HIS FAVORITE TOY

Chapter 5

"Good ... good," he said as he perched on the front edge of his desk again. "Go ahead, you'd better drink it before the vitamins lose their effectiveness."

"Yes sir!" I said as I quickly brought the cup up to my lips. I tipped it up and let some of the warm creamy medicine run into my mouth. "Mmmmmm," I mewed out loud as I let the slick pearly liquid roll all over my tongue. I was already starting to love both the feel and taste of it in my mouth. I slid it from cheek to cheek and let its thick texture coat the whole of the inside of my mouth. Finally, I swallowed.

"Aaaaahh," I gave a little gasp as the silky fluid slid down my throat. Its distinctive taste and odor continued to fill my senses and made me want more of the same. I raised the cup back to my lips again and tipped the cup up gradually. I could see Mr. Jarvis watching me intently as I kept my eyes glued to the big wad of medicine sliding sluggishly towards the edge of the cup. I felt the leading edge roll onto my tongue and then I made a slurping noise as I sucked the rest of the big creamy gob into my mouth. It kind of made a sound like when you slurp up a single strand of spaghetti. I could see Mr. Jarvis smiling openly as I brought the cup down and closed my lips over my mouthful of medicine. I savored the delightful taste and warm creamy texture for a long time before I noisily swallowed.

"Did you get it all?" he asked as we both looked into the empty cup.

"Oh, there's a little bit more here," I said as I spotted a couple of milky-white drops clinging to the side. I quickly ran out my tongue and lapped up those two drops and then just to be sure, I ran the flat part of my tongue all around the inside of the glass and even over the flat bottom.

"Mmmmmm," I said as I handed the empty cup back to him. "That was so good. And I'm glad there was even more of it this time. Thanks for being so nice to me, Mr. Jarvis."

"That's okay, Joey," he said as he sat there with a big smile on his face. "I want to make sure you stay nice and healthy. Two good doses of medicine should get you started on the right track. I think you should come tomorrow morning at the same time for your next one."

"Yes sir!" I said eagerly. "I'll be here right after breakfast."

"Good, Joey. I'll have some more ready for you then. Now you better get to your afternoon chores," he said gesturing towards the door of his office.

"Yes sir. Thank you sir." I said as I got up and let myself out of his office and closed the door behind me.

I reported back to my kitchen for my afternoon chores. For the next hour I peeled some carrots and washed pots and various dishes and utensils under the watchful eye of Mrs. Nesbitt. As I worked, I rolled my tongue all around my mouth as I savored the peculiar taste of the medicine still lingering in my mouth. Compared to most medicines, I really liked it and wanted to keep the flavor of it for as long as possible so I didn't eat or drink anything for a long time.

I finally finished my shift and took my book out to the back porch to read in the shade. Just before we were called in for dinner, I heard a car start up and looked around the corner to see Mr. Jarvis leaving for the day. He looked up and spotted me at the corner of the house. His eyes met mine and he nodded in my direction as he gave me a comforting smile. I felt a warm feeling of happiness come over me and I waved tentatively as he pulled out of his parking spot and headed home. I spent the rest of the day almost overwhelmed with a feeling of safety and comfort that I'd rarely had. I went to bed that night eagerly looking forward to my next dose of medicine from Mr. Jarvis.

This went on for the next two days. I would wait outside his office right after breakfast and right after lunch for him to invite me in. He'd pass me the cup of warm medicine and sit watching me intently as I drained the cup and let the creamy liquid find its way into my bloodstream to do its work. As soon as the second day, I could swear I was feeling better already. The combination of the regular doses of medicine and knowing that Mr. Jarvis was interested in me had me feeling better than I had in a long time.

In the middle of the afternoon of the third day, as I was standing in the kitchen washing some pots at the sink, I looked up and saw Mr. Jarvis walk across the yard and start talking to Carl. Carl was one of the older councilors and one of his duties was to set up the chore schedule. He was the one who told us what jobs we had to do from one week to the next.

Mr. Jarvis started talking to him and then I saw him point towards the part of the house where I was standing. Carl's eyes automatically followed Mr. Jarvis' pointing arm to look in my direction and then he turned back as they continued their conversation. Mr. Jarvis did most of the talking and Carl nodded every now and then. Finally, Mr. Jarvis patted Carl on the arm and turned to go back to his office. Carl went back to working with some of the boys who were busy in the vegetable garden. I didn't think any more about it until later that afternoon when I was up in my room. I was lying on my bed reading when there were a couple of knocks on my door.

"Come in," I called through the door. Carl opened the door and took half a step into my room.

"There's been a change of plans, Joey. I'm gonna have to pull you off kitchen duty."

"Oh, okay Carl. What do you want me to do instead?"

"Starting tomorrow, right after breakfast, you're supposed to report to Mr. Jarvis' office. He wants someone to help re-organize some paperwork and files or something like that," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand as if he didn't know exactly what the work would entail. "Oh yeah, Mr. Jarvis said there might be some days where he'll need you a little longer than the regular hour. Okay?"

"Oh, okay," I said, barely able to keep the excitement out of my voice. "Uh ... will that just be for the remaining days of this week's schedule, or what?"

"As of right now, he told me it's "until further notice". So you might be there more than that, I don't know. So just make sure you go there right after breakfast and then again right after lunch. Got it?" he pointed a finger at me to make sure I understood.

"Yes sir!" I could barely contain my excitement and as soon as Carl left the room I pulled my pillow over my face and let out a big whoop of joy. I was thrilled for the rest of the day and people seemed to look at like I was weird or something. After awhile, I figured out that it was because they weren't used to seeing me smile very often. I even had a hard time falling asleep that night thinking about getting to spend that extra time working with Mr. Jarvis.