I haven´t thought about this for such a long time and don´t exactly know what triggered this awkward memory to surface.
When we were little there were many exciting things to look at in front of school/afterschool activity places. They used to sell snacks, toys, pictures of celebrity, occassionally baby chicks (and ducks once, one of which much to my parents´dismay I had brought home), etc. My mother started to work again around the time I started elementary school/we had moved back to a big city so having nothing to do at home, we just hung out there, not particularly to buy anything but just to look at them.
We were new in the area and it was one of those days that we went into this stationary/toy store. He was looking at one of Dragon Ball-Z figurines that were so popular in those days. I was on the other side, behind a shelf that divided the store into two narrow sections, looking at some¨notebook page supporter¨(a hard piece of thin board to put underneath a paper to write on-so you don´t get the imprints of the previous page) with princess characters.
After a bit of looking, we left the store and came back to the flat. There, pulling it out of his jacket, he showed me the figurine. He said that he had bought it when I had been on the other side with his saved allowance. We played; I with my dolls and He with his figurine and other toys.
A few days later, we were back in the store, doing the same old thing all over again. Back in those days, monotony didn´t bother me at all. Back in the flat, he presented yet another figurine. Then the following time yet another one. I don´t exactly remember how many there were but more or less three I think.
It was another day, the same old routine, the same old looking at random useless things that used to mean so much to little kids back in those days. As we walked out, the lady owner came out the door and called us over. Then she asked him to open his khaki-brown jumper. I can still remember all the details of that jacket.
There it was,
yet another figurine.
I just remember standing there still.
Or did I apologize to the lady? I don´t remember.
I just remember looking at her yelling at him and his looking like a complete stranger. We didn´t say a word on the way back to the flat and never talked about it. I was five then and I guess that´s when it started to change everything.
