Blade

 

“What are we doing here?” Maggie asked as I pulled into the parking lot at one of the many local shopping centers in the city.

 

It was just late enough in the morning that everyone was showing up for work, but it didn’t look like any of the stores had opened yet. There was a large locally-owned toy store down at the end, as big as any of the big box corporate chains. We parked in front of the store and left the car running.

 

“Well, the way I see it, if you won’t tell me where you’re from, or where you’re going to go if I drop you off at the bus station, you can come with me while I do some shopping,” I told her as I unbuckled my seatbelt.

 

I glanced over at her, and she sat staring at me like I had two heads.

 

“At the toy store?” she asked.

 

“Yeah. It’s Christmas. Where else would I get presents for children?” I asked. I was amused that she had no idea what we were doing there. It was quite fitting for her to be confused. It suited her just fine.

 

I kept my attention on the door, waiting for the manager to unlock it and open the store for the day.

 

“I don’t get it,” Maggie said, turning to stare at the store, too.

 

“That’s fine. There’s a lot I don’t get tonight, either,” I told her. I watched out of the corner of my eye as my words settled on her. The fight left her face for a moment while she considered what I’d said.

 

She was smart. I knew my meaning wasn’t going to be lost on her. I just wondered if it would help her to open up to me finally. I wanted to believe her story, but I also wanted her to believe I wanted to help her. We didn’t seem to be getting anywhere with that argument, so it had to be put on hold while I went about my daily business.

 

“Come on,” I said as the manager unlocked the front door. I cut off the car and we got out.

 

“You’re serious,” she said, holding back laughter.

 

“Yeah, I’m serious. It’s Christmas. Kids need toys. Come on.” She followed behind me as I led her up to the store. I grabbed a shopping cart from just inside the automatic doors.

 

I was still amused that even after all our fighting in the diner and the car, she stayed right there with me, obediently following me and taking orders. She may have wanted to be independent and strong, but it was obvious she needed something – help, a strong shoulder to hold her up, something; I just wished I knew what exactly.

 

She started laughing as we made our way into the toy store. It was a good, light-hearted laugh, not like the harsh laughter I’d heard from her before. I had hoped the toy store would lighten the mood a little.

 

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

 

“Just you,” she said.

 

“What about me?”

 

“You! You’re so out of place here,” she said, her laughter starting to get the best of her.

 

I grabbed a few children’s books and put them in the cart, things I knew the kids would be able to read all year instead of just for Christmas. She watched with confusion in her eyes. She really thought I was pulling her leg about needing to pick up some Christmas gifts for kids.

 

“I mean, you’re this big, mean-looking biker in a vest with all your patches on. You’ve got tattoos and scars on your arms, and I’m sure some of those tattoos probably mean the same things those scars do. But here you are, shopping for little kids in the middle of a toy store all decorated for Christmas. I can’t think of anything more out of place than that,” she continued as I moved past the children’s books in the front to one of the girls’ aisles.

 

“I need your help here,” I told her as we approached the dolls.

 

“Wait, you need my help?” she asked. “Mister helpful over here needs me?”

 

“Yeah, yeah, live it up. I don’t know what dolls the kids are into these days,” I said, stepping back to look at all the varieties of dolls, from Barbie, the old standard, to every different kind of doll imaginable. There were dolls of girls who looked vaguely like monsters from some of the classic monster movies. There were some that had buttons for eyes. There were even superhero dolls – not action figures, like in the boys’ aisles but dolls.

 

“I think you can see right here that they’re really into a little bit of everything,” Maggie told me.

 

“I don’t even know where to start.”

 

“How many do I get to pick?” she asked.

 

“I don’t know. A few? We need to fill about half the cart with stuff for girls,” I told her.

 

“Half the shopping cart?”

 

“Right.”

 

She started grabbing a few of every kind and put them in the shopping cart.

 

“That should be enough, right?” she said when she was finished. “I tried to leave enough space for something else. You know, you could even grab some games or something. It doesn’t have to be all action figures and dolls.”

 

I gave her a little smirk. “Sure, whatever you think is good.” I was glad to have her with me. If it had just been me by myself, I would have just grabbed a few of the dolls, maybe some kid makeup sets, a few action figures, and possibly a couple of Nerf guns. But not Maggie. Maggie started putting some thought into what she was grabbing.

 

“Who are we getting this for?” she asked.

 

“You’ll see,” I told her, not wanting to reveal any secrets if she didn’t.

 

“I’m just asking because it might help me make better selections,” she said with a toy karaoke machine in her hands.

 

“Just think kids in general. If you think girls will like it, grab it, but remember, we can only use about half of the cart for girls,” I reminded her.

 

She stepped back and looked at it after stuffing a couple more things in. “I think it’s about half full. What do you think?”

 

“I think you’re right. Now for the boys,” I said as I walked around the corner to the first aisle for the boys’ toys.

 

“I can’t help you as much with the boy stuff,” Maggie said as she followed me. The distracted sound of her voice told me she was still looking at things as we came around and started down the aisle.

 

“It’s good. I’ve got the boys’ section. It never really changes. Superheroes, cars, weapons, and maybe stuff from popular video games.” I didn’t think the kids I was shopping for knew much about video games, though.

 

“Yeah, you boys love your weapons, don’t you?” Maggie asked with a chuckle.

 

“Oh, you think you’re funny with your sass.”

 

“I know I am. Everyone tells me so. Get with the program, Blade,” she said absently as she picked up some of the toys on the shelves and looked at them.

 

A few moments later she showed me a couple of violent looking robots equipped with all sorts of weapons. “This looks like something some of the boys might like,” she said as she held the boxes where I could see them.

 

“Yeah, toss them in.” I grabbed a couple of light sabers and a few more action figures from different toy lines.

 

“Do you want to leave some room for board games or trading cards, stuff like that?” Maggie asked, moving on up the aisle.

 

I looked at the cart. We had a pretty even mix of toys that were strictly for boys or girls, so I said, “Sure, why not?” I started to follow her. I was enjoying shopping with her. She was turning out to be pretty helpful.

 

“Well, follow me, Blade. Right this way.” Her tone had completely changed once we walked into the store. She wasn’t trying to fight or avoid talking. She seemed to be opening up in front of me.

 

She looked like a little kid the way her face lit up every time she saw something different. She seemed to be having a good time for the first time all night, and I was glad to see it. If anyone deserved a break in her stressful evening, it was obviously Maggie.

 

After she grabbed some board games, a few packs of cards, and some different trading card games, I stopped walking with the cart and parked on the side of one of the aisles. “Do you think this is a pretty good spread?” I asked her.

 

She looked at what we’d picked out for a moment and considered my question before answering, “Yeah, I think it is. Whoever you’re getting this for ought to be pretty pleased with it come Christmas morning.”

 

“I think so, too,” I said. “Good job, helper. We made a pretty good team in here.”

 

“I agree. Is there any more shopping you need done?” she asked happily.

 

“No, this will do it for today,” I said with a wink.

 

I started pushing the shopping cart to the front of the store, toward the registers. On the way, I snagged a couple of the pointed Santa hats and put one on my head, the other on Maggie’s. I couldn’t help but laugh. Christmas always seemed to bring the best out in everyone.

 

Everyone except Maggie. She frowned and jerked the hat off her head. She didn’t even hand it back to me but tossed it onto a shelf as we passed another display on our way to the front.

 

“Not a big fan of Christmas?” I asked.

 

“Not really. I don’t mind helping you get presents for people, especially for kids, but don’t expect me to get into the spirit of Christmas or anything like that. I prefer not to even celebrate it,” she said, stepping ahead of me.

 

I found myself even more intrigued by her. Who didn’t like Christmas? It was the one time of the year that was supposed to bring out the best in everyone. In Maggie, however, it seemed to awaken her inner Scrooge. There was so much about her that I needed to learn.

 

I had felt like the shopping trip was starting to open her up for me, but I was also aware that my mistake with the hat might have cost me any progress that had been made. I let her walk in front of me. I already knew pursuing what I wanted to know from her directly didn’t work well. She was very defiant and rebellious.

 

I laughed to myself as she tried to lead me to one of the cash registers. We weren’t going that way, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. And I sure wasn’t going to tell her why. I wanted to freak her out a little and to continue showing her how it felt when people kept key pieces of information from her.

 

One way or another, I was going to convince her to talk and to open up to me. I figured once she got tired of the surprises I had in store for her, she’d decide to be a little more honest about herself and her situation. I wondered how long that was going to take.

 

I also wondered how long it was going to be before she realized I wasn’t following her to a register, and how long it was going to take her to start asking questions about what was going on.

 

She looked back, realizing I hadn’t followed, and threw her hands up in the air. “Where are you going?” she mouthed as I walked past and continued toward the front door. I just nodded for her to follow me. I saw her blush and wondered what she must have been thinking as I kept going.

 

Two could play her game.