SOTF Archive/SOTF Classic

((Ophelia continued from Sunflower Sutra.))

Mr. Bratwurst was officially being taken care of by professionals. He was a patient and calm client, subverting the aggressive small dog stereotype. While he was well-liked, the list of requests for his appearance was stomach churning. It's not that it was bad, it's that it made him uglier. Ophelia never understood why her brother would make their dog go through such transformation once a month. She never had the guts to question him.

Ophelia and Lucas had stop holding hands when she dropped off Mr. Bratwurst at Dog Wash, Yeah!, she didn't feel like he would runaway anymore, at least for the moment. She might have to get a grip of him again when their adventures continue. After she had paid the nice lady with the long hair, Ophelia came back to the waiting room to see that Lucas was still there. He had waited for her all this time. As they headed outside and into the busy street, Ophelia started speaking to Lucas. She knew what was on his mind, but not the whole severity of it, so she felt like she was stepping on eggshells. Her goal for the day, with Lucas at least, was to change him mind.

Not in an abrupt, sudden, brutal swipe from her words, but in a friendly way. She wanted Lucas to have memories of her to hold when he felt bad. She felt memories of her friend when she was upset, so she assumed Lucas would appreciate the same. Her mouth opened and she pointed the dollarshop.

"I want to go there."

[Lucas Diaz continued from Sunflower Sutra.]

He hadn't expected Ophelia to be the adventurous type, when it came to shopping. Maybe it was her introversion at that ill-fitted Morton's List gathering some time ago, or her general reaction on the bus when they met, or something else somewhere in-between, but he regarded her as the kind not to dive into a Dollar General/Tree/Store/Family Dollar institution with the intent on buying things. It had been a while since Lucas had been, himself. Probably a decade or so since he had been with his mom.

"Sure," he said, "let's go inside."

Already since this morning he felt somewhat better. He had thrown away the paper in his pocket as soon as Oph wasn't looking, sometime earlier while they were walking down the street, into the nearest public trash can. Thus, he was free to keep his hands in his pockets as soon as she let go, which was soon after he had tossed the note. He was ready to put something else in there. Probably the handle of a shopping bag, blown about in the wind, flapping against his leg.

"And then maybe, afterwards, we can grab something to eat?"

"Sure!" There was excitement in her voice. She was happy to bring someone along with her on one of her outings. She always wanted to do some thrift shopping with a friend, but she never really had a friend so it was kinda hard to do that and Mr. Bratwurst wasn't allowed in most places. "We just have to be back around 4PM for Brat so we should have plenty of time to get something to eat."

Despite her voice and her tone, she hadn't forgotten about what happened this morning. There was a small lingering fear in her brain that she would turn around and Lucas wouldn't be there. Ophelia would search for him but she wouldn't find him until it would be too late. She kept a careful eye on him, like a fairy godmother making sure their protégé would be safe as they encountered enemies on their adventure.

As they entered the shop, Ophelia waved at a familiar face. It was Ann, she was a 50-something year old cashier at the shop. They were acquaintances due to the frequent trips here, she had pepper hair and and golden glasses. She turned back to look toward the stalls, seeing the birthday section. Ophelia looked at Lucas and smiled, then started to walk toward the section. She turned around midway as she was leading Lucas toward the shelves and told him the truth,

"I come here like once a week. It's kinda ugly but I love it."

Lucas marveled at the fine display of kitsch and cheapness on display in the store. Even though it had been a long time since he had visited one of these stores, they were still mostly the same on the inside. The only changing thing was whatever leftover fad craze had made its way into the stores aisles. As they approached the birthday section, he spotted a rack of fidget spinners, unopened, across the way.

"Nice," Lucas said, "like a 'third place' kind of thing. I don't really go anywhere but the bookstore, so this is like, a cool change of pace."

Getting back at four for the dog seemed very doable, especially if they were on the lookout for a food truck. It had been a while since he bought anything from one, Lucas realized, and he was craving some nice street food. Chick-N-Nooga sounded really, really fucking great right now. Or they could take a trip to Burger King, whatever worked. Maybe Ophelia was more a Heart and Bowl kind of girl, though. He could dig that (though he'd still be hungry afterwards).

His eyes traced the outlines of various merchandise items surrounding him, fully engaged in the wonders of the birthday card aisle. The corniness made him want to vomit.

"Mhm! I'd love to," she turned toward Lucas to face him, she finishes her sentence with a smile, "I can pay for you if you don't have money on you."

She didn't forget why they were there. She had errands she needed to complete but meeting Lucas changed everything. She had to keep an eye on him, and make sure he would stay with her for as long as she could manage. By keeping him near, Ophelia could protect him from himself. It wasn't perfect but it was a work-in-progress.

Her eyes centered on a cup that said "#1 Dad!" with a cute puppy running around it. She grabbed it and hold it to show it off to Lucas. "We got part one of the quest," she told Lucas on a cheery tone, "did anything catch your eye?"

"Oh, uh," Lucas said, realizing that he didn't have any cash on him, "I mean, if we go somewhere with a square reader, I can use Apple Pay."

He looked at the mug she was holding. #1 Dad? He wished that he had a #1 Dad. Hell, he'd even settle for the #2 or #3 Dad at this point. Lucas knew that he'd probably give this to his Dad, but he wouldn't be able to do it in good conscience, not at all, never, never, never. He was all about honesty, now, and that entailed no bullshitting.

Still, it was cute that Oph thought it was cute.

"Nothing yet," Lucas said, eyes scanning the shelves, "but I'm looking around, and I'm sure I'll get something sure enough."

"If you find nothing, it's okay, you just won't spend like two bucks," Ophelia joked to Lucas.

Ophelia's eyes continued scanning the birthday cards. There weren't any that were funny, or made her want to buy them. She strayed away from the cards who were like "happy birthday, dad!" and toward the funny ones. There was one that made her eyes spark. She pointed it with her manicured finger, and looked at Lucas.

"I want the Barbie one."

It was a card for a four year old, saying something like "happy fourth anniversary from Barbie!" She now needed a sharpie. She plucked it, and opened it. Inside, there was Barbara with a birthday cake with a Ken and a dog. Barbie had a dog? She never really played with them, Ophelia played Mario Party with her brothers, and they'd let her win. She did have one doll who drank milk and burped, she still didn't know where the milk went and how it came back. Ophelia flashed the card to Lucas and proposed him to do something.

"Would you like to sign it? I mean, after I buy it."

It became pretty clear to Lucas pretty early on that they were shopping for someone, rather than because of some whim that Ophelia had been caught on all of a sudden. From the mug, it was probably shopping for her dad's birthday or something like that, and from the card shopping it was clear that wait Oph what the hell are you doing—

A barbie card? Lucas' dad would flip his shit. It'd be absolute sacrilege on their tradition of nice, respectful fatherly brunches and miniature golf, the one time they could spend on such American values per year. Maybe things were a bit different in the Polonius household than in the Diaz household, but it was still kinda, well, weird. And it was even weirder that Oph wanted him to sign it. What the heck?

"Uh, sure," said Lucas, not wanting to look like he had any kind of doubt in Ophelia's rational. It could be that they just had a more nuanced relationship that allowed for things like this. It made him laugh, a little, except it was the kind of laugh that just sorta escaped from his nose and got the hell outta there real quick. Maybe irretrievable. Ghost laugh. The kind you summon with a seance or something.

"But can I ask," he made to do, unseriously, "first, what all of this is for? I mean, you got a #1 Dad mug, and a barbie card that you want me to sign, so I have legit no clue what's going on here."

Like, is it for your Dad, or, I dunno, your Daddy?

"...My father's birthday?" Ophelia thought it was pretty clear. She had a birthday card, a mug with #1 dad written on it, and she was spending less than five dollars over it. She tried to put herself in his shoes, and she found them too tight for her. However, she did understand one of his points: why the Barbie card? She quickly answered his unspoken question.

"For the card, I'm going to add a '9' because he's turning 49," that was clearer, the misconception was lifted, hopefully. "He finds these things funny, so that's why I'll give him that."

She giggled softly. Wasn't she forgetting something? Yes, she was. The more convoluted part of the situation, her demand for him to sign. It was hard to explain. It was more of a symbol than something concrete. It would make her father happy, and probably her mother, and her brothers, her aunts and uncles, and everyone else who will be at the celebration. Actually, it would probably be less people than that, but the intention was what really matter. She put her hands together, holding both the card and the mug, beaming when she told him the truth.

"I think it would make my dad happy that I found a friend."

"Aw," he said, "that's real sweet, Oph."

Gosh, she was just so adorable.

Like, okay, whatever relationship she had with her father sounded like a heavenly bond that could not under any circumstances be ruined by like, fights or something, because it was hilarious and amazing. If Lucas shared that kind of sense of irony with his father, he'd be over the moon. But that's not what made it adorable.

Friend.

Did Lucas want to be more than that? He'd be open, but, not really. She was really nice, and he didn't want to ruin that. Nah. It was great to know that she was appreciated that much, but, really. That was where his happiness came from. This felt really, really pure. Back in elementary, almost. He'd be more than happy to sign the card.

He smiled back at her, hoping that he looked as over-the-moo happy as she did.

"What's the next item on the list?"

There. She did it. Ophelia succeeded in her mission to change Lucas' mind. It was perhaps still cloudy, but she managed to clear a hole for sunshine to come through. As the new weather girl of Lucas Channel, she announced that sunshine will be seen soon, the residents of Lucas Town just needed to hold out for some time.

It's not that Ophelia was blushing, but her entire face smiled and she felt a flush on her cheeks. She looked down for a second and looked at him again. While her goal to change Lucas' mind, she also made herself happy. Was this the best outcome of the situation? She hoped so.

"Nothing else," she said while nodding, "I just have to pay."

She started heading toward Ann with her loot in her hands. Ophelia smiled at the cashier then looked back at Lucas. She introduced them to each other.

"This is Ann, she's the manager and," she pointed Lucas with her chin, "and this is Lucas, he's from school."

"Hi, Ann," he said, giving a small wave, his hand up by his shoulder and close to his body.

He wasn't good with new people. Most of the time, they frightened the hell out of him. Like he was some kind of scared puppy or something. But right now, he felt pretty generally close to fine. Maybe it was Ophelia's influence? Yeah, that would make sense. Ann was vaguely dusty and smelled a little like milk.

"I can chip in," he offered, smiling at Ophelia. He had a few extra bucks in his wallet that he could toss into the ring. Sure, they were literally at a dollar store and there was no real reason for him to actually contribute, but the gesture would not go without a smile. And maybe another hug.

The hug was nice.

"Sure," she giggled a bit then she smiled.

Her hand was fumbling inside of her purse to find her wallet. When it was in her hand, she looked at the total price. It was about five dollars worth of merchandise, so it wasn't anything Ophelia couldn't afford. She did appreciate the tribute from Lucas. She pulled out three one-dollar bills and set them on the counter.

Ann smiled at the sight of the tip. She always got tipped by Ophelia but it was always a kind little gesture. Ann arranged her glasses and asked if Ophelia and her friend got everything she needed. Ophelia nodded and said something about her father's birthday. She decided to clear some things up.

"The card - I know it's a Barbie one - but I'll add a little nine after the four so, yeah."

The cashier, used to Ophelia's antics, smiled and commented that her father would find it funny. She offered to Ophelia to sign the card and Ophelia accepted. Her father didn't know Ann, but Ophelia kinda wanted him to know she had friends. It would make him happy. Lucas would also sign the card, landing Ophelia two real friends. Ann wrote something in cursive, Ophelia couldn't read it because her handwriting was too fancy. She hoped her dad could.

He threw a couple dollars into the ring and watched as something magical happened.

Lucas had never thought before that tipping a cashier was a thing that he was supposed to do. Silently he felt a little shameful about all the times he had found himself standing at a cashier that he enjoyed, money in hand, and had not thrown a little extra their way. Boy, that sure was shitty of him, wasn't it?

But at the same time he knew that if there was some weird tablet thing in front of him, asking him for a tip, he'd absolutely just skip through it. Tipping a cashier is like being asked to do something by your mom; you're more likely to do it if she doesn't insist that you should, because then you just file it all under the "shit mom says" or "shit cashiers do" bar, which was altogether the same, because Lucas' mom had been a cashier before.

Either way what Ophelia did was cool beans as far as Lucas was concerned. Ophelia as citizen of the world. Maybe she was the protagonist his novel needed. He hoped that she wouldn't mind. At least he was asking her permission to use her likeness, and not just relying on "pure coincidence" to do all the work for him. Y'know, as he had done countless other times.

He nodded, again, in assent. So cool.

"Thank you," said Ophelia, smiling at Ann. Polite and calm, just like Ophelia managed to be in her favorite shop. "I'll be back next week, I might give you my CV, but I'm still waiting for answers.

"Oh, that's fine! I'll get you the shrimp flavored chips anyway," Ann laughed at the end of the statement.

"Have a nice day!"

"You too."

The little conversation ended, and Ophelia turned toward Lucas. She smiled and her mouth opened, not enough to show teeth but enough to show a smile. She felt hungry for soup. Chicken soup with some bread, and some ice tea. Yeah, that's what she wanted.

"Do you want to go get something to eat?"