Change of Scenery-chapter 2
by SamPast
and Huggedlots
Copyright (c) 1999
The rest of the weekend
went by quickly. On Monday, when Charlie wasn't working, they all spent the day
together. It was very nice, and no one got into any trouble.
On Tuesday, Charlie went to
work. Lisa sighed. It was raining out and the girls were upset that they
couldn't go swimming. Lisa thought to herself,
"What am I going to do all day with these girls?" Then she had a
great idea.
"Come on, girls. Get
ready to go out," Lisa called happily.
"Where are we going,
Mommy?" Robin asked.
"We're going to the
flea market," she said.
"The
flea market? You
mean Busy Bee?" Jenn asked.
"Yes. Put on your
shoes and we'll go. Does anyone need to use the bathroom?" Lisa asked.
Maggie didn't move. She was
confused. "How could we go to a flea market? It's raining out."
Lisa put her arm around
Maggie. "Oh, honey, this flea market is indoors. It's not like the ones
you're used to upstate." Lisa chuckled.
Jenn said, "Yeah, it's
really cool. There are these little booths, and everything's really cheap, and
you don't have to pay, um, uh, . . . "
Maggie said, "You
don't pay?"
Lisa said, "Tax. You
don't pay any tax. Come on, girls, let's go!"
The girls chatted in the car
on the way to the flea market. It was in Massapequa and only took them twenty
minutes to get there. Lisa found a parking spot right away.
The girls were about to get
out of the car when Lisa stopped them. "Just a minute, I have two rules
before we go inside."
"Just two,
Mommy?" Robin asked.
Lisa gave Robin a stern
look. "First of all, you are to hold someone's hand at all times, and you
must stay where I can see you. No running off, do you understand?" Lisa
waited until all three girls nodded. "Second, I am giving you each five
dollars. You can spend it however you please, but once it's gone, that's it!
And there will be no whining! The first sign of any whining, and we're leaving.
Got it?"
Jennifer said, "Mommy, that was three rules!"
"Anyway, do I make
myself clear?" Lisa asked.
"Yes,
Mommy!"
"Yes, Aunt Lisa!" "Yes, Mommy!"
"Okay, good, let's
go." They all got out of the car. Robin and Jennifer each grabbed one of
Maggie's hands. They all started to run off toward the entrance. "Girls! Wait! You're in a parking lot. Wait for
me!" Lisa shouted. What was she getting herself into?
In the flea market, the
girls looked at many items in the booths. Everything looked better than the
next. Robin wanted to buy candy, but Jennifer told her not to waste her money
on that. Maggie was saving her money for something super special.
After a while, Robin had
spent a lot of hers, and Jennifer had bought a few little items. Lisa turned to
Maggie and said, "Aren't you going to buy anything, Maggie?"
Maggie said, "Well,
I'm getting kind of hungry. I thought I'd save my money to get some
lunch."
Lisa tried not to laugh.
She knew that Maggie was completely serious. "Oh, honey, I'll be buying
you lunch. This money is to spend on whatever you would like."
"Really? Okay, thanks.
I think I want to get some of those ponytail holders!" Maggie said as she
pointed them out a few booths down.
They walked over to where
Maggie was pointing. All three girls were looking through the bins of ponytail
holders and headbands. Lisa noticed that Jennifer was wiggling a little. She
called her over.
"Jenn, do you have to
use the bathroom?" Lisa asked.
Jennifer thought a minute
and then said, "Uh-huh!"
"Come on, let's
go!" Lisa declared.
"But I wanted to buy
some of these," Maggie said sadly.
"We'll come right
back. We're going to the bathroom," Lisa said. She started to walk away.
When she realized Robin and Maggie weren't following, she said, "NOW!
Let's go!" She wanted to hurry. She knew Jennifer's little bladder couldn't
wait too long.
When they got to the
bathroom, Maggie said, "I don't have to go, Aunt Lisa. Can I wait out
here?"
Lisa looked around.
"No, I don't think so. Come inside with us. Here, you can wait by the
sinks. Robin, do you have to go?"
"Yes, Mommy,"
Robin said.
Robin went into a stall on
one side, while Lisa took Jennifer to a stall on the other side. Maggie waited
by the sink. She people-watched. She was fascinated by
all the different people and the different clothes. Everything seemed different
here than where she lived.
Unfortunately, try as she
might, Jennifer did not make it to the toilet. "I'm sorry, Mommy!"
Jenn said. "It's okay, Jenn," Lisa sighed.
She knew to expect things like this and had brought a change of clothes for
Jennifer.
"Jenn,
please put on a pair of pantsies for the rest of the
day!" Lisa said as she held a pair up. "No, Mommy! I don't want
Maggie to think I'm a little baby!" Jenn said.
Jennifer thought back to
Saturday night, when she had told Maggie she wet the bed. Maggie didn't laugh,
but didn't really say anything about it. She got used to Jennifer wearing the pantsies to bed, and the subject had been dropped. But, she
didn't want Maggie to think she was a baby during the day, too.
While Lisa was helping Jennifer
get cleaned and changed, Robin came out of the stall. She went over to wash her
hands. "Hey, Maggie! Guess what! There are t.v.'s in the stalls."
Maggie exclaimed, "No
way!?"
"Uh-huh," Robin
said, "Come see!"
Maggie followed Robin back
into the stall she had just come out of. "See? Up there!" Robin
pointed.
"Cooooooool!" Maggie said.
Finally, Lisa and Jenn
emerged from the stall, and they both went to wash their hands. Lisa looked
around but did not see Robin or Maggie. She called their names and they came
out of the stall.
"What were you both
doing in there?" Lisa asked.
As they were walking out,
Robin and Maggie told Lisa and Jennifer about the t.v.'s in the bathroom. "I didn't see any t.v." Jenn said.
"Only on my side of
the bathroom," Robin replied.
"I wanna
see," Jenn cried.
"Later! Come on, let's
let Maggie get those hair clips and then we'll get some lunch!" Lisa
expressed.
Maggie got her hair things, and Jenn bought some, too. They each had about two
dollars or less, left. Lisa brought them to the food court.
"Well, there's not
much here, but I'm sure, we can find something. Let's see, there's
pizza, Chinese, a deli, health food, and Wendy's! What do you each want?"
"PIZZA!" "PIZZA!" "PIZZA!"
"Well, that was
easy!" Lisa said. They went up to the pizza counter and ordered four
slices. "Could you please cut three of them in half?" Lisa asked the
pizza man.
"Oh, we're not babies,
Mommy!" Robin said.
"You're not whining,
are you, Robin?" Lisa asked. The other two girls stared at Robin.
"No! I didn't. I just
said . . . never mind," Robin said quietly.
Jennifer had her fingers
crossed that Maggie wouldn't notice she had different clothes on. So far, so good. If Robin noticed, she didn't say anything.
But then again, she knew better.
The girls finished their
pizza and soda. They were happy that Lisa had let them get soda. But only Sprite. She didn't want them having anything with
caffeine. They were already hyper enough.
"I have to go to the
bathroom!" Maggie informed them.
"Okay, I'll take
you," Lisa said.
"No, it's okay, I know
where it is. It's right there!" Maggie pointed it out.
"I'll go with
her," Robin said.
"Me, too," said
Jenn.
It was much closer to them
now then when they had gone before, so Lisa let them go. "Hold
hands!" Lisa shouted after they had run off. She hoped she was doing the
right thing letting them go by themselves. Well, after all, it was right there!
She could see them go in and come out. She ate the rest of her pizza in welcomed
silence.
Robin and Jennifer didn't
have to go, since they had just gone. They waited for Maggie to go. While they
were waiting, Robin showed Jennifer the t.v.'s.
"That's so cool. You
can watch while you're going," she giggled. Robin giggled, too.
Maggie came out and washed
her hands. Then she joined the twins in one of the stalls. They watched
Gilligan's Island for a few minutes.
Maggie looked around. There
was no one else in the bathroom. "Hey, you guys want to do something fun?
I used to do it all the time at school!"
"What?" Jenn
asked.
"Watch, and
learn," Maggie said.
The girls followed Maggie
out of the stall. Then they watched in amazement as she went into a stall,
locked the door, and slid out underneath. Now the door was locked from the inside,
and no one would be able to use that stall.
"Isn't that
cool?" Maggie asked.
"Yeah, but why do
it?" Robin asked.
"I don't know. It's
just fun. Come on, try it!" Maggie exclaimed.
Robin and Jennifer looked
around. No one else had come in to use the bathroom. They thought, "What
the heck!" Then they joined Maggie in locking up all the stalls.
Meanwhile, Lisa had
finished her pizza and was wondering what was taking the girls so long. She
decided she had better go see what they were doing.
Back in the bathroom, the
girls stood and looked around at their handiwork. "There, done!"
Maggie said. They were standing by the sinks when a lady came in with her
daughter.
"Are you girls on
line?" the lady asked sweetly.
Maggie jumped. "What? Us? Oh, no, we were just leaving. Come on, girls," she
said to Robin and Jennifer.
"Well, it's about
time!" Lisa exclaimed.
All three girls froze.
"What are you doing here, Mommy?" Robin asked guiltily.
"I came to see what
was taking you so long. Are you done?" Lisa asked.
No one spoke. Then Maggie
said, "Yea, let's go!"
As they started to walk
away, the lady said, "Well, that's strange!"
Lisa turned back around.
"What's that, ma'am?"
The lady replied, "All
the stalls seem to be locked, but there doesn't appear to be anyone in them.
That's so odd. Do you think they could all be out of order? Wouldn't there be a
sign?"
No one said anything for
several moments.
Finally, Maggie said,
"Um, you know what! We had this same problem at school once. Here, let me
see if I can figure it out."
Everyone watched Maggie as
she looked under the first stall. Then she crept underneath, unlocked the door,
and came out. "See? It used to happen all the time at my school."
The lady said, "Hmmm,
I wonder who would do that. Come on, Abigail." The little girl followed
her mother into the stall.
Lisa sneered, "Hmmm, I
wonder!"
Lisa looked at the girls
and decided to try some humor. "Maggie?"
"Yes, Aunt Lisa?" Maggie asked.
"Tell me, what are those marks on your shirt, hon?"
Lisa asked seriously, although trying not to laugh.
Maggie looked down and
realized she was covered with dirt from the floor of the bathroom. Then she
looked over at Robin and Jenn and realized that they were just as dirty.
"Uh oh, we are sunk," she thought to herself.
Out loud she said,
"Well, Aunt Lisa, boy these flea markets sure are kind of dusty, aren't
they?"
Lisa looked at her face,
and almost laughed, but knew she had to maintain the seriousness. "Robin?
Would you like to try answering the question?"
"Umm, no Mom, I really
wouldn't," she answered.
Lisa said sternly,
"Girls, you know that I know, so go back into all those stalls and unlock
the doors, NOW. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am," all
three replied and scurried off. Robin turned to Maggie, and said, "Sheesh, between the three of us, we sure can get into a lot
of trouble."
They all laughed and
crawled under the doors again getting even dirtier. Coming back out, Lisa said,
"Okay, I think we have all had enough, and I see three little girls who
really need baths."
"But I don't wanna leave yet, Mommy, I haven't spent all my money,"
Robin whined.
"Robin!" Jennifer
exclaimed.
Maggie and Jennifer had
been holding their breaths waiting to see what Lisa would say,
and they breathed a sigh of relief at her statement. They wanted to kill Robin
for possibly messing up their reduced punishment. They thought for sure Lisa
was going to change her mind and be really angry.
"No whining, Robin, that was one of the rules. Remember?" Lisa said.
Now all three girls held
their breaths. They had been relieved that Lisa hadn't mentioned a spanking
yet. Their relief was short lived however. Lisa waited until she thought they
had relaxed, and then told them, "Since you three have soooo
much energy, I think that some extra chores are in order." Then Lisa,
waiting for a dramatic pause, added, "Right after your time outs, IN THE
CORNER!"
All three looked down and
sighed. It was gonna be a tough afternoon, but at
least she hadn't mentioned the S word.
to be continued...