Spring Eternal

Chapter 8
Hitting the Sales

Chapter Description: Iris is determined not to have a repeat of last night's events to Cal's dread.

The next morning, Cal was strapped into the car seat without a word from Iris of where they were going or what the plan was for the day. He was filled with unease. Iris had simply disregarded any input from him on what was planned for their day. She did not discuss or even inform him of what they were doing, as if his opinion was of no consequence. The biggest fear that had haunted him since he had been diagnosed with the AR virus had come true. He was not even considered competent enough to be informed of where he was being taken. He wanted to question Iris, demand what was she doing, why she was treating him like this. That’s what a voice in his head was telling him to say, but there was something about her that unnerved him so. It made him feel quite unsteady. He dare not question less he bring down her wrath. Despite the dispute in his mind, Iris had become a goddess whose merest whim could throw him into a pit of despair or raise him up to unbelievably elation. Inside of him, there was an instinctive urge to please her that was overwhelming, so he sat quietly in his car seat waiting to see whatever agenda she had planned for the day. The sense of powerlessness seeped through him as he realized that he had become just a passenger in his own life.

Cal didn’t know why he could not rebel against Iris this morning. He had just opened his eyes when she had walked into his room this morning. Already dressed for the day, she sat on the end of his bed and stroked his hair as she greeted him with a softly musical good morning. He was intimidated by her caress and unconsciously worked the pacifier still in his mouth as he stared up at her. She released the sheet and blanket that had securely held him in place for the last few hours. He felt a tingling over his body as he felt the blood returning to his extremities as he lay there unmoving. Iris’ hand moved down to check his diaper. It was wet. She clucked as she retrieved a diaper from the bag of diapers in his closet and came back to the bed. He lay still on the bed until she rolled him over to his back and deftly ripped the tapes from the plastic garment. Once a new diaper was in place, she lifted his unresisting body up and brought him up to her shoulder. She smoothly stood and carried him out of his room and down the hallway into the kitchen.

Cal looked around the kitchen to see if there was any indication left of the mess he had created last night. There was no sign of it. Iris had done an excellent job of removing any trace of last night’s calamity. Before he knew it, Iris swiftly sat him in his highchair and fastened the tray in front of him. She pulled at the pacifier at his mouth and he reluctantly released it, not wanting to be parted from the small comfort it afforded him. It came out with a small pop when Iris managed to pull it free. Iris took it over to the sink while Cal’s hands floated over the surface of the tray in front of him, until they finally stopped when they grasped desperately at each other. Cal watched Iris’ back with cautious eyes as she moved around the kitchen, humming to herself. Becoming aware of his powerlessness, he looked down at the knuckles on his chubby hands that were turning white with the effort they were gripping each other.

“Here you go.” Iris stated as she turned back from the counter for a moment.

Suddenly, a stark white and green sippy cup appeared in front of him on the tray. He stared at it for a moment, before reaching out with both hands to bring it up to his mouth. He didn’t even consider asking Iris what was in it. This morning, he would drink whatever she sat in front of him without complaint. Accepting the cup without a sound, he meekly sat back against the chair. He could smell the slightly sharp aroma of apples as he brought the cup toward his mouth, realizing that it contained apple juice. He allowed the sugar of the juice flow into his system, eliminating his thirst and barely diminishing the knot in his gut. He balanced the cup up in front of his face, hardly daring to look at Iris.

A few moments later, he heard the scratch of a nearby chair being pulled across the floor. He lifted his eyes away from the cup to see Iris sitting in front of the high chair. She reached up and pulled the cup away from Cal, who followed the path of the cup that was set on the kitchen table. Iris had made a small bowl of cooked cereal sitting on the table next to where she sat the cup. Cal’s eyes followed her hand as she picked up the bowl. Cal looked down as he remembered the wonderful breakfast he had yesterday, thinking of the glorious experience. He was not surprised when he found that that choice had been taken away from him, since last night’s events were weighing heavily upon him.

“Good boy, let’s have some nice cereal, shall we?” Iris crooned at him as she dipped the spoon into the bowl.

A spoon with the opaque dully colored cereal was presently pressing against his lips. He parted his lips as the spoon slipped in and deposited its burden inside his mouth. It was an mild tasting cooked grain cereal that had been thinned down with milk. It did not taste bad, but was extremely bland. After a few bites, he wished he could have had something to liven it; however the constant parade of spoonfuls of cereal did not allow him any opportunity to address her. He became increasingly frustrated, so he leaned over and pointed at the sugar bowl on the table, intimating with a pointed finger since the stream of food into his mouth had not abated.

“No, honey, that’s not for you.” Iris corrected him as she pulled his arm down and straightened him in the highchair to continue feeding him.

For the rest of breakfast, he silently and obediently opened his mouth for the remaining spoonfuls of cereal. Once the bowl was scraped clean, he was presented with the sippy cup again. With that, Iris turned back to the table and picked up a red pen. She had the newspaper classified section folded back into a easily held rectangle. Picking up her reading glasses, she perused the ads, circling those that caught her interest. Cal could not even see what section was holding her interest. Over the edge of the cup, he watched her as she made little sounds of discovery which were marked with the red marker. He wondered if perhaps she was looking at apartment ads. He felt a small flame of hope flare up inside him that Iris would no longer be residing with him and his friends and this farce could end.

Now, he was dressed in a plaid camp shirt, long cargo shorts and white socks peeked out of the small toddler sneakers on his feet. Well contained in his car seat, he could see the back of Iris’ head as they navigated the streets of a nearby subdivision. It was Saturday morning so the streets were filled with kids on bicycles, people walking their dogs and the occasional jogger. Cal spotted several riding lawnmowers working back and forth in the front yards of the homes, emitting a mechanical hum through the interior of the car as they drove by. Cal wondered if there was a rental nearby that had caught Iris’ eye as they turned on street after street. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw some brightly colored signs on one corner. In the next instant, Iris pulled the car over and parked. Before he knew it, she managed to pull him out of his car seat and place him on her hip, leaving his diaper bag in the car. Cal spun his head around to see where they were. It was a neighborhood garage sale.

The sides of the street were littered with numerous tables laden with old baskets, ceramic knickknacks, clunky looking lamps and odd pieces of furniture. There were a number of people milling amongst the tables, inspecting the items and negotiating with the purveyors. Noisy children were dashing in between the tables adding to the chaotic environment. Iris marched down a number of houses with Cal bouncing on her hip till she stopped in front of one house. There in the front of the house on display was a number of apparently well used baby furniture. Cal was struck dumb as Iris walked into the yard to inspect an old fashioned wooden playpen. He sucked in his lower lip as he watched her contemplate its use. She shook one side of the wooden bars to check their stability as cold fingers of dread creeping up the back of Cal’s neck.

He jumped slightly and his small hand grabbed at the Iris’ collar when the woman who owned it approached them with a friendly greeting. Iris smiled as she solidly patted Cal on the seat of his thickly padded pants as the two women stuck up a friendly conversation immediately. Iris explained that she was taking care of Cal while her daughter was out of town. She didn’t understand her daughter’s methods of letting a little one have free reign. After recent events, she was interested in the baby furniture to help corral the little one’s night excursions. The woman named Sharon laughed knowingly as she stated that her youngest had outgrown the infant furniture, she intimated with a incline of her head to a number of the children in the yard. The woman added that she had a whole suite of baby furniture that she was trying to sell. Cal stared at Iris, dumbfounded by the conversation being held over his head. He urgently peered up at Iris’s face, hoping to catch her attention as he shook his head no. For the first time this morning, he struggled to make a declaration but was so emotionally overwhelmed that his tenuous control of the muscles of his mouth was impaired, making his speech garbled. It only resulted in a slight escalation of Iris’ bouncing.

The woman held out her arm to indicate there was more furniture near the back of the house. Cal began to squirm as he tried to get Iris attention. Sharon noting the child’s unrest suggested that her older daughters could watch Cal while Iris inspected the furniture. The woman beckoned one of the older girls that were assisting with the garage sale. Two girls of middle school age appeared by the woman’s side. She introduced her as her daughters, Lanie and Alison. She asked the girls to watch Cal while she and his grandmother looked at the baby furniture in the garage. Iris bent over and placed Cal on his feet. He didn’t want to be watched over by some strange girl. He reached up with both hands to complain about it but it came out little more than a sound of yearning to be picked up again.

“Oh, come on now. You’re alright. You go play with the other children. I’ll be right here.” Iris comforted Cal as she placed a few well placed pats that made him take a few steps towards one of the unknown middle schoolers.

“Hi there, Cal. Ooh, you are a cutie! Do you want to come play with us?” Lanie knelt down to look at Cal’s face as she held out a hand as her slightly younger sister smiled over her shoulder at him.

In the next moment, both of his hands were trapped in the grasp of each of the two girls as they escorted him away from the two chatting older women. The girls looked down affectionately at him as the led the reluctant toddler toward the grassy area in the front yard where more children were located. Desperately insecure, Cal looked back longingly at Iris who was already enthralled in her conversation with Sharon.

Once they arrived in the middle of the melee of children, Lanie and Alison took him over to where a little boy was busily playing with some toy cars on the drive way. The little boy who looked to be about five years old was a rumpled mess. His hair stuck up strangely on his head, his clothing was askew and there was a fine coating of grime on his face which gave him a derelict look. He was possessively holding a toy car the size of a shoebox in front of him as he measured the little stranger in front of him.

“Barry, this is Cal. I want you show him how to play cars.” Lanie said as she bent over from the waist to address her little brother. She picked up an upturned car from the driveway and placed it in Cal’s hands. She and her sister looked on the sight of the two little boys with a sense of accomplishment before calling out before they turned away. “Play nice now.”

With a puddle of grimy snot suspended on his upper lip, Barry reached over with a gummy hand and roughly plucked the dented toy car from Cal’s grasp. Cal could feel the implied menace coming from the kindergartener, so he looked down at his feet. He was suddenly felt an immense pressure on his shoulder as the larger boy pushed Cal onto his bottom.

“I don’t play with babies.” Barry announced as he scowled at Cal before turning back to the miniature automobile devastation on the driveway.

Cal watched stunned as he saw Barry travel out to the middle of the driveway where he began pushing the larger monster truck he had been holding over the smaller cars. The little boy seemed to take delight in the larger truck rolling over the smaller cars with an accompanying growl. Cal was relieved that his playmate did not take it upon himself to involve Cal in the artificial demolition of the toy cars in the driveway.

Cal sat there flat on his rear with his legs straight out in front of him. He looked around to see where Iris had gone. He couldn’t see her from where he was sitting. He twisted around to see where his assigned monitors were. He could not pick them out from the milling adults and children moving around the garage sale tables. He used this time alone to go over his thoughts. He placed the end of his index finger in his mouth as he thought of Iris’ purpose in coming to this event. It irked him that she thought that the baby furniture was necessary. It wasn’t like he was a real child. Up till now, he and his friends had lived quite contentedly with each other without the necessary accoutrements of infancy. He could reason and negotiate a resolution to the current predicament. He didn’t need to be contained in what was literally a socially acceptable cage called a playpen. Yes, last night was regrettable, but there was no reason to go to these lengths. A small ball of irritation and anger began to form in his gut. He didn’t have to take this! He just had to get a hold of Patrice and Randall; they would come home and put this situation to rest. He remembered that sometimes Patrice left a cell phone in the car. If only he could get to it, he thought rashly. Impulsively, he got to his feet and began to hurriedly walk toward the street.

He had not gone more than five feet when a larger hand closed around his shoulder, putting an immediate stop to his progress. He looked up to see the other older girl, Alison had a hold of him. She stood in his path as she turned him back to facing the driveway again. She looked back at where Barry and his cars were continuing the monster truck reenactment.

“I guess Barry isn’t going to share his toys. You can hang out with me. Okay?” Alison said with an inflated enthusiasm as she picked up Cal and held him high on her waist.

For the next exceedingly slow fifty two minutes, Cal was bounced, tickled and swayed by Alison. Cal had begun to wonder if she must have recently put aside playing with baby dolls by the way she was cooing in his face and trying to curry a smile from him every minute. She would encourage him to toddle away from her as she would be foot behind him trying to goose his bottom. He hated to admit it but it was entertaining to be lifted in the air when she would catch him. After swinging him around a bit, huge belly laughs erupted from his gut, making him convulse with the effort. Sometimes, the two of them would sit on the grass which would include a session of awkward patty cake between the two of them. After their most recent round of chase, Alison sat down on the grass and placed Cal on her lap. Actually physically tired, Cal leaned against the flat chest of the young girl. He released a deep sigh as he relaxed against her and stared at the grass in front of him, his eyes glazing over. Although it did slightly startle him, he was glad to hear Iris’ voice carry over to them.

“Well, it looks like you two had a good time.” Cal heard as he heard the grass crunch under Iris’ feet as she approached.

“Yes, Alison is so good with the little ones.” Sharon replied. “She’s our little mother.”

“Was Calvin a good boy?” Iris asked as she looked down at the young girl with the obviously tired toddler on her lap.

“Oh, yes, Mam. We had a good time.” Alison replied as she sat Cal on the grass before standing herself and picking him up. “I think he needs to be changed though.”

“I’m not surprised.” Iris commented as she held out her arms to take the limp body of the drowsy toddler.

Cal placed his head on Iris shoulder as she finalized the details of the purchase, delivery and set up of the furniture. Cal knew he should say something, but the continuous activity of the last forty minutes had completely enervated him. He mumbled something unintelligible as his face rested on her shoulder. He could hear Sharon state that her husband had loaded the furniture into their pickup and would follow Iris. Her husband would set it up in Cal’s room for her. Cal struggled raise his head to dispute the agreement between the adult sized individuals, but his body would not react to his wishes. He was only able to rock it back and forth as he made a whining sound. Iris’ hand came up to smooth his back as he heard her quietly shush him. If he hadn’t been so exhausted, he would have gotten angry…but the lethargy that swallowed his body was too overwhelming. Try as he might, Cal was slipping under the wave of the exhaustion as he was held against Iris’ body. Cal could not support the weight of his eyelids as they insistently became heavier and heavier until he could not keep them open any longer.