I took Carmina to the store just as she
demanded.
“I want to go to the toy store,” she said
as I approached the car.
“I need a dollar to ride the bouncer,”
she ordered; never bothering to say please or thank you.
Carmina rode the bouncing ride at least
five times.
I don’t believe she enjoyed anything
about it, aside from the fact that she was forcing me to give her the money and
stand there and wait for her.
“Okay, I’m ready to shop now,” she said
when she was finally satisfied.
As soon as we were inside the toy store,
Carmina picked out numerous toys; including toys that she already had. “I need that in case I lose the other one,”
she explained when I reminded her of the duplicates.
“Ooh mommy…look at the Llama
balloons!” She said as if they were the
best things she’d ever seen.
I walked over to take a look and couldn’t
believe the price, “Twenty five dollars for a balloon? That’s the type of thing that should be for a
special birthday,” I said as I mentally calculated the price of the balloon and
all of the other toys that Carmina had picked out. “We can buy it at another time.”
“But I want it now!” Carmina didn’t exactly scream, but her words
were more forceful than even a scream could have been.
“I don’t have enough money,” I explained
even though I knew logic wouldn’t work with her.
“You’d better figure it out or I’m going
to scream right here…right now!”
“Carmina please…I’ll tell you what…” I
said in the most cheerful voice that I could fake, in an attempt to excite
her.
“What?” She didn’t look excited.
“How about if I buy it for you…but not
today. I’ll buy it when you least expect
it…like a surprise!”
“A surprise?” She didn’t look angry, so I hoped that she
was buying into the whole surprise idea.
“Yeah
a surprise…a very special one. It
doesn’t even have to be on your birthday.”
She didn’t buy into it… “Ouch! Please help me!” She yelled instead, elevating her voice so
that the store clerk could hear her.
“Carmina…please stop that,” I begged,
hoping she would stop before the clerk came over.
She
looked at me and yelled louder, “Okay…I’m sorry mommy! I won’t do it again!”
“What’s the problem?” The clerk asked hurrying over to us.
“She hit me,” Carmina said pointing to
me.
“Shame on you!” The clerk exploded.
“I didn’t hit her, I swear,” I responded, but he couldn’t hear me over his own
anger.
Carmina did nothing to help me out of the
situation. She stood there calm, because
she knew that this altercation would lead to her getting what she wanted, just
like it always did with Nick.
“You terrible woman…I should go and call
the cops on you right now. People like
you should be thrown under the
jail.”
“But
I didn’t…” I said in a feeble attempt to stop him from making good on his
threat.
“This beautiful child is a blessing…I
can’t believe that you would ever hit her,” he continued.
Carmina finally came to my rescue…”Sir,
please don’t throw my mommy in jail. She
didn’t mean it…I don’t want the cops to arrest my mommy.”
“Are you sure? She has no business hitting you.”
“It
was an accident. She didn’t mean to hit
me,” she said; pouring on the sweetness.
“Well…she’s lucky to have such a pretty
little girl like you. Go ahead and pick
out something that you want…I’m sure your mommy would be happy to buy it for
you.”
I couldn’t believe this guy’s audacity, but I realized that it’s not unusual
when it comes to Carmina.
“Well…”
Carmina said, as if she were in deep thought, “I really want one of
those pretty Llama balloons.”
“Good choice,” the clerk said before he
walked away.
“I
want the blue one,” Carmina instructed, in a tone completely opposite the one
she used with the clerk, once the clerk was out of earshot.
Carmina could control anyone, and I was
in between it all; a collision waiting to happen.
My once loving Carmina was now like a
little devil; able to mold everyone around her like clay…
…Mindless clay figures that were willing
and able to do whatever she asked or believe whatever
she said. I
ended up buying everything that Carmina asked for and
spent hundreds of dollars.
When we arrived home, she threw all of
the new toys to the side and went to play with something else. She wasn’t even interested in the toys…she
was only interested in my suffering.
Who had I brought
home from
that hospital? What had I done? Carmina had full control over
everything. Whenever she wanted, she had
the power to end my marriage, destroy my finances, take away my freedom…
And if she ever decided that she wanted
to…she probably could probably end my very life with the blink of an eye.
Labels: I Stole Evil
