Help Maria

The next day John woke feeling fantastic. He looked in the mirror and swore he could already see a small change in his appearance. He decided to take a picture of himself in order to compare the difference tomorrow. He rushed out the front door for school, not even considering eating breakfast. On his way out Maria stopped him.

“John! Did you get something to eat?” She called after him.

“No, I’m fine thank you.” He shouted back from down the hall.

“Have a piece of toast! I’ve already made it.” She held out a small plate.

John jogged back and took a piece. “Thanks Maria.” He said kissing her on the cheek.

He glanced inside their apartment and noticed it was more disheveled than usual. Their fight last night had been a big one. Maria was only fifty years old but the stress of living with a vile human like Carlos had worn on her; her posture had slouched and her eyes had darkened substantially.

Later at school John kept talking to Jane. “Should I do something about Carlos?” He asked.

“It is completely up to you, dude.” She replied.

“Can you tell me whether he beats her?”

“He has assaulted her twice before.”

“What could I do?”

“Wanna kill him?” Jane asked.

“What the fuck, No!” John gasped. “Well… maybe. Let’s keep that in the maybe pile.”

“You could help him.”

“Help? What do you mean?”

“Well… Carlos has a long history of trauma. His father abused him as a child. His mother was never around. And the family dog ‘Spike’ bit him on the ass when he was eight, he hasn’t been able to sit comfortably ever since. Maybe you could help him work through that.” She suggested.

“Hmm… Yeah that’s not a bad idea. Maybe I’ll do that for my next change. I think I would like him away from Maria for a while though, just so she is safe.”

“How about killing two birds with one stone? Give him the awareness to move away and seek help to deal with his problems.” Jane typed.

“That’s great, can you make sure that you enter that at midnight please?”

“Sure but John, something that big will take a substantial amount of change. It will consume two changes every day for the next week, is that what you want?” John didn’t think twice, Maria was incredibly important to him. “Yes, make it happen.” His words began to blink green.

The rest of his day was surprisingly uneventful, save for Mrs. Chanelle being slightly startled by his appearance when he entered the room for Math. However the rest of the lesson was completely normal, as usual she barely even seemed to notice he was there.