8. The Bouncy Castle
One fine afternoon, Mom returned from the grocery store and knocked on Rippa’s door.
“There’s a bouncy castle at the playground down the block.”
“Huh?” Rippa turned around from her PC. She had been tinkering with some audio compressor plug-ins.
“Apparently, it’s some kid’s birthday party,” Mom clarified. “I talked to the mom, and she said it’s fine if I bring a kid.”
Rippa paused for a second. Standing in the doorway, Mom still had the grocery bags in both hands, having come straight upstairs to Rippa’s room from the driveway, not even stopping by to drop off the bags in the kitchen.
“Mom, you saw a bouncy castle. Stopped and got out of the car, and asked the kid’s mom if it’s OK to bring Buttons?”
“Well, yes. Besides, it’s Letitia from the book club. She knows me.”
Rippa stood up. “I’ll go get her.”
***
When Rippa told her about the bouncy castle, Buttons was excited. But she first looked at Goggles, as if seeking permission.
“My mom will come along,” said Rippa. “She knows the moms in the neighborhood.”
Goggles looked at Rippa, then at Buttons, then at Madam J.D. and Miss Pendrake, then back at Buttons’ pleading face. He nodded. “Alright, but Miss Pendrake goes along.”
“Yay!” Buttons jumped up and down.
As if on cue, a group of maids appeared with bundles of garments.
Rippa waited for Buttons to change. It was her first time seeing the kid in anything other than swimsuits or a simple one-piece dress.
First, the maids put on a long-sleeved cotton shirt over the camisole.
“It’s a bit warm, though?” Rippa commented.
“It’s OK. I can roll the sleeves up,” answered Buttons, as a maid put on a light-colored silk neckerchief around her neck.
Then the kid slipped on a cotton underskirt over her bloomers, and, grabbing onto Madam J.D. and balancing herself, raised her good foot. A maid knelt down and put on a thick, long-necked, beige cotton sock.
“I can roll it down if it gets too hot,” Buttons commented preemptively before Rippa could say anything.
Then came a brown knee-length wool skirt, held in place by a pair of leather suspenders. Buttons then raised her arms so that a maid could put on a beige-colored knit wool sweater.
Rippa thought it was over, but Buttons put on a thick, dark brown, wool serge coat on top of all that. Then the kid slipped both her real and prosthetic feet into a pair of dark leather boots that clearly had some serious mileage under their belts.
“Bruh, we are going to a playground. Not some Alpine hike,” Rippa commented.
“Oh, I often end up doing exactly that,” Buttons answered as a maid wrapped a knit wool muffler around her neck.
“What?”
“OK, I’m done,” said Buttons, putting on a dark, leather shepherd’s cap. Madam J.D. handed her a small kid-sized cane.
Rippa, exasperated, looked at Goggles, but he was looking at a selection of umbrellas of various colors that a maid was holding.
“No, don’t bother. I’m sure it’s not gonna rain,” Rippa sighed. She looked at Miss Pendrake.
The young blond bodyguard was in her usual attire, which contrasted with Buttons’ full survival gear. A simple, clean, white blouse. A dark navy wool skirt over black tights. And simple, sturdy, leather boots.
“OK, I’m really done,” said Buttons, putting a leather crossbody bag on her shoulder.
***
Mom led Buttons down the sidewalk, holding the kid’s left hand. Rippa followed them close behind, with Miss Pendrake walking by her side.
“Shouldn’t you be on the other side?” Rippa asked. “I mean, your cane.”
Buttons looked over her shoulder.
Mom stopped. She looked at the child’s left leg and then the cane in the right hand.
“Ah, no. It’s better this way,” Buttons tapped her left metal shin with the cane, “so this doesn’t bear my weight all alone. See?” Buttons raised her right foot for a second. “If the cane is also on the left, it’s hard to balance.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” said Mom.
With that, the four resumed walking. Rippa thought that was useful information.
As they approached the playground, Rippa could hear children laughing and screaming excitedly. She had often passed the place on her way to the convenience store two blocks further down, but had not paid much attention to the noise. In fact, she had thought it was annoying whenever the noise seeped through her earbuds. Now, however, it hit her differently, but she couldn’t quite put the feeling into words.
‘Mom must be feeling nostalgic,’ Rippa thought, and tried to imagine her mom walking little Rippa to a playground. How long ago was it? Ten years? Fifteen years? ‘God, that was long ago,’ she thought. Rippa watched her mom. Yes, she’d gained weight. Hair, now more gray than Rippa remembered. But there was vigor as Mom led Buttons into the playground.
There it was. The bouncy castle.
Rippa stood next to Buttons and looked down. The cap was in the way, so she leaned a bit to see the kid’s face. Her mouth slightly ajar, Buttons’ eyes were locked in, watching kids jump and shriek and laugh.
A woman from the group of moms who had been sitting at the bench table walked over. There were plates of snacks and drinks, and a large cake on the table.
“My, wait… which one is Filippa?” she asked.
“This one,” Mom pointed at Rippa.
Rippa said hello, and the woman made an ‘oh’ face.
“God, you are all grown up now. Haven’t seen you for ages.”
“Ah, she moved back in just last year,” said Mom.
The woman then looked at Miss Pendrake and Buttons, then back at Rippa, then back to Buttons. Mom was still holding the kid’s hand.
‘Oh my god, she’s wondering if Buttons is mine.’ Rippa took a breath in.
“Relatives’ kids. This is Buttons,” Mom introduced the alien kid and her bodyguard.
Buttons did a cute little curtsy, which made the woman smile warmly.
“And this is…” Mom paused for a second, her brain going into overdrive.
“Artoria,” Rippa stepped in.
Mom gave Rippa a quick look. “Ah, yes, Artoria.”
Miss Pendrake did a little curtsy as well.
The woman nodded back in greeting and paused a bit. Rippa could tell she was trying to make genetic sense of a ginger kid and a blond teen girl, but she soon gave up, as she was more focused on trying to prevent her eyes from staring at the kid’s leg.
“Ah, here’s for the birthday kid,” Rippa made a distraction. She handed over a small gift-wrapped card.
“Aw, you didn’t have to,” the woman nevertheless accepted it with a smile.
“Ah, no, no, Letitia,” Mom took over the conversation, “if I knew it was Darius’ birthday, I would have prepared something more…”
Rippa winced, but thought it was unfair. She had offered a choice: a VTuber plushie or an Apple gift card that she had lying around. Mom had taken some minutes before deciding on the gift card.
With that, Mom told Buttons to go play, and went with Letitia over to the table to say hello to the other moms. Apparently, she knew most of them from the book club.
To Rippa’s surprise, Buttons gave her cane to Miss Pendrake and went straight to a swing, not the bouncy castle. Miss Pendrake went along and pushed from behind with one hand.
“I thought you’d go on the castle,” said Rippa as she walked over to the swing and took the cane from Miss Pendrake to free her hand.
“I’m waiting for it to be less crowded,” Buttons said over her shoulder.
Rippa looked at the bouncy castle. There were about half a dozen kids jumping, bouncing, and running. The kids had one common feature among them.
“What, are you being a racist?” Rippa joked.
“Eh? No. My leg—“
“Ah, that. Never mind. Sorry.” Rippa cleared her throat, a bit embarrassed by herself.
The swing creaked rhythmically as Miss Pendrake gave Buttons gentle pushes. Rippa and Buttons watched the kids on the bouncy castle. It looked fun.
Mom and the woman named Letitia noticed Buttons on the swing, and came over.
“Would you like to go on the bouncy castle? It’s here only for today. Go on. It’s OK,” said Mom.
“Thank you, but I’d better wait a bit,” said Buttons.
Miss Pendrake eased the swing to a stop.
“Is something the matter?” Letitia asked.
“My leg could hurt others.”
Rippa could hear the woman taking in a sharp breath.
“She’s…” Rippa offered, “She’s very careful about that.”
“That’s… that’s very thoughtful of you,” Letitia said, then, after a pause, she went back to the group of moms at the table.
“Buttons…” Mom didn’t know what to say. She squeezed the kid’s hand.
Rippa saw Letitia and others whispering, glancing at Buttons. She frowned a little. Then—
“Kids, snack time!” the women called to their kids. They removed lids from Tupperware and ripped open bags of nacho chips. “Snack time!”
Laughing, shrieking, and talking among themselves, the kids got off the bouncy castle and rushed to the table. Their moms first made them clean their hands with wet wipes.
Rippa felt something hot in her chest. She gave Buttons’ cane to her mom.
“Mom, watch Buttons. I’ll be right back.”
“Filippa, what—“
But Rippa was already off. She ran and ran and soon disappeared from view.
“What’s gotten into her?” Mom wondered aloud. Then she turned and saw the bouncy castle was empty. “Buttons, it’s—“
Buttons saw it, too. She jumped off the swing and made her way over.
She first removed her boots. Miss Pendrake put them aside, careful not to cause anyone to trip over them. The kid then climbed on, crawled a bit on all fours, and carefully stood up, already shifting her weight left and right.
“Hehehe,” Buttons was smiling.
At first, she tried small ups and downs. Then big jumps. Then falling on her bottom and springing up on her feet. She did intentionally fall flat on her face before springing back up, but Mom frowned and shook her head, and Buttons didn’t do it again.
Rippa came back, panting and wheezing and sweating from running, out of breath. In her chest, she clutched two dozen-pack boxes of Capri Sun.
Huffing and puffing and wheezing, Rippa opened a box and handed two pouches to her mom, “one for you, one for Buttons,” and one to Miss Pendrake, “one for you, too.”
She then took the rest to the table, and proceeded to hand them out to the kids. Rippa and the moms just smiled and nodded.
Rippa came back and stood next to her mom. She was still wheezing and breathing heavily, but her eyes were locked on the little alien kid bouncing up and down before her.
Rippa felt Mom squeezing her hand. It was warm.