The pot bellied, middle aged man with graying hair had been through my check out line many times before. Sometimes he came in alone, but most of the time he came in with a lady I assumed was his wife. Although she favored heavy make-up, especially dark eye shadow, she was quite beautiful. I rang up their groceries and made small talk with the lady, while he stared intently at my boobs.
It was the day before Halloween, and along with the normal groceries were several large bags of candy. 'Expecting a lot of trick-or- treaters?' I asked him, as his wife wrote the check.
He was staring at my chest, entranced, and didn't seem to hear me. His wife looked up as she tore out the check, and jabbed him in the rib cage with her elbow. 'Honestly Fred, sometimes you're such a child!' She strutted off, leaving him to follow with the cart.
The next morning she came into the store alone. Dressed for the holiday in a very detailed black witch's costume, right down to the tall, pointy hat, she looked every bit the card carrying coven member. She was standing in another line, but switched to mine when she noticed me behind my register.
Her cart was overloaded with baby items. There were boxes of disposable diapers, formula, and baby bottles. I rang up little baby outfits, a plastic bathtub, and a large container of petroleum jelly. I'd never noticed either of them with a baby before, and the variety of baby products in her cart really had me wondering.
'Can I ask how old you are?' she asked suddenly.
'I'm sixteen. You have to be sixteen to work at the check-out.'
She thought for a moment, then smiled broadly. 'Do you baby sit? It turns out I'm going to have a baby in the house for a while, and I may need some help.'
I used to baby sit a lot, but turned down quite a few jobs lately. I didn't really like taking care of older kids, but a little baby was a different matter, and I could really use the money right now. 'Yes, I do it quite a bit. Let me give you my number.'
'I'll get it the next time I'm in. I have to get to K-Mart to get some stuff for the nursery. I don't want him waking up before I get home.'
I had no idea what she meant by that last comment and she didn't give me time to ask. She bolted from the store, almost at a trot, with her cartload of supplies.
She came in again that day at the end of my shift, she was still wearing her costume. This time she was not alone. Sitting in the cart was the cutest little boy that I think I've ever seen. He was dressed in tiny bib overalls, and a bright red shirt. I'd guess that he was about 10-12 months old.
'This is Freddie. He's going to be staying with me for a while,' she said placing her items on the belt. 'I'll take your number now. I was in a bit of a rush this morning.' I rang up the few things that she had to purchase; some baby shampoo and a cute baby outfit that looked a Chicago Cubs baseball uniform. I wrote my number on the back of the receipt.
The baby gave me a big goofy smile, as he handed me a tomato from the cart. Such a smart little guy! I know that it was probably only my imagination, but it sure seemed to me that his pretty baby blue eyes were focused squarely on my boobs. The lady took the receipt and walked away. As she left the store, and the automatic doors opened in front of her, I heard the baby start to cry.