Chapter 12
ASH
The store looks like the damn flag exploded and had babies.
While I understand the patriotism behind it, I have always been annoyed at the commercialism surrounding holidays like Memorial Day and Independence Day.
My father is a Marine – retired, but once a Marine, always a Marine – so I was taught to respect the flag and to follow the specific regulations surrounding its handling.
Nowhere in the flag code is there an allowance for plates, cups, swimwear, or sunglasses to be made out of the Stars and Stripes.
“Can we get the good hot dogs?” Gerry calls over to me from his position by the prepackaged meats case. “The dollar ones are kind of gritty.”
After glancing at the prices, I tell him to go nuts.
The brand he wants is actually on sale for the holiday weekend, so I can splurge the extra fifty-eight cents.
Plus, I think I might have a coupon for that brand as well.
Digging through my envelope of coupons, I find it.
Since it’s a buy two, get one free deal, I tell the kid to grab two more packs and I’ll just throw them in the freezer.
Spending the last few weeks with the kid every day has been surprisingly fun.
I never really liked kids even when I was one, but Gerry is different from what I expected.
For starters, the boy is tiny. If it wasn’t for the eyes and smile, I would really wonder if Jace had been duped.
Then you add in the manners. Most little shits these days are just that: little shits.
Gerry is a respectful little shit. He is sometimes a bit of a brat, but only in the best way.
He pushes buttons to tease, but has the kindest, caring soul.
Surprisingly, he has accepted the alternative lifestyles of our neighbors with very few questions.
Even with me, he started calling me “Uncle Ash” or “Auntie Ash” depending on my pronouns for each day until I told him to just call me by my name.
Now, it’s just a constant string of “Ash, did you know…?” “Ash, can we get…?” “Ash, what does this mean?” and I am beyond surprised that I don’t mind it as much as I thought I would.
This kid is probably the most laid-back and roll with it kind of person I have ever met. Even Lucky in full on Little mode doesn’t faze him.
That was purely accidental. It never occurred to Jace that cleaning up and fixing the old swing set for Gerry would result in Lucky taking advantage of it while Spencer wasn’t home.
The kid took it all in stride, though. He even joked that he could pick up some extra cash babysitting Lucky if Spencer ever needed a break.
“Where are your parents?!”
An angry harpy screeching from the next aisle has me weaving the buggy between the octogenarians who have no concept of a grocery store being a public – and therefore, shared – space.
Turning the corner, I see a bitch who is about to get her face rearranged if she doesn’t get her claws off my boy’s arm.
“I highly recommend you don’t put hands on someone else’s kid,” I tell her after letting my buggy slam into hers.
The dumbass doesn’t let go of Gerry while glaring at me, but I notice the kid relax slightly after hearing my voice.
The harpy starts screeching again about something like respect and youth of today which is quickly being drowned out by that unique tunnel noise that always takes over before my fists take over the talking.
These hands are indeed rated “E” for everyone.
Mama always said it’s wrong for a man to punch a woman, but honey, I ain’t a man today.
“You tell him, Nana!”
If the walking zygote hadn’t opened his mouth, I never would have noticed him behind Gerry, happily stuffing his face with food that obviously hadn’t yet been paid for.
“Give me your parents’ numbers! They should be ashamed to have raised…”
Gerry’s face shifts from slightly amused to ready to commit murder in an instant.
“Insult my parents again, Bitch. I dare you.”
I might have laughed at the apoplectic fit the woman starts to have if I wasn’t worried about Gerry and Jace and social services getting involved if this continues to escalate.
My hand shoots out to rip her hand off Gerry and pull him into my arms. The slight hitch in his breathing tells me everything I need to know about what the fuck is about to happen.
While the bitch is screaming her demands for a manager and the police, I help shield a little boy so that he feels safe enough to cry.
There’s no sound from him. If I wasn’t holding him, I would have never guessed he was even upset.
Thirty minutes later, the woman is in handcuffs for assaulting a minor, verbal assault, disturbing the peace, and shoplifting while Gerry and I load our heavily discounted groceries into the trunk of my car.
Honestly, we were lucky that the manager on duty is an ally with a non-binary sibling.
When the harpy figured out I am not biologically a woman, that started a whole other bitchfest about bathrooms.
Like, Honey, I have actual taste. If I’m going to peep at someone, it’s going to be someone with a giant schlong that I can ride for hours.
“You doing okay, Kiddo?” I ask as I get back into the sauna that is my car after putting the buggy in the corral. Only heathens leave the buggies loosey goosey in the parking lot.
Gerry looks at me with a shadow of his usual exuberance. It’s obvious that woman really got to him, but how the fuck am I supposed to comfort him?
“I didn’t really think about it before,” he mumbles with a nod. “I mean, I’m used to the dead mom things but now I don’t even have a dad anymore. He’s not there to sing me to sleep when I’m sad about missing Mommy…”
I glance over to see him lift the bottom of his t-shirt to wipe at his face, and I am shattering emotionally. No eight-year-old kid needs to be going through this kind of shit. Jace takes him to therapy once a week, but this is… What the fuck am I supposed to do here?
“Hey Ash?”
I peek over to see him mostly recovered. He gives me a sheepish smile after I tilt my head.
“Since we saved so much money on the groceries, can we stop at the Tasty Freeze for some ice cream?”
Laughing, I change lanes to make the detour on our way back home. “Sure, Kiddo. Surviving a run-in with a wild Karen should always deserve some ice cream.”
“With extra sprinkles,” Gerry adds before wiggling in his booster seat.