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Me, on the other hand? Mine was just everyday life. Having to deal with the snickers and the glares. The questions that I didn’t have answers to. And the worry that Frankie was having to deal with Cromwell on top of all of that wasn’t the best thing in the world for me.
Lastly, I didn’t want her going by herself and something happening while I didn’t have my eye on her.
Which was mainly the reason I was here.
If I sat back at the house and watched as she did whatever she was doing—or trying to do—it’d drive me insane.
I’d eventually end up out there anyway.
“When are your friends getting in?” I asked as I put her metal detector into the cart.
“Tomorrow, from what I understand. At least a couple of them,” she answered. “They got done earlier than expected.”
“Oh, joy,” I replied sarcastically.
She snorted and slapped me on the chest playfully.
“Daddy, what’s wrong with that man’s face?” I heard a little kid ask.
I wasn’t fazed.
At least, I wasn’t by the little kid’s question.
I was fazed by the adult’s answer.
“Don’t look at him, baby,” a woman replied. “You don’t want him to catch you staring and have him try to eat you or something.”
Frankie’s eyes narrowed.
When she would’ve turned to say something to the woman, I caught her hand and pulled her into my chest, trapping her there while the family walked away.
“Take a deep breath,” I ordered. “It’s okay.”
She was already shaking her head.
“No, it’s not,” she disagreed. “It’s not okay, even if you think it is. That was the worst attitude ever.”
I grinned and pulled her into my chest, nuzzling my head against her face.
She calmed down almost immediately.
“’Scuse me, sir.”
I looked down and over at a young man that was dressed in a ‘Go Army’ shirt.
He was about fourteen or fifteen and looked like he was a Boy Scout of some sort based on the pants and the loose hanging shirt that was over his Go Army shirt.
“Yeah?” I asked.
He gestured to the popcorn cans.
“Would you like to buy some popcorn?” he asked, his eyes on my eyes and not my scars.
“We’ll buy two,” Frankie declared upon seeing him not acting weird. After squeezing my hand, she let me go and then walked over to the table I was unaware of stopping in front of. “How much are they?”
“Umm,” the kid said upon seeing the beautiful Frankie give him her full attention. “They’re f-forty-five for the collector’s tins. Sixty-five for the box of bags of popcorn. Thirty-five for one giant-sized bag, and then twenty for the grab-sized bag.”
“Shewwww,” I whistled under my breath. “That’s a hefty price tag for popcorn, kid.”
He was already nodding his understanding.
“I agree.” He pointed at a box set up in the middle of Walmart’s main floor. “That white cheddar popcorn right there is like, ten times better than our white cheddar. And about a fraction of the cost. But, I’m forced to sell this stuff so that I can have my scout trips paid for. My dad’s not in the picture anymore, and I had to beg my mom to do it. And this is one of the ways that will help pay.”
That was a lot of information all in one sentence.
“All right,” Frankie whipped out her wallet. “I have enough cash to buy two of the small grab bags.”
I pulled out my wallet, too, and handed the boy a twenty.
“Give us what we can get for that cash,” I ordered.
The kid was scrambling, and handed us our wares, then held out the last five dollars that wouldn’t cover anything.
I gestured for him to put it into his donation box.
“Put it in there, kid,” I ordered.
The kid stuffed it into his box.
“T-thank you,” he said, swallowing hard. “Thank you for your service.”
My eyes met the kid’s who still hadn’t looked away.
“How’d you know I was in the service?” I wondered.
He shrugged.
“You walk like a… you walk like my dad used to,” he said quietly. “Like there’s a threat around every corner. Like you’re anticipating something bad is going to happen at any second.”
Frankie laughed then, breaking the tension.
“You pegged him,” Frankie replied joyfully. “Thank you for my popcorn, kind sir.”
The kid blushed all over again. “You’re welcome, ma’am.”
With that, we walked toward the checkout with our nearly two whole buggies of food and crap that we probably didn’t need.
Including a metal detector.
After swiping my temporary pre-paid card for all the shit that we didn’t need, it finally occurred to me that my parents might be able to see the changes that was supposed to be occurring with my bank account.
According to Tim and the commander, I’d be paid for two years of service here in the next couple of days.
When I said as much to Frankie, she shook her head.
“Don’t worry about that,” she said. “When you asked me to marry you, and right before you left, you and I got a joint account. All of your money is still there, in our savings.”
