2: Price Check
"Ok, to get this grocery shopping done ASAP, I think we should split up," Sora stated. She and Tai were in the grocery buying some thing for Tai's mom. Sora volunteered to help so they can go on their date later that day.
"Who's taking Melody?" he questioned looking at her with that spark in his eyes.
"You take it Tai. I took her last week. Plus I'm a lot faster when it comes to food shopping." The couple agreed to split up and Tai was left with Melody.
He tried talking to her but was a bit embarrassed in front of the many passer by. "How are you Melody? Aww there, there, daddy's taking good care of you," he'd say when there was no one around. He walked around the aisle looking for food he can grab, that were not on the list. He decided he could not carry all of it since he was carrying a bag of flour on his left arm. Then he got a brilliant idea, so he thinks. He set Melody down on an empty shelf and walked around looking for a basket to support his would be chosen junk food. When he came back to pick up Melody, he was in shock.
"She's gone!" he gasped. He froze for a minute. 'Sora's going to whack me again! I think I should run while I'm at it' he thought to himself. He started running around several aisles and stopped on the flour aisle. "Maybe she wouldn't notice when I pick up a new Melody. Oh look, they're all identical," Tai commented running his hands through each of the flour bags. He was right though, all flour bags were identical. But even Sora would be able to tell which one would be theirs.
"Um ok let's see..what specific mark does she have? Oh that's right a dent on top of it. Because Matt stepped on it," he grunted. He started hunting for his daughter. "Hey sweet Melody. Daddy's here to pick you up. Come out, come out wherever you are!"
"Tai!" a voice from behind called out. A hand stopped on his shoulder. "Tai, what are you doing?"
He turned around and instinctively knew it was none other than Sora. "Hi sweetie."
"Well?" she questioned him, carrying the groceries.
"Well what sweety pie?" he responded with a nervous tone.
"What are you doing? Where's my baby?" she asked him looking around.
"Well if you haven't notice we are playing hide and seek. Melody's quite good on this game."
"Have you found her yet? Or have you lost her within those other bag of flour!" she yelled at him.
"I didn't!"
"OH Tai! How could you?" They argued for a while, blaming who was wrong. Finally, their immaturity stopped and came to a conclusion to rescue Melody from the shelf.
"Hmm..nope not this one. It's too light," Tai said weighing a bag of flour.
"Nah, this one is too ugly. It's definitely not her."
"Since when is flour ugly?" he said sarcastically.
"That will remain a mystery for you.."
"I think I found her!..oh wait, nevermind. It's punctured on the side."
An elderly lady excused herself in between the two youths. She fixed her thick glasses and grabbed a bag of flour. She said thank you to them and walked away. Sora froze for a second and looked at the lady, then at Tai.
"TAI! There she is! Melody! That old lady took it!" she exclaimed. "After her!"
Sora and Tai sprinted after the old lady who could walk faster than they are. They caught up with her near the feminine section. How embarrassing it was for Tai to see what the old lady was grabbing. She had on her hand a diaper for elderly people. He felt sad for her and thought if he would be using diapers too when he's old. He resented the thought and wanted to cry about it.
"Excuse me ma'am. I believe you have something of ours," Sora exclaimed pointing to what the old lady was carrying.
"I beg your pardon?" the woman asked in a high raspy voice. "You mean you'd like me to hand you a bag of diaper?"
Sora looked at her weird. "No. I don't want any." Nevertheless the woman handed her some diaper and waved good bye. Tai laughed at the little scene. "You idiot!" And bam! Tai's face was met with the flying diaper Sora hurled. "oh god!" he yelled out.
"Ma'am! You have our flour and please we need it back!" Sora called out after the woman. The old lady started walking faster and faster, weaving in and out the aisles. Tai and Sora split up to cover more grounds. It became a game. A frustrating game. The woman reported to the front service to report two young people harassing her.
"We weren't doing anything" Tai said to the manager. "All we wanted was the flour because I misplaced it along with the other flour on the shelf. I mean no harm."
The manager didn't believe him. "This woman is not capable of harming you two. You ought to be reported to the police for harassment."
"You can't do that!" Sora protested. "Please sir, we just want our flour bag. It's for our school project. Parenting class." For a minute the manager was silent and thought about it.
"In that case, you two are irresponsible parents."
'You don't have to rub it in' Tai thought to himself. 'And no it just so happens I was looking for a basket. I never applied to be a father!'
"I'll tell you what. I'll talk to her and in no time you'll get your baby back. I don't want any more trouble for your two.."
"Glad that was over," Sora said unloading the basket at the cashier. Tai held Melody safely in his arms..for a while.
"Excuse me sir, may I see that flour you're holding?" the cashier lady said. She took the bag and flipped it upside down. She scanned it, but nothing beeped. She flipped it again and again and no beep was heard. "You two ought to pay before leaving. You know it's a felony to steal."
"What are you talking about?" Tai said trying to grab it from her. "That's mine."
"Price check on lane seven," the lady said over the microphone.
"We don't intend to buy that miss," Sora interrupted. She explained it to her how that baby was for her school project. The lady didn't believe her and gave her a suspicious look. She ran the flour again over the scanner and nothing happened.
"Price check on lane seven please. Actually I think I need assistance. Two youths are trying to steal a bag of flour," she said.
"What!?" They said in unison. "We are not! We're innocent!" Tai exclaimed.
"Tai, I can't believe you tried to steal flour!" Mrs. Kamiya said, as she and Tai entered their house.
She was very disappointed with the incident. "I will not have a criminal for a son, young man."
"Ugh. Mom, I told you-"
"No, don't talk to me right now, I'm mad at you. Go do something productive," she said. Tai obeyed his mother and went to write in his journal. Unfortunately, that's not the only disappointment he'll encounter. Such a sweet and pleasing shock would surprise later on.
Tai ventured in his room and wrote about his day: His trip to the grocery store, how he lost Melody, how he tried to find her, how they were accused of harassing an old woman, how he thought of the diaper, and how they were accuses of stealing.
"Mmm, something smells delicious!" Kari commented sitting down to eat. The smell of the freshly baked chocolate cookies made its way through Kari's nostrils.
Mrs. Kamiya emerged from the kitchen, a plate of cookies on her hand. It looked very appealing to the hungry eyes of a person. She set it down on the table and let everyone dig in. Kari already ate two, her father two, and for her mom two. TK, who was invited to sleep over, joined at the little feast.
"Wow! You're mom's got to be the best cookie maker!" he said taking a bit off his cookie.
The smell of the cookie reached Tai's room. Irresistibly he quickly ran out of his room to get some cookies. It sure was something nice to his palate. He felt a glass of milk was something to complete this delightful feast. On his way to the refrigerator he asked his mother where she got the flour from.
"You brought it home Tai. It's sitting on the counter."
Oh yeah. That did it. Tai spat out the chewed cookie from his mouth as he saw the scariest thing that could ever happen to him. Melody was half empty. His mother used half of it to make cookies.
"That's cannibalism!" he cried out. Everyone looked at him. What? "You're eating my baby!"
"You got Sora pregnant?!" Tk and Kari declared in unison. Their parents gasped. Mrs. Kamiya fainted. Mr. Kamiya in shock..
"No. My flour baby. You baked it. And now it's resting in my tummy. I feel so guilty now. Not only will Sora cut off my left ball, she'd beat the crap out of me…Heaven help me."
TBC…