BooBoo

Chapter III: Strawberries

The sun was beating down on the French lands, making everyone who stepped outside feel it's warmth. These days Marcel tended to go to the bar less, at least. But, Delphine knew that she should make the most of it when Marcel was gone at work. Delphine had a love for flowers, and she loved making their ugly house somewhat pretty by planting flowers in front of it. But, in their backyard, a field of small purple, pink, and yellow flowers grew amongst the thin uncut grass.
Delphine sat in the backyard and tended to her tomato plants that were planted right beside the house. She would occasionally tilt her straw hat upwards and turn her head to Boo, who was playing in the field of flowers and grass. She looked back over to her tomato plants and a small grin grew on her freckled face. A breeze made it's way through Delphine's blonde hair, flowing against her nape and against her sunburnt arms. It felt so good, especially on this hot and humid day. Delphine looked behind her as she heard footsteps padding up to her. Boo crouched down next to his mother and handed her a bouquet of small flowers that he had picked from the field. Delphine smiled and took them, her blue eyes reflecting the warm sunlight.
"They're for you, Mommy," Boo said, a happy expression on his pale face. Delphine stroked her son's yellow hair.
"They're so beautiful, just like you. Thank you," Delphine said softly. Boo smiled bigly and hugged his mother. Delphine hugged him back, her nose against the top of his head.
Since Marcel had left before she woke up, Delphine had dressed Boo in a blue collared shirt and grey shorts. She had put nothing in his hair. She loved when Boo looked like the gender he was born with. Seeing him actually look like a boy gave her a feeling of normalcy, like everything was okay and nothing was wrong with their family.
Boo pushed himself out of the hug and sat with his legs extended before him in the grass. He pointed his finger at his cut up knees.
"What happened?" Delphine asked in concern.
"There were sharp things in where I got you those flowers," explained Boo, "and they made my knees hurt."
"You're just always getting hurt!" Delphine said, trying to brighten the mood. "It'll be okay. You stay here, I'll be back," Delphine told him, taking her straw hat off and placing it on Boo's head. Delphine stood up and walked into the house. Boo smiled. He felt safe and comforted with his mother's favorite hat on top of his head.
Delphine came back with a couple bandages in her hand. She helped Boo over to the spigot on the back of the house and twisted the handle, letting water fall to the concrete below. Boo put his knees under the falling water, washing away the blood and leaving raw cuts. After the blood and bacteria were washed away, Delphine turned the water off and placed the bandages on both of Boo's knees.
"We can't let Daddy see this," said Delphine. "He'd get mad."
"At me?" Boo asked.
"No, at me. He'd think that I wasn't paying attention to you, and that's why you got hurt."
"I got hurt because I was trying to get you flowers."
"I know. Does that feel better?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Mommy."
Delphine helped Boo stand up.
     "I'm going to go back to what I was doing," said Delphine, making her way back to her tomato plants. Boo looked into the field, but when he looked back at the house his focus was immediately captured by the strawberry plant on the side of the house. He suddenly forgot about the aching pain in his knees and he ran to the strawberry plant. He looked at the red berries, the rich red color coloring his sparkling blue eyes. As soon as he went to reach for one of the berries, Delphine stepped around the corner.
     "Don't eat those, Booboo," Delphine warned. Boo jumped and looked over to his mother. "Those are for strawberry ice cream," said Delphine, a smile on her face. Boo immediately frowned.
     "Just one? Please?" begged Boo, his eyes slightly tearing. Delphine sighed, a smile still stretching across her face.
     "Fine. Just one," Delphine told her son. Boo smiled and picked the biggest one off of the plant. Delphine and Boo walked back to the back of the house, Boo biting into the strawberry and chewing the juicy berry. Delphine knelt back down by the tomato plant. Boo knelt down beside her. "See how red these tomatoes are? I'm very proud of them," Delphine said softly, looking to her son, the golden light from the sun making her freckled face glow. Boo looked to his mother and slowly nodded his head, grinning; below his bottom lip was red from the strawberry. Delphine licked her thumb and wiped the leftover strawberry from Boo's bottom lip.
     "Oh—here, Mommy." Boo took Delphine's straw hat off of his head and handed it to his mother.
     "You can wear it," Delphine told him, putting it back on his head. Boo smiled, his eyes lighting up.
     "Really?"
     "Of course."
     "Yay!"
    Delphine smiled and looked back to the tomato plants. Suddenly, Levigh opened the sliding glass door and peeked around the corner to Delphine and Boo.
     "Dad's home and he's angry," said Levigh. Delphine clenched her jaw, her breath escaping her lungs.
     "Thank you, Levigh," Delphine said slowly, shakily standing up. Boo stood up also, looking from Levigh to his mother in concern. Delphine took Boo's hand and held it tightly. Levigh slipped back inside and into his room. Boo felt his mother's grasp grow tighter and tighter on his hand. Suddenly, an angry hand grabbed the doorframe of the sliding glass door and a drunken man peered around the corner. Delphine looked at Marcel, her blue eyes wide and her red lips trembling.
     "Why aren't the windows clean, Delphine?" Marcel asked, his face red with utter anger. Delphine inhaled shallowly, her jaw quivering.
     "You...you didn't tell me they needed cleaned," Delphine said quietly, her eyes trailing down to the grass below her. Marcel forcefully grabbed Delphine's arm and dragged her closer to him. Boo and his mother were disconnected, leaving Boo to watch from a few feet behind.
     "I shouldn't have to tell you! Women are only good for three things and three things only, you know that," Marcel fumed. "All you need to worry about is cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the kids. That's all. Got that?"
     Delphine inhaled sharply, tears rolling down her face. She nodded and Marcel let her go.
     Boo watched, his eyes widened. Marcel shoved Delphine out of the way and reached his hand out for his child.
     "Come here, Sweetie," Marcel said softly. Boo walked to his father and grabbed his hand. Marcel knelt down and looked at Boo up and down. "What has your immature mother done to you?" Marcel asked, annoyance hinting in his rough voice. Marcel gently grabbed Delphine's straw hat and took it off of Boo's head. "She made you look like a little farm boy—which you most definitely are not." Marcel stood up straight and aggressively and shoved the straw hat into Delphine's stomach. "Dress Cosette like her gender, you witch," Marcel growled. Delphine held on to her straw hat and cried, watching Marcel take Boo back inside. Delphine sat back down by her tomato plants, letting her tears fall to the grass below. She just wanted to have a happy life, but for some reason she couldn't have one.
     Marcel brought Boo inside and sat him down on the couch. Boo looked at his father, his eyes wide in confusion.
     "Daddy, I want to go back out—"
     "You know better, Cosette. You know better than to let your mother dress you like a boy," Marcel said sternly. Boo's lips twitched and tears were brought to his blue eyes. Marcel then spotted Boo's bandaged knees. "What's this?" Marcel asked, lowering himself down so he could inspect his son's knees.
     "I accidentally cut up my knees while I was in the field," said Boo, his voice slightly trembling.
     "That wouldn't of happened if your mother wasn't in her own world all of the time and actually paid attention to you," Marcel growled.
     "Daddy, no—"
     "Don't defend her, Cosette!" Marcel stood up, sighing. "We're going to your cousin's house tomorrow for her birthday. Get good sleep tonight." Marcel walked up the stairs and into his bedroom. Boo got off of the couch, but when he was going to go back outside, Delphine was already coming in. So, he followed his mother into the kitchen. Delphine's cheeks were red from crying, so she tried not to face Boo. All she did was run some plates under the running water and scrubbed them with a sponge. Boo sat at the table and watched his mother.
     "Mommy can I have a drink please?" Boo asked, a small smile on his face. Delphine ignored him. She knew if she talked, she'd burst into tears. "Mommy!" Boo shouted. Delphine clenched her jaw and took a deep breath. Tears were once again brought to Boo's eyes. "Mommy!" Boo cried. Delphine covered her mouth with her hand, feeling warm tears run down her cheeks. She could hear the hics and sharp inhales of the child behind her. Why was she so afraid to face him? Delphine took her hand away from her mouth, closed her eyes, and slowly took air into her lungs, and then slowly let it out. Be a functioning mother, she told herself. She turned around, red face and all, but with a smile towards her dear child.
     "Mommy!" Boo cried once again.
     "I'm sorry, Sweetie. I'll get you some chocolate milk, how about that?" Delphine said kindly. Boo wiped his tears away and nodded. Delphine turned to the fridge and got the chocolate milk out. She poured the milk into a glass cup and then put it on the table in front of Boo. Then, she returned back to the sink. Boo picked the cup up and gently drank the milk. After he took his first sip and set the cup back down, he smiled; a line of the light brown liquid sitting right above his upper lip. Delphine finished the dishes and walked over to the table and sat down next to Boo. By that time, the chocolate milk was nearly all gone. Delphine got a napkin from the center of the table and wiped the milk from her son's face. Then, she pulled Boo in for a hug. Boo smiled as his mother's embrace warmed his body; his favorite thing was being held by his mother. Delphine kissed the top of Boo's blonde hair, closing her soft eyes.
Creaks could be heard as Marcel walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. He secretly rolled his eyes when he saw Delphine hugging Boo.
"Is Cosette's bathing suit washed? If not, you better get to that," Marcel said to Delphine. Delphine released Boo and looked to Marcel. Boo pulled on his mother's shirt, begging for her to hold him in her arms again.
"I think so. Why?" said Delphine.
"We're going to my sister's place tomorrow for her daughter's birthday. She said there's going to be a pool and water for the kids to play with." Marcel got a bowl of strawberries out of the fridge and sat across from Boo and Delphine at the table. Boo looked from the bowl to his father.
"Oh, neat. That'll be fun," said Delphine, running her fingers through Boo's hair. Marcel handed a strawberry to Boo.
"Mhm. And Levigh's going, I don't care what excuse he makes," said Marcel. Boo smiled as he ate the strawberry his father had given him.
"Good. He has to get out of the house, anyway. He's as pale as ever," said Delphine. Marcel nodded, his eyebrows raised. Boo slid his empty glass to Delphine, his eyes looking up to her.
"Can I have more, please?" Boo asked. Delphine nodded and took Boo's glass to the fridge. Marcel handed Boo another strawberry. Boo immediately took it and bit into it.
"You sure do like strawberries," Marcel said to Boo. Boo smiled and nodded at his father. Marcel smiled back. Delphine came back over and put the full glass of chocolate milk in front of Boo on the table. Boo smiled at the cup, still chewing the last of the strawberry. Boo picked the glass up after he was done chewing. Right before he could take a sip, he twitched and some of the chocolate milk spilled out of the glass and landed on the table.
"Are you kidding me, Cosette?!" Marcel growled sternly. Delphine pressed her lips together and put some napkins on the spilt milk. Boo put the cup down and started softly weeping, his head lightly twitching.
"It's okay, Sweetie," Delphine said softly. Marcel looked from Boo to Delphine, his eyebrows furrowed. Marcel aggressively sighed and stood up, taking the empty bowl that used to house strawberries to the sink. After that, Marcel left for upstairs.
Boo was still crying, and Delphine was still cleaning up the chocolate milk.
"Shh, it's okay," Delphine said tenderly, giving a warm grin to her child.
"I didn't mean to, Mommy," Boo said through tears.
"I know, Sweets. It's okay, I don't mind cleaning it up," said Delphine. Boo stopped crying, wiping his cheeks dry with the back of his wrist. After Delphine had cleaned all of the chocolate milk up, she sat back down next to Boo and held him in her arms again.