The Obsession

	"Look at the funny duck mom" 8 year old Bobby shouted.
	It was that shout that first drew the man's attention. 31 year 
old Carl Tedford dressed in jeans and a tie-dye T-shirt was leaning 
against the rail of the beaver display at the Portland zoo. Only 20 
feet away, his head was turned by the boy's shout. Carl was on one of 
his "sightseeing" outings when he noticed Bobby. Usually it was a 
public place but sometimes it would be the bedroom window of a private 
home, or maybe just driving around observing occupants of other cars in 
traffic. Carl turned away from the beaver display towards where Bobby 
and his mother Tammy stood looking in to the platypus display. Tammy 
was almost six feet tall and easy on the eyes. Standing behind bobby, 
she was giving him a good view of her shapely figure. Wearing faded 
jeans and a light pink polo style shirt she seemed to tower over her 
son who was just a little under four feet tall.
	The thirty-something Carl walked a little closer. Working to 
avoid eye contact, he passed by them. The man came to a stop on the far 
end of the three foot tall wrought iron fence. It surrounded the small 
pond and island that was the home of the flat nosed beavers. Scanning 
the child, his eyes spotted it instantly. The bulge and the inch of 
shiny plastic that was poking out over the boys gray soft cotton shorts 
were what Carl was waiting so patiently to see. Bobby was wearing a 
diaper.
	"That's a platypus, Baby, it's like a beaver but it has a bill 
like a duck." Tammy then asked, "Are you wet, Sweetie? You're looking a 
little puffy back there." She smiled at Bobby, waiting for an answer. 
She could also see the bulge and knew it was swelling.
	"Only a little bit " he said, obviously embarrassed to talk about 
that.
	The child didn't make eye contact with his mother when he 
answered her question, Carl thought to himself. Interesting. Is he 
being punished? Has something happened to him to make him need diapers? 
This was too much to pass up.
	"Let's go to the bathroom, okay?" Tammy knew that Bobby's diaper 
was probably ready to be changed. She had last changed him in the Yukon 
at noon when they arrived at the zoo. Her digital watch read 3:20pm. 
They had hot dogs and orange sodas for lunch at 12:30 so it was time 
for a check.
	Walking in to the ladies room bobby noticed how much cooler it 
was than outside. as they came in to the center section of the ladies 
room, fear soon replaced the comfort that came from being out of the 
heat. Not fear like a monster under the bed, but rather a fear brought 
on by the shame of his diapered status. His 8 year old brain was 
running scared that someone would see that he wore diapers. He knew 
that as crowded as this place was that he would be laughed at and 
teased by the smaller children in the room.
	The restroom had bright white walls of painted cement block. 
Three stalls with doors lined the same wall as the sinks. On the back 
wall were trashcans, vending machines and fold out changing tables. 
Bobby was soon feeling the heavy weight of shame as he and Tammy stood 
waiting for one of the changing tables to open up. It seemed as if 
everyone was looking at him. Maybe wondering why he was wearing baby 
diapers. Was he stupid? Was he a retard? You can't be a big boy if you 
wear diapers. all of a sudden the world was again too frightening a 
place to stay in.
	Tammy could feel Bobby's grip on her hand tighten. She looked 
down at him and could see the tears starting to well up in his eyes. 
Squatting down she hugged him. "Sshh Hunny, It's okay," she sing-songed 
in his ear. "It's okay, Baby. No one is going to make fun of you in 
here, okay?" Bobby had started crying and buried his head in Tammy's 
shoulder. She hated this. The whole thing had been a nightmare. First 
finding out, then having to pick up the jagged pieces of what was there 
lives and with nothing but a mothers love, try to glue them back in to 
some resemblance of the life they had before or at least thought they 
had.
	It was taking them forever to come out of that ladies room. Carl 
wanted so bad to find a way to look in. That must have been some diaper 
change. Geesh, what is taking so long he thought. Just then Tammy 
rushed out of the room with Bobby in her arms, and he was bawling What 
brought this on? Did he get whipped for having wet pants? She didn't 
seem mad with him when she suggested a change. Did he get hurt? This 
was too good to miss. Carl knew that he would have to invest a lot of 
time in this one.
	Tammy carried bobby out of the restroom without ever getting to 
change him. He was just too worked up. There was asphalt poured 
everywhere even around the trees. it looked as if they had grown right 
out of it. She found a bench under a large oak tree, and sat with Bobby 
crying even harder now. She was getting worried when finally his sobs 
started to diminish. She continued to rock back and forth with him 
hoping that this would ever get easier to deal with. After about five 
minutes she looked down and bobby was dozing off in her arms. "too much 
whine women and song" Tammy's dad would say when she was growing up.
After he had dosed off Bobby's mother tried again to get his diaper 
changed. She stood up with the boy still in her arms and started 
walking for the parking lot. She figured that they had both had enough 
of the zoo for one day. Also It would be easier to change Bobby in the 
Yukon again. not so many people around she thought. On the way out to 
the parking lot she felt her hand getting wet. Looking down she saw 
that Bobby's diaper had leaked. With her hand still damp from the leak 
she fished her keys from her purse. Almost at the Yukon she noticed 
that the rear passenger window had been smashed.
	"Dammit" she gasped, looking for anyone still in the SUV. Looking 
around it was obvious they had found her. The radar detector and her CD 
case was still there. Hoping that she had bad taste in music and her 
CDs weren't worth stealing she continued looking at the Yukon. The 
tires were all still up. The glove box was open and the black carpet of 
the Yukon was covered in papers. They must be trying to find her 
address she thought. "Shit!" she exclaimed, they would follow her. She 
knew it. Were they watching her now? God! she thought to herself. How 
was she going to get away from them this time.
	It was the strangest thing Carl had ever seen. Either she was 
just having a bad day, or this lady was in some sort of trouble. He 
watched from his car as she looked around then put the child in the 
front seat then climbed in the driver side and took off.