Chapter 11: 11 The Mall

The taxi pulled into the strip mall and parked. All kinds of stores lined the walkway and Harry's mouth fell open at it all. He could see everything so clearly and it was almost all things he had never seen in person before and only on the television.

The driver took out his cell phone and called his wife. “Hi, honey.” “Yes, I... no, I was just...” He was quiet for a moment. “I was on my way home.” He said and waited. “I caught a fare.” He said and decided to not say that he had almost run that fare over. “I'm at the strip mall over on...” He sighed. “No, I don't really know what he...” He went quiet again. “I can explain if you would just let me...”

Harry ignored the man's conversation and looked at the clothing store two shops down. It appeared to have everything he would want. Pants, shirts, sweaters, and underwear.

I can have my own underwear! Harry thought excitedly. He had never owned a pair before. In fact, he had never owned a new piece of clothing at all.

“Yes, dear. Right away.” The driver said and pulled out of the parking space.

“Where are you going?” Harry asked and looked at him.

“It's just a slight detour.” The driver said.

“But...” Harry turned back and pressed his face to the window. “My underwear...”

“We'll be back here before you know it.” The driver said and drove them almost all the way back to where Harry had started, then they drove down a side street and the driver honked the horn as he came to a stop. A moment later, a pretty woman came out of the house and climbed into the taxi.

“Hello there, young man.” She said, slightly turned in the seat to look at Harry. “My husband said you needed clothes, and now I can see that he is a master of understatement.” She gave him a big smile. “Don't you worry, young man. I'll make sure that you get some proper clothes, now that I'm here.”

Harry wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. He didn't say anything, mainly because when he talked back to Aunt Petunia, she always snapped at him to keep his mouth shut until she asked him a question.

They drove back to the strip mall and parked near the same store and Harry grabbed the handle of his trunk and stepped out of the taxi. He wasn't going be taken away from getting new underwear, no matter what.

“Hold on, dear.” The pretty woman said and rushed over to him. “You're going in the wrong direction.”

“My underwear...” Harry started to say.

“You don't want that cheap cloth.” She said and smiled. “You need something much nicer than...”

“I think I can judge the right sort for myself, thanks.” Harry said and stepped back.

“But... those things are cheap and...”

“If they're cheap, I can get a lot of them, right?” Harry asked.

“I suppose that quantity is sometimes better than quality.” She admitted. “You'll be wearing itchy cloth for as long as you have them, though.”

“Itchy?” Harry asked, his resolve weakening somewhat.

She nodded. “Sometimes buying cheap is good; but, not if it makes you uncomfortable.” She said. “If you spend a little bit more, not only will they last longer without wearing out, you'll also be comfortable.” She smiled again. “My husband has underwear that he sits in all day and they don't itch.”

Harry looked at the driver and he nodded.

“She has an eye for good clothing.” The driver said. “You do have to pay a little more and it's worth it.”

Harry looked at the window display and at the pretty woman, then at the display again. With a sigh, he turned away from the store and stepped close to her again.

“You won't regret this, I assure you.” She said and her smile was huge as she led him down the row to a higher class shop that sold more expensive things. They weren't the most expensive, since those kinds of shops were found somewhere else and not in a commercial space; but, the clothes were of a very good quality and as the driver said, they were well worth the money.

Harry was impressed, because the clothing she picked out was even better than the clothing his aunt bought for his cousin Dudley. The pants fit well, the shirts and t-shirts weren't baggy, and the underwear... well, Harry was surprised at how nice they were when he tried them on. He grabbed several packs of socks, since you could never have too many socks, and seven pairs of underwear.

Harry felt a little guilty about trying clothes on without taking a bath first. He had his bath a few days ago and he wasn't allowed to take another one for four more days, because he was only allowed to have a bath once a week. He reached for the change room door to show off the crisp button up shirt and stopped when he heard a low whisper.

“You know he only has a hundred and thirty pounds on him.” The driver whispered. “The underwear and socks alone are nearly forty pounds.”

“It's all right.” His wife whispered back. “I'll pay the rest of it when he's not looking.”

The driver sighed. “I knew you were going to say that.”

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“Hush.” The pretty woman said. “You saw how happy he was to wear actual clothes.” She gave him a kiss. “I just hope he can keep them and not have them ruined by those bullies.”

The driver nodded. “I can keep a lookout for them, but...”

“I know. We can't discipline other people's children.” She said and then gave him a glare. “Make sure to get his address out of him and deliver him right to his front door.”

“But, honey...” The driver started to protest.

“Right. To. His. Front. Door.” The pretty woman said, pointedly.

“Yes, dear.” The driver sighed in defeat.

Harry clicked the change room handle a bit more than he had to, then he stepped out.

“Oh! That's wonderful!” The pretty woman gushed and she quickly adjusted the collar to sit properly. “Now just add the nice dress pants and we can get a look at the whole thing together.”

Harry nodded and went inside the change room again and changed his pants to the dress pants.

“Quick! Quick!” She said and pulled him in front of the large mirror. “Look at how handsome you are!” She said and rubbed his hair a little, then touched his cheeks. “Your baby soft skin and your fresh hair cut make you really stand out.”

“Th-thanks.” Harry said as his face flushed red.

“You're so lucky that I'm married.” The pretty woman laughed and glanced at her husband.

“Good lord, honey.” The driver said and shook his head. “I think you've teased the poor boy enough.”

“It's good teasing, though.” She beamed a smile at him and then looked at Harry. “I'm not joking when I said you looked handsome, all right? I meant it.”

Harry couldn't respond and only nodded.

“I think we have a good selection of clothing now. You are probably going to grow a little during this year, so everything is only slightly bigger than it has to be.” The pretty woman said. “That way, you're not wasting your money and growing out of all of this too soon.”

Harry hadn't thought of that at all. He was only concerned with buying new things and not how long he would have to wear them. “Thanks.”

He kept on the new things he was wearing and they went over to the register. The lady behind the counter started ringing the items in, including the pants and shirt that Harry wore. There were a lot of items and the prices on some of them were actually quite reasonable.

“Is there a volume discount?” The driver asked with a laugh.

The clerk laughed for only a second. “No.” She said in a normal voice and kept working.

Harry wasn't paying attention to them, though. He was watching the numbers on the till as each item was rung in. When the last of the socks were tossed into the large bag of clothing, the clerk turned to tell the driver and his wife how much it was. The pretty woman stopped her and leaned forward as she whispered in the clerk's ear. After a few moments, the clerk nodded and turned to smile down at Harry.

“That'll be eighty-five pounds and sixty-seven pence, young man.” The lady lied.

Harry knew how much it actually was, so he reached into his money bag and pulled out two of the one hundred pound notes he had, three of the twenty pound notes, and one each of the ten, five, and one pound notes. All three people stared at him and didn't know what to say.

“I'm only ten... no, today's my birthday. I'm only eleven; but, I can still read and count.” Harry said and handed the clerk the money.

The clerk accepted the money without a word and rang it in, then took out thirty-three pence and handed the change and the receipt back to Harry.

“Thanks.” Harry said and tried to take the large bag of clothing. He couldn't lift it and sighed. The driver picked it up for him, so Harry grabbed the handle of his trunk and carried it out of the shop. The driver and his wife followed him and they went back to the taxi. They climbed in after putting the bag of clothing in the back seat with Harry.

“Is that it, then?” The driver asked when he finally got over the shock of the money the kid had. It must have been one helluva birthday.

“I need a ladder.” Harry said. “I don't know how big.”

“One quick trip to the hardware store, then.” The driver said and pulled out of the parking space and drove down the road.

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