4. 3 - A Little Humanity

3 - A Little Humanity

“Mom!” Ariel called out as she rolled her eyes at her brother. “Make him stop! I just saw Griffon in the other aisle.”

“Ariel, honestly!” I blew out a frustrated breath and pushed the hairs back out of my face that had escaped my messy bun. “Can you just focus on the important stuff and grab me that box of tissues so we can go?”

My poor boy was grabbing at his ears, and I knew what that meant without needing an expensive trip to the doctor to confirm. He probably had another ear infection, as he was prone to them. My head pounded with the headache that started to set in long before we got to the store and with little Josh’s wailing, it wouldn’t get better any time soon.

Ariel threw a box of tissues into the cart and rolled her pretty green eyes as she defiantly stomped a foot at me. “Are we done now?” She sassed.

“God, give me strength!” I prayed out loud.

“God should have given you birth control,” Ariel snapped and when I turned my angry mom glare on her, she was staring at her brother, as if she wished wholeheartedly that he didn’t exist.

“We are going to have a chat when we get home, young lady.”

“Whatever,” she sniped just as Josh Jr. started wailing even louder. I put my wrist up to his forehead and lamented the fact that his fever was back. I needed him to hold out one more day, so the doctor’s office would be open because an emergency room visit would cost us more money than I had to spare.

Just as we were about to head to the checkout, someone stepped around the corner and stopped right in front of my cart. “Everything good here?” He asked in that smokey voice that made me remember every single word he’d spoken to me when I was at the clubhouse.

“Hi. Um, yeah. It’s just one of those days.” Walker’s eyes roamed over me, taking in every inch of my yoga pants, wrinkled shirt, falling down bun, and exhausted self. Great. Meanwhile, he looked like he just sauntered off a sexy biker magazine that was meant to recruit club girls as well as men who wished they could be him.

“You feeling bad, little man?” Walker asked my son, after his assessing eyes narrowed on my daughter and passed to my crying boy. Great. So not only did he see me looking like complete ass, but he heard my daughter at her finest level of teenage attitude. Yeah, we were one hell of a package that couldn’t even be sold in the discount bin today.

“He’s not feeling well.”

“Got that much.”

My face grew heated with embarrassment, since the whole darn store had been listening to my son crying for the last fifteen minutes.

“Griffon!” Aril squeaked the boy’s name as he came around the corner carrying some beach towels. The boy glanced up and smiled at my daughter before he took in the scene and frowned at my son.

“You headed to the lake?” Ariel asked as she twirled her dirty blonde hair around her finger and stuck a hip out in what would have been a comical stance, if it hadn’t been for her brother who chose that moment to ramp up his theatrics, not that I blamed him. My poor boy just wanted to be in the comfort of his own home while he felt like crap.

“God, Mom! Get him under control. Y’all are embarrassing,” my daughter snapped.

It is illegal to throw your children away.

It is illegal to throw your children away.

I couldn’t even get to the third chant in my head before the boy – Griffon – spoke up.

“Is he okay?”

Walker leaned down to where my son was seated in the front of the cart. “Hey little man, you not feeling well?” His voice was smooth and full of concern. My son slowly shook his head left to right before he winced and then held his ear again.

“I think he has an ear infection, but the doctor’s office isn’t open until tomorrow morning.”

Griffon turned to Ariel. “Why didn’t you stay home with your sick little brother, so your mom could get in and out of the store quicker?”

Ariel’s eyes rounded out in surprise, and she quickly glanced my way, as if I could help her with that question. When she saw that I wasn’t going to answer him for her, Ariel finally responded. “She doesn’t trust me to do it.” The roll of her eyes was meant to emphasize how ridiculous that notion was.

“I can see why. Maybe you should fix that. Family is everything. One day, you’re going to wish they had been more important to you.” Griffon turned to me then. “You have everything you need?”

“Yes, the tissues were the last thing. I just need to check out.” As I said that, Josh leaned over and threw up in front of the cart, missing my shoes by a mere inch. I stared at the puke puddle and wished there was a portal that could swallow us up and take us home.

“Walker and I have little man.” Griffon offered as Walker picked my son up out of the cart and set him down at his feet. “You go do your thing and we’ll get him some ginger ale and keep him settled until you’re done.”

My eyes shot to Walker’s for confirmation. He nodded as he reached over to the shelf and grabbed a roll of paper towels. He popped it open right there in the aisle and started to clean my boy up first. “Go on, we got him. Soon as this is taken care of, we’ll meet you up front.”

Just as I walked away with the cart, and my daughter hot on my heels, I heard a store worker fuss at Walker. “You need to pay for those.”

“Seriously, lady? The sick kid is my priority.” I turned back to see what would happen as guilt ate at me for leaving them with my son and his mess. Walker made sure Griffon had hold of my son’s hand as he stood and dug his wallet out of the back pocket of the jeans that hugged his ass in the perfect way. “Here!” He snapped as he threw a twenty at the woman. Go ring it up, since you’re so worried about it.”

“You don’t have to be rude.”

“I’m gonna be more than rude if you don’t get the hell out of here.”

I snickered as Ariel’s eyes rounded in shock again. “Did he just threaten the worker?”

I shrugged. “Looked like she deserved it. She didn’t even call into her radio for someone to bring a mop to help clean up.”

I walked off with my daughter then, knowing deep in my heart that my boy was in good hands. “Let’s get this stuff paid for so we can get Josh home.”

“Yeah, I didn’t realize he was really that sick.” I could hear the guilt in her voice. “I thought he was just faking for attention.”

“Is that what you were doing? Faking attitude for attention?” I asked and didn’t bother to hide the sharp tone my question took.

“Sorry, Mom.”

“Uh-huh. We’ll discuss your behavior when we get home.”

I could tell by the way she moped along beside me that my girl was truly sorry for the way she behaved, but it wasn’t something I could let go this time. I’d given her too much slack since her father died and her attitude had only grown worse over time as a result. It was time to take off the kid gloves and remind my daughter that her grief wasn’t an excuse for bad behavior.

Once we were checked out, I headed toward the door where Griffon and Walker said they would meet me. There they were with my sleepy boy in Walker’s arms as he rocked his body in a gentle way that must have soothed Josh. My baby boy was no longer complaining loudly about his ear. As I got closer, I heard a few whimpers from him.

“I can take him from here.”

Walker shook his head. “We’ll walk you out to your car and give you a hand.”

My heart fluttered in my chest at the kind gesture. “You have both already done more than enough. Thank you so much for looking after him for a few minutes,” I reddened in embarrassment. “And for cleaning up after him.”

“Cleaned up plenty of puke in my day. Little bit from a sick kid ain’t nothin’.” His answer was a gruff statement as he continued to rub my son’s back while we made our way out to my car.

“Load this stuff in the back while I get your brother settled,” I instructed. My daughter nodded and didn’t bother getting mouthy with me. It was obvious she was intimidated by either Walker, Griffon, or both. If only I could keep them around for when her attitude ran away with her sense of self-preservation.

After I got Josh settled into his car seat, I turned around and came face-to-face with Walker who stood there with his phone in hand. “Add your number for me.”

“Okay.” I took his phone and entered my number. Once he took his phone back he sent me a message, but my phone was tucked inside my purse which was sitting on the front seat where I tossed it.

He glared in the general direction of where it beeped. “Darlin’ you need to keep that shit on you until you’re inside the damn car.”

“What?” I asked, shocked at his vehemence.

“What would happen if you shut that door with Josh in there and your keys, phone, and everything else were locked inside with him?”

Well, that shut me up. “You’re right. It’s not smart.”

“Know that. Don’t do it again. Kids are too important.”

“I’d break a window and figure out how to pay for it before I left my son in there more than a couple minutes,” I informed him.

Walker surprised me once again when he pulled me into a hug and then quickly kissed the top of my head. “Don’t doubt it, Reesa. Just be careful. Call if you need help with anything else. No need dragging a sick kid along to pick stuff up. Griffon and I can help you out until he’s better.”

“Thanks. I think I have everything we need now.”

“Text and let me know y’all got home safe.” He said to me as he let go and backed away. I didn’t understand what was happening, but I nodded my agreement as my smirking daughter passed by us and ducked into the front seat of the car.

“See ya around, Miss Ambrose,” Griffon called out as he waved and turned to walk back to the store. Walker followed him without so much as a backward glance and I was left feeling a unique mixture of mortification, elation, confusion, and hope. The last one had been in short supply in recent years and felt like a foreign concept.

“I think he likes you,” ll said.

“Yeah, well, I think he was just being nice to a woman who was clearly at her wits end with her kids in the store.”

“I really am sorry, Mom.”

“You know what, Ariel? You need to think about how often you have to say that to me and then maybe work on doing better so you don’t have to apologize as often. Apologies get old and start to lose their meaning when they’re repeated all the time. Do better before they’re needed.”

I caught her quick nod out of the corner of my eye and then we were all blessedly quiet for the rest of the twenty-minute drive home.