Here is the intro to my latest effort. I hope it is worth your time.
Nobody Special
Plus tax….it’s not 9.99, it’s 9.99 PLUS TAX, and man does that “plus tax” change things. Stacy was so excited to be getting the doll that she was almost quivering with excitement. It wasn’t one of the more modern styles, didn’t come with extra clothes, shoes, or even sunglasses, but to Stacy, it was perfect, and only 9.99……plus tax. She had saved every single penny she had been able to earn from “being good”, the ones she found in the couch cushions, and even the tooth fairy money, and after what seemed like a lifetime, she had 10 dollars and 4 cents, and that was more than 9.99…..but then there was that plus tax. When the cashier said “10.59” she was confused…it just couldn’t be. She had worked so hard, waited so long, and for a 8 year old girl, this was devastating. When the cashier looked at the money she placed on the counter and said it wasn’t enough, Stacy was so overwhelmingly disappointed that she was starting to cry.
She wasn’t one of those girls that just used tears as a release for any and all emotions, she was ALL girl, but she was tough. She didn’t cry at the dentist, she didn’t cry when she skinned her knee, or was left out some silly game at school. She didn’t even cry when she was scolded or spanked….unless it was from granny or grandpa. For some reason it was always worse to get spanked by either one of them, maybe because time with them was special, and she didn’t like ruining it, because she just wasn’t a crier. But as it dawned on her that she would not be making the bike ride home with her new doll, the one she had worked so hard to earn, it was just too much, and the tears were on their way now, and Stacy was unable to control it. She knew her lip was trembling, she knew her eyes were getting full; she knew she was going to cry, and she just couldn’t hold it back. She was trying, but her excitement had been so high, and it was a moment that she had been working for and living for and it was all falling apart. She was almost at the breaking point and she knew it. She knew it, but she was unable to make it stop.
Then, as if by magic, it was over, the doll was put in a bag and the cashier said “thank you, and have a good day” It was fixed. It was all ok. She had her doll, and it was in a bag with a receipt. She had a receipt just like mommy always said she had to have. Her doll, her young heart’s greatest desire, was in a bag, with a receipt, and she was walking away from the counter. The lady had smiled at her and even said “have a good day”. Wait, what had happened? She remembered hearing someone say something but Stacy had been so overwhelmed with disappointment she hadn’t paid attention, she was confused. She kept walking toward the door. Philip was there waiting. Philip was her older brother; he had come to the store with Stacy. Philip’s joining her was required for anything as far as the Regal. She was still only 8, and not allowed to take her bike any further than the end of the street that they lived on unless Philip was with her. At 14 Philip considered this humiliating to him, but he didn’t mind this trip because he had been able to get a look at the new building going up across the street from The Regal.
This was the neighborhood store where Stacy had found that doll, and had been obsessing over it all summer long. Now Philip didn’t see anything special about it at all. Just another silly girl thing, but he was glad Stacy had seen it. From the moment she had laid eyes on it Stacy had become a different person to Philip. Stacy had been so set on getting THAT doll that she had been a perfect little sister, or at least pretty close to one. Her Father had told her that being good would be the first thing that she would have to do to earn the right to get it, and, if she was good and had no fights with Philip, he would give her a quarter a week. If she fought with Philip, she would not just miss getting a quarter, but she would lose one too. She had become the miser of Terence Street. She never asked for candy, for ice cream, or even for popcorn anymore, she always asked for money. Quarters were her favorites. She knew that money could be almost anything, and was often pennies, but quarters, well they were much better, and they were easier to get than any paper money. Grownups didn’t seem to mind shelling out change, but paper money was not the thing 8 year old girls got very often. 1980 would always be the year of quarters for Stacy.
For Philip, it was a gift from heaven. No more having her bust into his room with silly questions, or saying things out load about what she had seen or heard him do, or, worst of all…tagging along when he was trying to get some time alone with Jennifer. So in a way Stacy’s victory in getting the doll was a potential bad thing in Philip’s eyes, but he hoped she would be so locked up with that doll, he might still have some peace. From what he had seen at the door, something had gone wrong, and Stacy looked about to cry. Knowing her, crying was a big deal, so he thought it was looking pretty bad for a second. Then the guy in line behind her had added something to Stacy’s little pile of money, and that was that. Stacy looked a bit shaken, and even more confused, but she was looking into the bag at her new doll and walking very slowly toward the doors with a face so full of emotions that it was almost unreadable.
“You got it I see” he said.
Nothing, not a word nor a glance up. It was if she was in another world. Stacy stepped thru the doors and over to her bike, she placed it in her hand painted pink and purple basket, grabbed the handle bars, lifted the kick stand and placed her leg over the bike….but she still looked a bit in shock.
“Ready?” said Philip.
“I got it” she said in a small voice, then she looked up at Philip and her face changed. Fear and confusion consumed her face and with a look of sheer terror she swallowed hard and said.
“What happened? I, I, but, I “, she said…”then” Is all Stacy could get out. She shook her head and tried again.
“I don’t understand….plus tax? 10.59? I had ten dollars and 4 cents. That’s more than 9.99…but she said 10.59 and I didn’t have that much. “Then her eyes widened and she reached in the bag, grabbed the receipt and held it out to Philip and gasp “I got a receipt…I didn’t do anything wrong……did I?
She was almost frantic. She knew she had to have that receipt. It proved she had been honest and paid for her doll.
Philip rolled his eyes and said “Chill out girl” in his best big brother swagger voice. “The guy behind you must have given them the rest of it” he added “It’s no big deal. Let’s go. I want to ride by the construction fence and see the bulldozer again, so let’s go!”
Stacy looked at Philip with amazement and out of reflex to doing what he said without arguing over the last few months, she started peddling and was up beside him within a few yards.
“Wait!” she yelled, “I don’t understand!!”
“Nothing to understand Stac” Cutting her name short was his own private way of digging at her. He was almost enjoying her confusion and his “big brother swagger” was in high gear now. “You got lucky and someone was willing to pay the diff” He said, then looked at her, smiled and added, “Probably just wanted to get you out of his way so he could do his thang”
Stacy stopped her bike instantly. She didn’t notice or even care about Philip’s attitude, she was just afraid she had done something wrong. Philip circled back and saw the look on her face, so he knew he had to bring it down to her level so she would understand.
“Don’t worry little sister” he said, looking her straight in the eyes. “It’s ok. He might have a little girl too, and he knows how important dolls are, so he just helped you out is all”
Stacy knew that tone; it was one Philip only used when he was in trouble and was ordered to be nice under threat of Dad’s belt, or when he was being straight with her. They had always had a strong brother-sister bond, and though they could fight like cats and dogs, they always knew when it was time to be family, and be sincere. “The Cancer” had taught them all that there were times for silliness, but there were times when they had to be straight. Times when they had to be completely honest and sincere. Philip was looking her straight in the eyes, and there was no deceit there. It was real, and if Philip said it was ok, then it was ok. The doll was hers! The weight lifted from her shoulders and she suddenly felt the rush of victory. The doll was hers! All hers and she had earned it. She had done it! She reached about and gave the startled Philip a great big hug, nearly knocking them both over, and just for good measure she added a big kiss right on his cheek.
It was perfect, she had done it. The closer to home Stacy got, the more elation she felt. She was actually beating Philip home. He may have been giving in just a little, every once in a while he thought it was ok to let her win. For Stacy, she just knew it was going to be wonderful. HER doll. One she had instantly fell in love with, saved for, worked for, passed up so many chances to poke fun at Philip. So many chances to move his stuff around in his room making him go crazy. So many times she had actually finished her vegetables, and all the late nights she had convinced herself NOT to sneak out to the hall and crawl to the back of the easy chair to watch TV when it was passed her bedtime. Finally! She parked her bike beside the garage, put the kickstand down and took HER doll out of the basket, raced upstairs and to her room and practically flew to her bed, and there, it hit her again. As she stared at the most precious thing in her young life, she felt a little tug at her innocent heart. For all the work and effort she had put in, she would not have been there with that beautiful doll, if someone, a complete stranger, had not helped her. She slid off the bed, placed the doll on the floor beside her got on her knees, closed her eyes and folder her hands in prayer.
“Jesus, I have someone I need you to bless today. I need to thank him and I don’t know who he is. You must know, because you know everybody. He was there today, at the Regal, and I have my doll because he fixed the plus tax. Please tell him thank you for me. And give mommy a hug and kiss for me too. Tell her I love her.”
Stacy felt better now, and though she was still excited about the doll, she was calmer about it all. As she took the doll out of the box, straightened the hair, and placed a gentle kiss on the cheek, she knew it was the most beautiful doll in the world, it looked just like mommy before “the cancer”. And she was going to keep it forever.