I'm A What?!

It Starts To Sink In

     Before they had even pulled into the store's parking lot, Tim had gotten a text from their teacher. 'What is her deal?' He thought. 'She's as bad as a stalker. Can my brother sue her for harassment of a minor? I'd love to see the look on her face when he handed her the papers.'

     He parked the truck and looked at the message. She told him to take good care of Gatlin and make sure he's happy cause he looked so sad when they left.

     'Of course he did. He already told me he didn't want anything to do with this stuff either.' Then a thought came into his head. 'What if she followed me to the store? Is she watching me? I better take a look around when I get out... and just for show, I'll hold the thing on my hip until I'm sure she isn't anywhere around.'

     Tim got out of the car and looked around. He didn't see anyone else pull into the lot behind him. He also didn't recognize any of the other cars. He walked around to the backseat passenger side and opened the door. Gatlin still looked terrified. What was with this little? Tim shook his head and undid the straps and pulled Gatlin into his arms. Again he noticed how light he was, this time he also noticed how skinny the kid was. Didn't he ever eat? Gatlin had gone stiff and gulped hard as he looked at Tim. Tim knew he was uncomfortable, but so was he.

     After Tim was sure the teacher wasn't anywhere around, he turned to Gatlin and sneered slightly. He didn't like this feeling. The feeling of holding someone and balancing them on his hip.

     "You listen to me. Don't wonder off. Don't bug me. Don't beg for items. Don't draw any attention to us. You will have your own cart and make sure you get your stuff. I don't want to come back to this nightmare." He dropped Gatlin on his feet and walked inside.

     Once inside, he wanted to turn around and walk right back out. Everything was just so... so... bright and cheerful. It reminded him of the classroom. He scoffed and walked to the carts. He pulled one out and waited for Gatlin to catch up to him and get his own cart.

     "What..." Gatlin had started to talk in a soft voice. Tim looked at him and frowned.

     "Come on. Spit it out. You already started talking." He wasn't sure what Gatlin wanted, but apparently he wasn't listening when he said not to bug him.

     "I... I just wanted to know what you have to buy and how much was on your card."

     Tim had almost forgotten about the card. He pulled the two papers out of his pocket and read the first one. He skimmed past the part about loosing the card and yadda yadda yadda... His eyes suddenly went wide when he saw the starting limit and monthly allowance for food, shelter, medical, and general care.

     "Fifteen thousand." Tim's jaw nearly hit the floor as the words escaped his mouth. "And another three thousand a month." He looked up at Gatlin and saw the same disbelieve on his face.

     'OMG. Fifteen thousand!? Why so much? How are littles and caretakers so important that they're given that much money? There's no way we can spend even half of that in a month, let alone on this one trip.' Gat was beside himself and was slightly angry at the government.

     Tim had seemed to get back ahold of himself after that shock and turned to the next page. He gave a sigh as he looked over the items he was required to purchase for a fully stocked nursery, including the furniture.

     "Here." He shoved the list into Gat's hand. "You're the one all this shit is for. You pick it out."

     Gat took the list and looked it over. It had been broken down into different sections. It looked like a baby registry list to be honest. He didn't want to buy ANY of the items on it.