Confounded: Part I - 15. Chapter 15

"Hey Shorty... you sure that printer is broken? It's not just a case of replacing the ink?" I asked Kit in the computer store; he seemed to hesitate at that.

"Umm, well, I think so. The paper won't go through anymore, and it definitely hasn't run out of ink yet. It constantly beeps at the self-test. And it makes rattling noises."
What'd he do with it; use it for target practice?

"Yeah, then it's a safe bet that one's gone the way of the dodo. If you want my advice; buy a laser printer."
That drew a concerned glance from his dad.

"Don't those cause cancer? I don't want..."

"Only the toner, which is encased in a cassette. If he's careful with it, there's shouldn't be a problem; I've replaced hundreds of them. Anything wrong with me?"
Mitchell looked doubtful.

"Great, thanks for that one. Okay, wrong example. Don't worry; it's perfectly safe."
But only when the sales clerk told him the same thing, he agreed to it.

"Sorry," he said, after we'd left the store. "I didn't mean to put doubt your opinion."

"It's okay; it's gonna cost you a kiss."

It flew from my mouth before I even realized what I was saying, quickly looking sideways at Kit, who was listening in on the conversation, and he grinned, showing his teeth.

I knew he was used to... stuff, but he might not like it if it happened in public. Sure, he hinted at it himself but I still felt uncomfortable, realizing he was there, and able to hear everything. He seemed to have no problem with it, though.

"Once we're home, you'll get one," Mitchell retorted.

He grinned and winked at Kit, who now loudly laughed. Okay, fine; if he didn't care, why should I?

"Gee. One whole kiss. Wow, well, shoot him now, and bring me another lover. Tssss..."

"You're lucky we're in a busy street; otherwise..." Mitchell threatened.

"Oh, I'm shaking in my boots. See? Yeah, shaking. So where did you park that tractor of yours? We don't want Sonny here to drag that printer around all day, do we?"
He'd parked it after dropping us off, joining us sometime later.

Mitchell nodded to a side street, and came up beside me; then he completely surprised me by grabbing my midsection, turning me around and kissed me, and none too shabby either, right in the middle of said busy street.
I'm not easily shocked but he had me there.

"There. Don't ever challenge me; you have no idea what you're getting yourself into."

I grinned, blushing heavily, at a couple of shoppers passing us. One of them, an elderly man, shook his head at us, but two younger women, close behind us, started whistling and laughing. And Kit? He was practically rolling down the street, roaring with laughter.

"Yeah, laugh it up, fuzzball," I yelled at Kit, and then glanced at Mitchell, mumbling "Idiot."

"Sorry, I didn't get that," Mitchell said, bending closer once more.
I quickly avoided him.

"Never mind."
I shut up all the way down to where he'd parked the car.

**********

The next store we visited, after taking the printer to the car, was a video, music and game store; I don't think Mitchell ever visited one before, because he didn't know where to look. His son, though, knew exactly where to go, disappearing to the game section, fixating on a game which I knew he had to be sixteen to buy, and I also knew that it basically consisted of nothing more than killing creatures (and humans).

"Aaaah, Dad!" he begged when Mitchell decidedly shook his head, "I'll be sixteen soon."

"Oh, go take a hike; you turned fifteen just last month. And you can forget that game anyway; if you want death and destruction, just watch CNN or pick a fight with Taylan; see if you survive that."
Excuse me?

"Hey! Could you leave me out of this?"
Then my eye fell on a sequel to a game I owned myself. I'd been waiting for this one for quite some time.

"Oh, cool! I gotta have this."
I grabbed it from the shelf while Mitchell sent me a stunned look.

"What!?"

"What are you; ten?"

"Oh, leave me alone; age has nothing to do with it. This game rules."

"What's it about?" Kit asked, coming over with a curious expression.

I showed it to him. ‘Dungeon Siege 2'; an RPG that you played in a fictional realm filled with creatures, spells and weapons. You had to use a map to get around in it.

"Is it fun?"

"Fun? FUN? Hell no; it's great! I have the first one, you can borrow it if you want."
His dad picked up a title from the shelf and held it up.

"This one, perhaps?"
He read the back.

"Hmm, I dunno; seems to me that it's also about death and destruction."

"Nah...well, okay, maybe a little bit but it's not just brainless shoot and kill. First of all; there's no guns in it. You have to use a map and solve quests, gather a team of magicians and fighters; I played this for weeks."
Kit seemed to kinda like what he heard and took the box from his dad's hands.

"And it's got a great soundtrack."

"Oh, well; it's settled then," Mitchell replied, mockingly. He perused the shelf and picked up another game. "How about this one?"
He held up ‘The Sims 2'.

"Boring," both Kit and I said at the same time. I grinned and went over to Mitchell. "Just give him that one," I whispered, so Kit couldn't hear us. "I swear he'll love it."

"Promise? No killing people in cold blood, or run ‘em over, or anything like that?"
I shook my head. He was talking about First Person Shooters. This game was completely different.

"Promise."

"Alright," Mitchell slowly said, regarding his son disparagingly. But about a minute later, Kit claimed that he definitely wanted to try the game, and I felt a little proud then. He bought it and we left the store.

Once outside, we decided to go get a cup of coffee and then continue on to a sports store for shoes Kit had seen, several shirts, pants, socks and a new tracksuit; apparently, Kit's mom had called Mitchell with the request to take him on a shopping spree. The eventual damage almost gave me a heart attack; $800, which was paid without even a glance at the register. There's something to be said for not having to care about a price tag.
Kit had been raised properly, though; he thanked his dad profusely.

Then we made our way back to the car, exiting the parking garage around 2pm, and I was kinda glad that we were; I'd had it for now, walking all over the place, carrying loads of bags. And it was hot. But not outside. No; inside. Somehow, Mitchell was getting to me and getting to me good.