Soulful Spark

6. Sweet Deception

☤ Swєєt Dєcєptiση ☤

Three deep breaths. In and out. Inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth. Stay calm and slowly turn around, I thought. There’s absolutely no reason for me to panic. Handle the situation like it’s nothing. All you have to do is pretend you’ve been taking care of the lawn for months if the person asks. I went over a mock conversation in my head. Are you new here, sonny? Oh, no. I’ve been here as long as I can remember.

Even though fear rooted me to the spot, I forced myself to turn around, expecting the worse. I literally cracked up when I saw the tree branch. I had gotten worked up over nothing! Paranoia was certainly eating me up. I suppose it had to do with avoiding the police all the time. Watching my back was a way of life, the path to survival.

A few flashes of light momentarily blinded me. I looked around to see where the source was, but to no avail. Don’t worry, Steth. It’s nothing.

I got back to planting and dug a trench, sprinkling the seeds over designated areas. A continuous zephyr caressed my skin as the earth tingled beneath my feet. Dirt sifted through the gaps in my open palms as the soil was patted into little mounds. I was truly unified with nature…I was…I was…

In my current state of mind, I wouldn’t make it any further. My poor body was wracked with pain, deprived of energy. I took a knee and rested, wiping off sweat that had beaded up and stuck to my skin.

Why did I ever beg Dad to do this? Don’t complain, Steth. One day, all this hard work is going to pay off. Just you wait and see. Because of prior events, I resorted to talking to myself and being introverted. Actually, I didn’t have many people to talk to anyway.

Even when I was a kindergartener, I kept mostly to myself. I could carry a conversation if needed, but I wasn’t the social butterfly type. Being around kids my age didn’t benefit me. They were only interested in drawing stick figures that were not proportional, reciting the ABC’s, discussing trivial matters, and playing on the jungle gym. As for me, I would purposely sit in the shade alone and wonder how doctors improved treatments.

My head snapped up. Mr. Morrick came out, along with Mrs. Morrick, interrupting my break. There was a slight frown plastered on her face. My nerves started up again. Had they found me out? That I was supposed to be taken away from Dad? I took my sweet time walking towards them.

“Is something wrong?” I inquired.

“Not at all,” Gladys replied, “but I just wanted to invite you in for cookies.”

There seemed to be enough sincerity, so I followed them into the house. Gladys gestured to a kitchen stool and I gladly took a seat. Within a minute, she plopped a heaping plate in front of me with a tall glass of lemonade. I had never seen so much food in my life. My mouth watered; the tantalizing aromas made me want to gobble everything in sight. At the same time, gorging myself was not the best idea.

“This is very kind of you, Gladys, but I don’t think my stomach can hold all that.”

“Oh, that’s okay sweetie. Eat what you want and I’ll pack the rest to go.”

“That’s not ne—“

“You are taking them home,” she said firmly.

It turns out that some traits run in the family. Then Mrs. Morrick did some more cooking. With deft hands, she kneaded dough in order to make bread. I watched in awe; it was the complete opposite of what my dad did. He just pulled the car up by the drive-thru window and ordered fast food. It wasn’t like we had a place to cook, much less time and energy.

As I took the first bite, I melted. The rich flavor lingered on my tongue. I nibbled on the cookie, savoring each bit. It was the best cookie I had ever tasted, hands down. It wasn’t something you could buy at the store.

Three cookies later, Gladys sat down next to me. I stopped eating and turned my attention to her.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell this to you before, but the bottom line is that we need to talk.”

“About what exactly?”

Gladys placed a paper on the granite countertop and made a tsking noise.

“It’s such a shame; people don’t know how to spell these days.” She tapped a picture and shot me dubious looks. “Well, I got this flyer in the mail. If I’m not mistaken, this is you about three years ago.”