Shopping Spree

One of those sunny mid afternoons. Indian family but anglicized in  education. Neither Indian nor English. We shop with Indian currency. He and I wait at the lounge while she enters. I watch people's feet, my latest fancy being measuring varying pace of people's feet. He notices me gawk at a french lady with a funny hairstyle and he whispers the usual alert,"No don't stare so. It is not well mannered" I look away but soon get bored watching feet. He does what he usually does, flips through a magazine then looks impatiently at his watch. She is nowhere to be seen nor will she be in the near future.

I begin my after forty minutes dialogue, " Dad, am hungry. When will she come?"

He nods exasperated then says,"You Women can never decide on anything whether life or clothes."

I startle at his labelling me with what I believe is obnoxious,"No I never shop like that"

He turns around," How old are you today?"

I count up my fingers and then my toes forwards and backwards and finally say eight this October.

He smiles at my held out big toe and one fat finger,"Well tell me this when you begin to ape your breed"

Decades after, another sunny mid afternoon,I stumble out  with those bags she stumbled out with, that gone by sunny mid afternoon. I turn back, as she did a sunny noon ago, just as I near the counter after an hour, suddenly blue better than pink, and I take that familiar turn backwards just as the man at the counter enters digits...no pink is better than blue. Again.

I just sense someone smiling away at my whirl of colored indecision.