Fiction.

Chapter 39: Cartoons.

Chapter 39: Cartoons.

October 5, 1995

I was busy doing my chores, my parents were gone out of town and they trusted me enough to be home with an eight month old baby. I’m glad they trusted me like that, I felt like a grown up waking up and having to be the man of the house. I had to buy the food, cook and clean. It’s a nice feeling to be the man of the house, I just wish there was a woman of the house.

Peasnie sat in her play pen with the TV on, it played some cartoons. I finished wiping the counters and tables; I went over to sit on the floor beside Peasnie. She rattled a toy and looked around like a happy-go-lucky baby. I pulled up my loose fitting jeans and sat beside her. I watched the cartoons carefully with a cocked eye brow. It was the road runner and Wiley coyote. Like usual the road runner ran Wiley off a cliff. I sighed and shook my head as history repeated itself over and over again. I looked at Peasnie curiously.

“You know in cartoons, the way someone can run off a cliff and they're fine, they don't fall until they look down? My mom always said that was the secret of life. Never look down. But it's more than that. It's not just about not looking. It's about not ever realizing that you're in the middle of the air and you don't know how to fly.” I told her about the things I’ve been told as a kid. My mom would always say that to me. Peasnie smiled and squealed happily. She seemed so happy but who knows what’s really going on inside her head. She’s probably wondering why mommy isn’t here, how am I supposed to tell her that her mom isn’t around much because she’d much rather party? It’s not going to be easy but I’ll manage. Some people put a lot of work into their lawn, as if a patch of green grass was the most important thing in the world. As if they thought that as long as the lawn out front was green and mowed and beautiful, it wouldn't matter at all what was going on inside of the house.

I poked my fingers through the bars with a smile as I examined the play pen. She grabbed hold of my fingers and pulled them in different ways. She sucked the soother happily as she examined my fingers.

“This must be like a baby prison to you.” I muttered softly. Peasnie laughed so hard she fell backwards into the blankets. I honestly couldn’t help but laugh too, she was laughing so hard.

I got up to my feet; my knees were stiff and slightly sore. I bent over and picked up the baby, she weighed a lot more now. She’s also really long. Her eyes were mine; those crystal blue eyes twinkled up at me happily with a gummy smile. Peasnie whined as I put her into the high chair and got out a jar of sweet potato baby food. She loved this flavor, she loves alot of things. She’s a mellow kid. I opened the jar and sat in front of her with a plastic spoon. She wore he bib and squealed loudly. I took a scoop of the food and made the Jetson’s floating car sound as I put the plastic spoon in her mouth. She tried to take the spoon from me, which was good, I had a back up spoon so she can have one and I can have one. I smiled and fed her half the jar before she had enough. I put the lid on the jar and put it back in the fridge. I smiled and took a baby wipe, wiping her face free from the excess food. She giggled. I picked her up and wandered around the house checking things. It was the middle of the day; the sun was shining bright in the sky. It was really warm as well.

When I went into my room I frowned when my gaze ran to a picture on my wall, it was of me and Rosie. It brought back a lot of weird feelings that I couldn’t explain. I shook my head and rocked back and forth when Peasnie’s little whine turned into a little cry.

“It’s okay, as soon as I’m eighteen things will be good. I promise you baby girl.” I promised softly. I walked out of the room with the gloomy feeling lingering behind me. I looked back into my room and forced a smile before closing the door.

I took her out into the garage and put her into the jolly jumper, she loved this thing. She bounced in her little bumble bee outfit. Yes, I dressed her up as a bumble bee today, she’s really adorable.

I went and opened the garage door so the sun was shining into the dusty room. She squealed loudly and laughed, jumping up and down. I had a blanket under her feet so she wasn’t hitting the stone floors and hurting herself. I sat behind my drums, Peasnie was going mental. I think she loved me playing the drums more than that jolly jumper. I couldn’t help but smile at her. She loved music.

I started playing a little bit before the guys came into the garage. They were accompanied by a six pack of beer. I took Peasnie back into the house so we wouldn’t get caught. I placed her back into the play pen and sat on the couch along side my friends.

“Damn, I wish I could man but I have to watch Peasnie.” I said sullenly. Matt pouted at me slightly, handing me a glass bottle. He urged me to drink it but I protested. I wasn’t going to let him peer pressure me into this. It’s not like I haven’t had a beer before but Peasnie was always being watched when I did, I wasn’t watching her. Matt looked over at her and smiled.

“C’mon man, she’s in a play pen; what can she do, she’s safe and sound. Plus it’s just one beer.” Matt egged me on sullenly. I frowned slightly and pondered, going through with the pros and cons of this decision. I took the bottle from him and opened it, slowly taking a sip. Maybe if I drink this really slowly and not take such big gulps I’ll be fine. And Matt’s right, she’s in a prison for babies. She’s safe.