Bob

76 Bob by Marsha Walker Mindy held the sunflower seeds to the deer's mouth as she watched her mother and Bob in the grass. They were sitting under some trees on a blanket and Bob was holding her mother's hands between his. They had been sitting there like that all day. They wouldn't walk around and look at the animals or go on the rides with the girls. Bob said it was too hot and gave Mindy twenty dollars to take her little sister, Maryanne, around the park. They could do anything they wanted with the money he said, just have a good time. He knew the girls didn't get to get out much. Bob was always giving somebody some money. Her mother thought he was so nice. Mindy had dreaded coming here all week. She knew that Bob wouldn't be any fun at an amusement park. But her mother had been looking forward to it for days. It was nice of Bob to offer to do this, she told them, and the girls ought to appreciate his generosity. It was 77 rare that a man enjoyed doing things with a woman's children and Bob genuinely liked her pretty little girls. She couldn't understand why on earth Mindy didn't like him. He'd do anything for them. They certainly weren't going to hurt his feelings by not going after he had been planning on it all week, were they? Mindy had awakened with a stomach ache this morning. She didn't want to go to the park, especially with Bob. Bob was not a nice man and she wished she could tell her mother that he was not nice. She wished that Bob would go away and leave them alone. Her mother had gotten angry and cried this morning, accusing Mindy of faking her stomach ache just to cause problems and complicate her life. She went in her bedroom slamming the door hard behind her, yelling she was having a nervous breakdown. So Mindy had gotten dressed and gone along to avoid another argument and make her mother happy. She really did feel sick but it was better than listening to her mother cry and complain about how miserable she was. She felt something sticky tug at her arm. "Mindy, will you take me on the rides now?' Maryanne asked. She had chocolate ice cream on her face and shirt, and cotton candy in her hair. She had been running around trying to see and taste everything. "I want some cotton candy too. Can we get some more? Do we still have enough money? Don't spend it all, Mindy. I told you 1 wanted that stuffed animal." "I don't feel like riding the rides yet," Mindy said. "Let's wait a while." She was watching Bob lean over and kiss her mother. It made her sick to think that Bob touched her mother like that. She wanted to run over and push him away. "You've been saying that all day!" Maryanne whined. "I want to ride them now! We'll have to leave pretty soon." "No we won't. We'll be here all day. Look at the deer." "I looked at them already, Mindy. Come on, let's go ride the rides now. It's my turn to pick something to do," Maryanne told Mindy. She grabbed Mindy's arm with her sticky hands and started pulling her. "Stop it, Maryanne. I don't feel like it." "You're faking it and you know it. I know you." "Am not. Leave me alone." "I know what it is. You spent all the money while I wasn't looking, didn't you?" Maryanne looked at Mindy suspiciously. "No, I didn't," Mindy said. "I still have plenty of money." "Then why won't you take me on the rides? You spent it, didn't you? I'm telling." "Maryanne, I did—" But before Mindy could finish Maryanne took off running to tell on her. After Maryanne had talked to Bob and her mother for a minute, the three of them motioned for Mindy to come over. Mindy started...