Covered In Ink

Chapter 31|I thought dodo birds were extinct

Silence again.

At this point Jasmine was hiding behind me, mostly because the other moms were giving her that sympathetic look. I guess we had that in common, we both hated that look of sympathy.

Jasmine tugged in my arm. I looked over my shoulder, and she gave me a pleading look. She was still embarrassed.

"Well, that was a good talk. Thank you for damaging my little sisters self esteem."

I walked away without looking back, Jasmine trotting behind me.

We reached the jeep. I watched Jasmine strap on her seatbelt.

I continued to just look at her.

"Why aren't we moving?" She asked.

"You know that mom leaving wasn't your fault right?"

She didn't comment.

"You can't blame yourself, there isn't anything you could've done to make her stay," I reassured her.

"So she wasn't mad at me?" She asked with wide eyes.

"No, of course not. If she was mad at anyone, it was me."

"Did you do something wrong?"

"She seemed to think so."

She studied me for a moment

"Hazel?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

I smiled. "No problem."

~*~*~*~

"You know what I think?" I asked as we drove through town.

"What?" Jasmine asked. In my peripheral vision I saw her turn her head to look at me.

"We should get milkshakes."

She grinned, nodding excitedly.

I continued driving to the small ice cream parlour in the centre of town. They had good ice cream, but they had awesome milkshakes. I pulled up outside the rundown looking building with the faded red sign out front. It didn't look like much from the outside, which may have been why it wasn't a terribly popular place. I actually think the owners liked it that way, they had their regulars, but didn't want the place crowded.

The bell jingled as I pushed open the door, holding it open for Jasmine to scoot under my arm. They didn't actually need the bell because the door squeaked. It had squeaked for as long as I could remember and nobody had fixed it.

There was no line to wait in, which was a bonus. Jasmine was already making her decision; ice cream or milkshake?

She had her face pressed up against the glass, one of her hands either side of her face, also resting on the glass. I'm sure the person who had to clean that wasn't very amused. The guy behind the counter didn't seen to mind though. He took one look at me.

"The usual?" I was kind of ashamed that I went there enough times that the employees knew my order. I don't think he knew my name, but he knew my order the second time I went to that place. I wish I had that guys memory.

I nodded. "Please."

"And you've got an extra this time," he commented, peering over the counter where Jasmine was still trying to decide on a flavour.

I smiled. "Yeah, little sister."

He smiled back, leaning over the glass cabinet that contained the ice cream. "What can I get for you sweetheart?"