Spoiled, part two

Because she didn’t have much choice, Julia took her six-year-old daughter Leta with her on the several errands she had planned for the day. Initially, she had hoped to play the child’s vanity against her greed by dressing her up in her Sunday best, but by the conclusion of the second stop—to deliver one of the dresses that Julia had hemmed and adjusted for a local farmer’s widow—the two vices had joined forces against her. Their final stop was the market, where the grocer had placed several jars of candy at the counter.

Leta saw the candy and immediately wanted a piece. Julia knelt to look the child in the eye and refused as gently and firmly as she could.

Leta’s eyes welled up with tears. She looked so pretty she deserved one, she thought, everyone said so, and it was cruel of her mother to refuse.

“I want a candy!” she demanded.

“No,” Julia said with equal harshness. “We don’t have money for that.”

Several folks had politely turned away, but Julia still felt as though she was considered a cruel and unjust parent for so pretty a little girl.

“But I have my own money,” Leta offered, showing her mother a penny she was holding in the small pocket of her dress.

“Where did you get that?” Julia demanded.

“That nice lady gave it to me, the purple dress lady,” Leta answered in a choking voice. “Can’t I get a candy now?”

“You’re going to return that penny is what you’re going to do,” Julia said decisively. “I don’t know if you asked for it or she gave it to you, but you’re not keeping it.”

“But it’s mine,” Leta whined. “She gave it to me.”

“Not another word,” Julia answered crisply and stood. “We’re going to finish our shopping and leave.” She grabbed Leta firmly by the wrist and started toward the counter.

“I WANT A CANDY!” Leta yelled, breaking free of her mother. She ran to another part of the shop and began to repeat her demand at the top of her voice.

Julia watched her daughter in terror before making an attempt to take charge of the situation. She put her basket on the counter and stomped firmly over to her wailing child. But Leta would not be caught, she dodged her mother and ran around a shelf, still screaming at the top of her lungs how she had her own money and wanted a candy. Nearly in tears herself at this unacceptable and astonishing display, Julia began to chase her child. Truly, the mother had no idea what to do. None of her older children had ever acted in such a way.

“Leta,” she called firmly. “You come here right now.”

“No!” her daughter cried, while pulling at her hair and dress. “I want a candy!”

Julia had chased the little girl around the shelving three times with Leta adjusting her own trajectory as Julia attempted to outsmart her. However, the mother was beginning to prevail, so the child made a last effort to escape out the door, running headlong into the legs of a man.

“Here now,” the man said. “What is this?”

Both mother and daughter were tear-stained, exhausted and panting.

The man lifted the little girl to his face.

“Doll-baby?” he asked. “Is that you?”

Julia wiped her eyes with her handkerchief. She couldn’t believe it. Meanwhile, Leta sniffed and tried to recognize the face, the voice, the touch.

“Aaron?” Julia questioned. “Is that you?”

Her older son looked directly at her. “Yes, Mother, it’s me.”

While she had no words, Leta impulsively threw her arms around her big brother and sobbed in relief and joy. She forgot about her tantrum, the penny, even the candy. She only understood that her life was going to become good again. This man whose name was Aaron, whom she would later be told was her beloved brother, had returned after being gone for several years to take care of her. All of the hurt and turmoil of the past few years had suddenly concluded.