The Center Turn Lane

A Mexican radio station came out of the clock stereo at 9:04 a.m. with Adam slamming his fingers over it shortly after to shut the alarm off. He grumbled to himself about the random radio station he put the dial on a week ago, rolled out of bed and checked on his three year old son, Calvin, still sleeping in his space themed room before climbing into the blue tile shower to get ready for work. The warm water hissed as he scrubbed his body with a lime green loufa sponge. The sun blasted his silhouette on the shower curtain. On his bathroom counter was an assortment of women's care products. Useless hairsprays, straightening and curling irons, waxes, and lotions Adam's ex-wife, Brenda, had left behind after she left him a week earlier. Upon his counter one could see his silhouette waggling around the curtain as Adam tried to scrub the hard to reach places and one could also hear the subtle grunts as he strained to reach that mid-section of his back and the bottoms of his feet. After the scrubbing he just stood crooked, leaning on the blue tile wall for a long while. Through the hissing of the water little sobs could be distinguished as they sounded like the whimpers of a puppy.

    "I'm leaving you," Brenda said from the doorway as Adam squinted from bed.
    "Come on in and close the door or turn off the light, please."
    "Did you not hear me? It's over."
    "I love you honey," he muttered under his light-shielding arm.
    "I don't love you. Not anymore. How can I love a man that's more of a woman than I am?"
    "More of a woman, or more of a mother?" Adam responded, rolling over.
    "What man shaves his arms for chrissakes? What man sits at home all day while his wife goes out and works like a normal human being? What man spends more time clipping his fingernails than mowing the yard or fixing the plumbing or more importantly fixing up my junky car?"
    "What time is it?"
    "It's two in the goddamn afternoon. Why don't you get up and take care of our son? Why don't you get up and actually do something with your life? You're 27 and you live like you're in your teens. You're even starting to get a gut. I'm just sick of looking at you. I'm sick of all your dark features. Your balding charcoal hair, your shit colored eyes, even your bushy eyebrows makes my skin crawl."
    "That's the first time you've taken at least half-responsibility of Calvin."
    "Expect to have full responsibility. I've already stated to my attorney you can keep everything. I just want out and I'm leaving now. You can sign the papers on the kitchen counter whenever you get up."
    "You didn't tell Calvin anything did you? The last thing I need is my son to get screwed up from some traumatic experience as a child. Please tell me you're leaving him in peace."
    "Fuck you," she muttered with hatred as she slammed the bedroom door.

    Adam shut the water off and slid the curtain aside, the metal rings tapping together as they collected in the corner. Adam exhaled deeply as he reached for the towel and dried himself off. The wet smacks of his feet stopped following him as he left the tiled bathroom and into his carpeted bedroom where he dressed himself in a plain blue tee and some shorts and began straightening his bed sheets. Just as he finished, he stepped back, then leaned forward and pulled the sheets back, disheveling them. "Looks like a man sleeps here now," he said to himself. Adam heard a cough and walked down the hall and to the right to Calvin's room.
    Under the star-smeared ceiling, in the far corner of the room was a small bed with detailed planet sheets and under the covers was Calvin, just waking up.
    "Well hey there sleepyhead," Adam greeted his son.
    Calvin smiled as Adam placed his hands on either side of his head and kissed his forehead. Calvin quickly shot his hands onto each of his father's arms and began rubbing the stubble that was slowing growing back in and began giggling.
    "Is that funny?"
    "Yeah," Calvin managed to say in between the giggles.
    "Are you hungry? Do you want some breakfast?" Adam asked standing back up.
    Calvin smiled and nodded.
    "How about… peas and beats for breakfast?"
    "No!" Calvin shouted.
    Adam got down on his knee and leaned in real close, "How about… grasshoppers and beetles?"
    "Ewwww!"
    "Man, you're sure picky today Calvin. That leaves only one thing," Adam trailed off.
    "What?"
    "… I don't know if you'll like it. But we're going to have to eat pancakes with syrup."
    "Yeah!"
    "Oh, you actually want pancakes? Over beetles? That's impressive."
    Calvin began giggling again and rubbing Adam's arms. Adam picked Calvin up and he carried him into the kitchen where he sat him down in his booster seat and he began to pull the ingredients out of the refrigerator and cabinets. After putting a couple slices of bread into the toaster and pulling out the strawberry jam Adam realized he was out of buttermilk to make the pancakes. "Oh jeez. Calvin, we're out of buttermilk for the pancakes. I'm going to have to go to the store to get some. After the toast is done do you want to go with me?"
    "Yeah," he replied with a bit of disappointment.
    "I'm sorry puddin'."
    Soon after the toast popped up and Adam pulled a plate out and spread the jam onto the slices and set the plate in front of Calvin. Calvin took tiny bites as Adam drank a cup of orange juice from a small green plastic cup, usually one of Calvin's. Calvin coughed and said, "I'm full."
    "Are you not feeling well? You didn't eat very much," Adam said looking at the remaining jam-smothered slice, "we better get some medicine at the store too."
    Adam helped Calvin off of the chair and they walked into Calvin's room to get him dressed out of his pajamas. Adam let Calvin pick his outfits most of the time, not wanting to make him feel like he was being deprived of creativity. He picked out his favorite red long sleeve shirt and a pair of shorts with dancing dinosaurs on them and then put on two different socks, one had meowing cats. "You want to wear any shoes?" Adam asked his focused son.
    "I guess," he replied as he crawled in the back of his closet, pulling out a pair of glossy blue rain boots.
    Adam helped him slip them on and they walked down the hall and to the right to the garage. Adam grabbed his keys off the hanger by the door and unlocked the gold sedan, opening the backseat and buckling Calvin into his safety seat before swinging around back and setting himself into the driver's. Opening the wide garage door and backing out the driveway onto the residential street he put in a cassette tape of silly songs. The local grocery store was just up the road a bit and around the corner. Adam drove with his eyes in the rearview, watching as Calvin waved his arms, dancing to his favorite song, "The Monkeys are Breaking out the Zoo." Adam merged into the center turn lane, seeing a calico cat on the brick wall out of the corner of his eye, and waited in the middle of the intersection for a gap in the traffic before turning. The parking lot was vacant, so he parked the car in the spot closest to the entrance. "Alright Cal, we're here," he said as he turned off the ignition and Calvin's dancing arms dropped limply on the backseat.
    The two walked through the sliding doors and as soon as they were inside Calvin said, "I need to go potty."
    "Okay," Adam replied as he lifted him up in his arms and carried him to the restrooms.
    Inside the restroom were two urinals that spanned from the floor to about halfway up the wall and Adam plopped Calvin down in the furthest one from the door and supervised as Calvin dropped his shorts to his ankles and began peeing in large swooping circles. Adam tried pulling up his shorts a little bit as someone began walking in. A hairy man walked in, slamming the door to the wall. His arms were thick with black fur, his scraggily beard was like a wild mane, matching his mop-top and his stomach seemed to stretch his car show t-shirt. His tiny rosy face was tucked back behind all the fur and Calvin looked over and began making monkey noises, "The monkeys are breaking out the zoo," he sang as he turned back to urinating. Adam turned to face the man, who had grown bright red with embarrassment and Adam smiled and tried to apologize, but the man stepped back outside before he had the chance. Adam turned back to Calvin and tried to pull his shorts up again, but they kept getting stuck at Calvin's pinched knees. Calvin started bouncing his whole body, "Done!"
    When they walked out of the bathroom, past the blushing man, Adam apologized, but the man seemed to understand and returned the shy smile as he sidled along the tight hallway into the restroom. Adam walked slowly, as Calvin took brisk small strides to keep up, to get buttermilk and cough syrup. After having both in each hand he walked to the registers. "Daddy, can I get this?" Calvin asked, grabbing a pack of Bubble Tape.
    "Yes, but that's all you can get. Is that the one thing you want?"
    "Yes daddy. Thank you!"
    "You're welcome. Come on now, we're almost done."
    "Okay," Calvin complied, following him to the cashier.
    "Hi, how are you?" 'Danielle' read her nametag.
    "I'm fine, you?" Adam responded.
    "I'm good. Is this going to be it for you today?"
    "Yeah," Adam looked down to see Calvin looking at another rack of candy.
    "$12.54 is your total for today."
    "Alright," Adam dug out his wallet and slid his debit card through the machine.
    "Want cash back?" Danielle asked.
    "Not today."
    "Daddy, can I get this?" Calvin asked, bringing an Almond Joy to the counter.
    "No, I just got you some candy, put that back."
    "But I want this candy instead."
    "It's too late; I've already paid for this. Put that back or they're going to call the police and have you arrested," Adam replied sternly.
    "But why?"
    "Because you're taking candy you haven't paid for. Now put it back and let's get going."
    Calvin looked down at the candy, "But I want this candy, can't we trade?"
    "Calvin Johnston. If you don't put that candy back right now, the police are going to put you in jail and you won't have any candy."
    Calvin gently put the candy bar back where he had taken it and said, "But I didn't do anything, I was going to trade."
    "Have a good rest of the day sir," Danielle said, smiling to Adam.
    "Thank you," said Adam as he began heading for the door, "Come on Calvin, before they call the police."
    Calvin pouted and ran to catch up with his father.

    After buckling themselves in Adam put the car in reverse and began backing out, but a man knocked on the window, startling both Adam and Calvin, it was the man from the restroom. Adam rolled his window down. "Sir, you forgot your bag."
    "Oh God, thank you. I got so caught up trying to get my kid out of there. Thank you."
    "No problem man, I know what it's like. My mom used to tell me the same thing about the cops and all. I always believed her too."
    "Oh, haha. Well, thanks again," Adam said as he began rolling up the window as the man walked to his flame-painted hot rod.
    When Adam reached the red light, he stopped, checked to his left and turned right. In the center turn lane he saw the spinning lights of a cop car and in front of the vehicle was another car. It was red and the passenger door was swung open. The driver's side of the windshield was painted on the inside with what looked like clam chowder and a distraught woman was clamoring away via the passenger side. Beneath the stopped tires was a twisted calico cat, wedged in the treads and splattered on the headlight. He wondered how weak her stomach was and how much of an animal lover she must've been. Then he wondered if his son had seen the carnage over the high door panel. Peering back at the rearview he saw Calvin, quiet and looking at his lap, humming the song about the escaping monkeys.

    After he pulled into his garage and closed the door, he took Calvin back into the kitchen. "Do you still want pancakes?"
    "No. Can I have my gum" Calvin asked.
    "Only after you have a spoonful of this," Adam replied, cracking the plastic wrapping on the cough syrup.
    "Yuck!"
    "You won't taste it once you get your gum," Adam pointed out.
    Calvin took the medicine reluctantly and pulled out a long strip of Bubble Tape.
    "Do you want to paint now?" Adam asked.
    "Yeah!" Calvin shouted, jaws smacking the gum.

    Calvin used sponges and watercolors for all his paintings and Adam preferred using brushes and acrylic. Normally Calvin would use black paint and a sponge to make stars and blobs of outer space, but today he used red. Adam tried painting trees and water, but lacked any inspiration, still thinking about the lady and the cat. Calvin on the other hand was furiously patting his paper canvas with his father's loufa smothered in red paint. Calvin then stuck his finger in a blot of Adam's brown acrylic and smeared it onto his red blotching. "What're you working on over there Calvin?" Adam asked looking over at the red splotches with bits of brown here and there.
    "It's the cat we drove by today," he said as he pointed to the few bits of brown on the paper.
    "Oh," Adam paused as he studied the painting, "What did you think when you saw the cat?"
    "He looked scared, so I put him with some red stars. To match the Kool-Aid he drank."
    "Well that was very thoughtful of you," Adam said, relieved.
    "Daddy?"
    "Yes Calvin?"    
    "Did Mommy get run over?"
    "What do you think?"
    "I hope she did," Calvin mumbled as he scribbled his name at the bottom with his index finger, covered in brown.
    "Why do you hope she did?"
    "So the cat will have someone to talk to."
    "Maybe she did Calvin. Maybe they're playing together right now."

    That afternoon Adam went out front to the mailbox. He pulled out an advertisement for landscaping, the electric bill, and the monthly royalty check for "The Monkeys are Breaking out the Zoo." He replaced the mail with a stamped envelope containing the divorce papers. He then went in the backyard and dug out the old weed-eater and spent the rest of the afternoon making the front yard presentable while Calvin drew on the sidewalk with chalk, making planets, space ships, stars, and astronauts containing faces of cats and his mother.