Toy Emporium was the only dedicated toy store I’d seen in a mall before. I took that as a sign that I was blessed. It was out of place among the high-class shops that sold expensive products with names I couldn’t pronounce, kept afloat by employees who all seemed manufactured and perfect to look at. It was a massive one too. Maybe there had been a huge department store before it that met a tragic and ill-timed end. But seriously, how many people went to the mall for a toy store roughly the size of a small city?
Besides me, of course.
I had been cooking up an idea for Megan’s birthday party. I would get her gifts I thought she’d like at the toy store, wrap them up, and do a sort of gift hunt with her. I wanted to do a scavenger hunt at first. After deciding I didn’t know the new home or area well enough yet, I axed that idea and pushed it off as a possibility for her next birthday. Even if I knew great places to use to set one up, I didn’t trust myself to make up a good scavenger hunt. But hiding gifts around and letting her open them as she got them? I was sold on my own simple idea.
Walking in was borderline magical. It took me back to a time when my parents were alive and I still played with toys. There were so many toys in the store, almost like Toy Emporium was an emporium of sorts. It lacked the cute, home-like feel of the shop I visited in Missouri, but it more than made up for it in sheer variety. My inner kid was losing his mind. If that guy had a thousand bucks to spend on toys for himself, no doubt he would have found a way to get five shopping carts filled with action figures out the door. Maybe six if he had his older sister there to help budget and find good sales.
I had to stop and remind myself it was about Megan, not my own inner kid.
I almost fell flat on my face at the first hurdle. Outside of princess-themed anything, stuffed animals, and her old game system, I didn’t really know what Megan liked. I didn’t even know what kind of TV shows, movies, or music she liked. If I did, getting toys or clothes from those interests would make for much better gifts. I wanted to kick myself for not knowing enough about the kid. The upside to the situation was that I knew enough about what she liked to make it a productive trip.
I started with some princess stuff I thought I might like if I was a girl turning seven. I went for ones that appeared to be high quality and could handle the wrath of a child playing too rough with them. Six of them already put me down for a hundred dollars. Given what I knew and saw throughout the store, it dawned on me that those were decent prices. Absolutely horrifying. I set aside six hundred dollars maximum for the replacement game console, any accessories, and a few games. If I could keep it under that amount, then that would be a great step toward my goal.
After that, I found a rack on great stuffed animals. They were Made With Love brand. I’d done a few toy drives at school in failed attempts to get over my shyness, and I could vouch for their quality and cuteness. Toy Emporium was running a deal where if you bought two, you could get two free. I stocked up on eight stuffed animals from that sale. My haul consisted of a cat, a dog, a bear, a dragon, a dolphin, a whale, a penguin, and a unicorn. A lady shopping gave me a weird look when I grinned at the selection I had in my cart, as if a teenage guy couldn’t enjoy picking out adorable stuffed animals. I ignored her looks and continued with my shopping.
“How about some outdoor stuff?” I asked out loud to myself, maybe validating that lady’s weird look somewhat. “Summer’s coming and she can’t be cramped up inside all day.”
I couldn’t remember for the life of me if we had a pool at the house. Given everything else we had at that little community, I was sure there would at least be a community pool, if not personal ones in each backyard. Instead of picking up a little inflatable pool, I opted to get some pool toys and trusted my judgment on what I felt we had back home. If nothing else, they’d make for some decent bath toys. I don’t know why I didn’t just text my sister asking if we had a freaking pool in the yard of the house she was currently in. It was probably a healthy mix of exhaustion, sleep deprivation, and a stubbornness to try and do things on my own.
“Oh, no way!” I grabbed a street hockey kit. The box said it came with two nets, four sticks, and two orange balls. The usual price made me go pale. My eyes drifted down to see it was on clearance for seventy-five dollars, forcing a sigh of relief out of me. I had no idea if that was a fair price or not. Maybe I was getting ripped off. I shrugged, figuring it looked more than enough for us to have fun with, so I put that into my rapidly-filling cart. Then I saw a suction cup archery toy for kids, making sure it had space in the cart too. Maybe Megan’s Anomaly would make her a fantastic archer. “Okay, okay, that’s a lot of stuff to wrap.”
I was able to find the game night games that Lizzy and I agreed on, and the total of everything was north of three hundred dollars, so I made my way to the electronics section before I could impulse buy anything else. I was hoping there would be a special or limited-edition console I could snag, but nothing so fortunate was waiting for me. I just asked the friendly cashier for the most colorful one secured behind the locked glass doors, four separate controllers, and four colorful games. Gaming hadn’t been one of my hobbies, or even something I had been too interested in. After doing a little research, I had a good idea about what was popular and what was generally considered good, so I was confident in my choices. Mercifully, they were running sales on everything but the actual console itself, so I was able to keep it under the six hundred dollars limit I had set.
“Can I pay for all these here too?” I asked, pulling out my wallet. Before he rang them up, I checked to make sure I hadn’t lost the money somehow, letting out a deep breath when I saw it all there. It would have been mortifying if I had somehow lost it all.
“Of course,” he said, sounding a bit bored. He was probably used to it being dead during the middle of the day. With each item’s price flashing in front of me on the display, I felt my breath catch in my throat. I almost groaned when he read me the final total. “That will be nine hundred thirteen dollars and twelve cents.”
I just handed him the cash before I could think too much about it. Even though he rang all of them up with no issue, he eyed me suspiciously after I handed him all the cash I had. A teenager with a badly scarred arm probably wouldn’t be carrying around that kind of money under good circumstances most of the time. He held the money up and did some kind of visual test to make sure my bills weren’t counterfeits. He did it slowly for each one and I was scared that he would tell me something was wrong. “My mom sent me shopping for my little sister’s birthday party. Good thing I’m homeschooled, huh?”
“Yeah, sure is good.” He shrugged like he didn’t really care about my personal life. After that, he shoved the money into the register. He gave me the change and bagged everything up while I tried to get everything in my wallet as fast as I could. I still didn’t trust that he wouldn’t just call the cops on me for some reason.
Carrying the bags was nightmarish. Nothing was that heavy, even the street hockey kit, but my wingspan was a finite resource, and the store cart wasn’t allowed outside. With the handles of the plastic bags agitating my scar, I had to put all of the light stuff on my left arm, which threw off my balance and tired out my dominant arm. Thank goodness no one went to malls in the middle of a Monday, because someone would have definitely called the cops on me for disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, or something else. I could barely walk in a straight line. I had to look like I was on some kind of drug.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
I made my way to the center of the mall, trying not to look like I was in pain from the bags on my scar. There was a gorgeous fountain in the middle of the building, all the branching paths of the mall meeting up to that one spot. It was as good a spot as any to have Lizzy and Val meet up with me. When I pulled out my phone, I saw that I had spent nearly two hours in Toy Emporium. How did time manage to fly by that fast?
By the fountain. Got everything I need. Done yet? I hit the little send button and my phone vibrated before I even got it back in my pocket.
omw <3
Was she just waiting for me to send a message? Even for three letters, that was a scary fast reply. For some reason, I felt a little self-conscious about the fast reply. Had I kept the two of them waiting?
I saw a bunch of change at the bottom of the fountain and figured I had to join in too. I awkwardly dug out two pennies I had in my wallet and flipped them both into the fountain. I was hoping I looked kind of cool doing it, but I was pretty sure it just made me look weirder. “I wish for Megan to have a great birthday party and that Val can fit in with us.”
“Isn’t that just so thoughtful?” Lizzy said, her head peering over my shoulder.
I jumped, hitting her right on the chin with my elbow. The contact, her surprised yelp, and the bags I was still holding nearly made me fall face-first into the fountain. I felt a hand on the back of the collar of my shirt pulling me back. That also made it hard for me to breathe, but it beat falling into water with about half a grand worth of electronics and other things. It was Val’s hand that calmly pulled me back. She gave me a small smile and a wave.
“Lizzy, you are going to kill me one day.” I put a hand on my chest and felt my heart try and thump right out of my body. “Are you okay?”
“Are you kidding? My chiseled, powerful jaw can’t be hurt by something like your elbow, buddy.” Despite what she said, she still winced when she ran a hand over her face. “All right, fine, maybe it stings a bit.”
At her feet were over half a dozen bags from various clothing stores. They must have booked it triple time after I left to hit that many places. Given the strikeout we had the first time, they might not have had much luck anywhere else either. “You know, I’m not sure you got Val enough clothes there.”
“She needed everything, Ethan. Shirts, pants, dresses, shoes, socks, underwear, pajamas, casual wear, and anything else you can think of.” Lizzy put her hands on her hips and gave me an accusatory glare. “And what about you? Did you just buy the whole damn toy store there?”
“Fair enough.” I’d give her that one. Despite leaving proud and happy, I did go a touch overboard with my purchases. “I got Megan so many presents. I know that material goods are only so much. She needs a solid home life first and foremost. With her parents dying in Pittsburgh, I can’t help but spoil her a little bit.”
Val’s face contorted and she looked down at her feet.
“Crap, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it that way.” By a horrendous mental lapse, I totally forgot that Val was one of the two responsible. She was just so much less menacing without all that black, terrifying armor. The girl who needed help picking out a whole wardrobe was such a contrast to the emotionless knight I’d seen on TV. “I know that you regret what happened.”
“I regret it, but I still did it. I’m going to have to talk to Megan about it soon.” Val’s misery brought the general mood down. How could such a fun trip do a complete turn like that? “I owe her and Lori apologies. I owe countless people apologies. It’ll never be enough. I need to start with them.”
“Well, that’s part of the reason we got game night.” Lizzy picked up her clothing bags and gestured down one of the paths with her head. I sucked in some air between my teeth when I adjusted and hurt my scar, and Lizzy took notice. “Val, could you be an Amazonian dear and carry his bags for him with your incredible arms? Watching him struggle is making me feel like I’m bullying a toddler.”
That got Val to look up with a tiny smile. More gently than I thought someone like her would be capable of, she took the bags off my arms and didn’t have any of the balance issues I was dealing with. Showoff.
“How about we try that game night tomorrow? Say at around six in the evening?” Lizzy turned around to face us and walk backwards, also with no balance issues, in high-heeled shoes. Everyone was just a dang showoff. “Best to get Lori in on it before she can have the chance to change her mind. If we can convince Alex to go, she’d be a lock. You in, Ethan?”
“Of course. I owe her for carrying my bags.”
“Then I’ll just make up some excuse that it’s a training thing. They shouldn’t know which house is yours yet.” Lizzy’s eyes went wide and were practically sparkling. “I know! We’ll order pizza. I haven’t ordered out in so long.”
“How about we do Megan’s birthday party on Saturday? That gives me plenty of time to wrap and hide her gifts, figure out a cake, and see if we can get her and Val to talk. Lizzy, you’re invited for sure. Val, if she’s okay with you, would you like to come too?”
“Me? At a birthday party?” She pointed toward herself, sounding like she wasn’t entirely sure what a birthday party actually was. When I nodded, she looked worried. “I’ve never been to one, even before McLeod.”
“Better late than never,” I offered with a shrug. I pointed at the still-backward Lizzy. “Since you kidnapped me, I’m getting your help for Megan’s cake.”
“Ethan!” Her mouth hung open with mock surprise. “Are you making a demand of me? Me, the only Lizzy Quick you know? Well, despite your rudeness, I would be honored to help you get a cake for that sweet little child.”
To make up for my “rudeness”, when we got to the car, I helped load the bags in the trunk. Without noticing, I grabbed the three pink bags that were from the underwear shop the girls visited. Instantly, I shut my eyes, not wanting to see anything inappropriate. Lizzy must have noticed since I heard her break out laughing at me.
“Does Rebecca know that you’re absolutely adorable?” she asked.
I put the bags of unmentionables in the car’s trunk, opening my eyes again. Lizzy was trying not to giggle behind her hand. “I hope she thinks I’m adorable.”
“There’s no way she doesn’t.” Lizzy clapped me on the back. “What dude closes his eyes holding up a bag of underwear?”
“I didn’t want to see it!”
“You’re a good guy,” Lizzy said. She looked to Val for backup. She was trying to hide her own grin under a bad stoic expression. “If you have her grinning, then you must be a one in a million.”
I didn’t know what she meant by that. I tried to be nice and considerate. I didn’t feel like I was special enough to be considered one in a million. I didn’t think it was appropriate for a guy to look through a girl’s underwear, which was why I shut my eyes. Was I maybe a bit of a dork for it? Sure. Did I get why that apparently made me something special or a good guy? Not in the slightest.
“Val, about Megan’s party...” I trailed off, wanting to change the subject. I was worried about how I wanted to approach the subject. I wanted a friend there to make sure someone had my back in the event what I was going to bring up came back into play. “If she doesn’t want you there, I won’t be able to let you come to the party. I’m sorry.”
Val looked at me for a second. “Ethan, that’s fine. I completely understand if she doesn’t want me there. If she wants nothing to do with me at all, I’ll respect her decision entirely. It’s entirely up to her, you, Rebecca, and Shelly.”
I felt relief wash over me. It was going to be a awkward situation no matter what. I had another question I needed her to answer. “Did you kill anyone in Pittsburgh? I know you wouldn’t have any idea if you killed Megan’s parents. I need to know.”
Val shook her head, turning her gaze down to the ground. “No, that was McLeod. I was there for the cameras and to make us look scarier. You have my word, for all the terrible and evil things I’ve done in my life, I did not kill Megan’s parents.”
I let out a long breath. It was something. It wasn’t perfect, and it was hardly material I could use to convince Megan to get onboard with the idea. How was I going to explain to the kid that this woman was the knight who was there the day her parents died? I wanted to protect Megan at all costs. I also wanted to foster a relationship of honesty between the two of us. Was there a good middle ground I could strike when it came to Val?
I spent the trip back to my new house worried more about that than I was any gifts or where to hide them.