’t fade.

I didn’t wait for him to tell me to go home, so I moved out but still peeking at them. I saw him did something on teacher J23’s nape, like what Pa always does to Nay-nay every night.

I wonder about it. Jessen says all adults like Pa and Ma and the Principal always do that to nannies and teachers before they go to sleep.

I then headed for my Ro-bike floating beside the gates, rode on to the house. And, I saw Nay-nay waiting for me at the door. She smiled. It’s the thing I like the most. “How’s school, son?” she always asks that.

“Fine, Nay-nay,” I said and hugged her. She hugged me back tightly, the thing I love the most.

For months I’ve wondered about why Pa touch Nay-nay’s nape before she goes to sleep. Then, one day Pa and Ma passed away because of a Robo-car accident. The investigation of Robolice concluded that the Robo-car failed to follow Pa’s instructions. And, the government resolved my condition by leaving me to the care of a family, but of course, I took Nay-Nay with me. My new parents, who were also always away at night, told me how to take care of Nay-nay. They said I must switch off the tuner on Nay-nay’s nape after she finished the household chores. That was to charge her battery until morning.

Even if Pa and Ma left me, I still have Nay-nay with me. She will never leave me until I grow up and old and I die.