Playtime

“Little boys shouldn’t play with dolls…”

“Like this?” Luke asked, shivering as the cool air brushed against his bare chest.

“Why don’t you wrap your arm around her a little more,” Uncle Jerry replied, focusing the lens on his camera.

Huffing, Luke reached down and ran his arm under Marcy’s waist. He wasn’t mad that he had to hug his sister, he just didn’t like the way her butt felt against his hips. It made him feel funny.

“There you go,” Jerry said with a smile. “Now scoot a little closer. Like I showed you with the Barbie dolls.”

Begrudgingly, Luke shimmied forward on his knees, trying his best to stay upright.

Truth be told, he didn’t like playing with the Barbie dolls anymore. He hadn’t for a while now. Marcy on the other hand, loved it. In fact, it was her favorite part about coming over to Uncle Jerry’s house; something she looked forward to every weekend while their mom was busy at work. For the longest time, they had to stay with that grumpy, old babysitter whose house smelt like musty cheese and old socks. But now that Uncle Jerry was back in town, they didn’t have to go there anymore. Now they could come to his house and play.

And Jerry loved to play.

“That’s it,” their uncle hummed. “Just like that… Hold her a little tighter… Yeah, just like that.”

“I’m freezing!” Marcy giggled, her knees shivering against the basement floor.

“I know you are, princess. We’ll get your clothes out of the dryer soon. Then you can get all warmed up.”

“How long will that take?”

“Just a few more pictures. We’re almost done.”

“Are we still going to get ice cream?” Luke asked.

“You bet, champ. But only if you try really hard to make these pictures look good.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Luke reluctantly agreed. After all, he didn’t want to be the reason the pictures didn’t turn out.

“Ok, Marcy!” Uncle Jerry encouraged, his eyes gleaming with unholy malice. “I need you to make the face we talked about. Do you remember the face?”

“Yes, sir!” she gleefully replied.

“Alright, let’s see it. Oh, yeah! There it is!”

A few more clicks of the camera.

A few more flashes of light.

A few more cold chills ran down their back as Luke and his sister sat naked on the floor – just like the Barbie dolls.

Playtime at Uncle Jerry’s…

It wasn’t Luke’s favorite thing to do, but at least there was always ice cream.