Overheard [Archive] (Patreon)

It wasn’t the question that caught Kristen’s attention - it was the response.

“How many diapers do you have left?” said a woman’s voice.

“Two...maybe three?” replied a man’s voice. It was slightly hushed and hesitant. The woman had a response to this, but Kristen hadn’t been able to make it out.

She wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. She was just flipping through the pharmacy’s lackluster selection of birthday cards when she heard the voices from the next aisle over. It probably wasn’t the sort of thing she would’ve paid much attention to on any other day, but something about the exchange had caught her ear.

The exchange seemed entirely mundane on the surface. This was probably how parents talked to each other. Right?

Perhaps it was in the tone of the man’s response, seemingly awash in shame. Any other day, Kristen would’ve walked away. But she had time to kill today. And she certainly wasn’t interested in looking for a birthday card now. She slowly walked down the greeting card aisle and pivoted into the next aisle, from where she had heard the voices.

She had expected to find herself in the baby aisle, but when she realized that this wasn’t it, she quickly glanced at the sign hanging from the ceiling that advised what products were sold in this aisle. Feminine Hygiene, Family Planning and Adult Incontinence.

Oh. Interesting.

Further down the aisle, two people were talking to each other. She could hear them, though she couldn’t make out the specific words. Kristen had a hunch that these were the two she had heard moments ago. They were young looking, maybe even a little younger than her own 34 years. The woman carried a shopping basket, while the man held onto a rather large package of...diapers, perhaps? Adult diapers?

She shouldn’t be nosey, she thought. But that didn’t stop her from getting a little closer while feigning an interest in shopping for...condoms? She could’ve laughed at that misfortune, but it was too late now. She’d have to pretend she was really torn between fruit-flavored and extra-thin condoms while she tried to listen in.

“...just yesterday, remember?” the woman was saying.

“I know,” the man replied. “But when you asked me yesterday, I thought I had more than I did and…” the man paused and glanced behind him a little to Kristen, possibly contemplating if he needed to be even quieter given a stranger’s presence, before continuing “...when I looked this morning, I realized I had a lot less than I thought. But I ordered more.”

“But they won’t be here for a few days,” the woman sighed. “So you’re going to have to get these.”

“But...these aren’t any good.” Again, he quickly glanced back to Kristen, who was intensely staring at a box of condoms and didn’t appear to be listening, as best as he could tell. “They...leak.”

“I know this. But what other choice do we have? I put you in charge of buying your own diapers, and apparently you couldn’t even do that right. So I guess we’ll buy these, and you’ll have to spend the next few days hoping you don’t spring a leak when you piss yourself at work.”

“Marjorie…” he said, hoping to quiet her a little. There was no denying at this point that the girl looking at condoms had heard what she had said.

Oh damn, Kristen thought. She had been curious, but maybe this was too much information. She felt like she had accidentally stumbled into a world she shouldn’t have. She grabbed a box of condoms and fled the aisle quickly. Back in the greeting card aisle, she dropped the condoms on a random shelf and decided to just grab the most generic birthday card she could before heading up front to the cash register, where she found herself next in line.

“Go get some baby powder,” said the woman, her voice suddenly approaching Kristen from behind. She didn’t turn around to look at the two, though her eyes widened.

“But...I think I have some and…”

“You thought you had diapers too, and we both know how that worked out. Go on, get the powder. I’ll be here in line.”

Kristen could sense the woman behind her, though she didn’t want to turn around. Instead, she just kept staring forward, where apparently the woman currently being checked out at the register was buying a basket full of small items that the cashier was having trouble scanning. She was going to be here a while. Awkward.

“Decided against the condoms?” the woman asked. Kristen’s eyes tightened and she swallowed hard. Why did the woman need to call her out like this? She sighed and slowly turned to face the woman.

“Excuse me?”

“Sorry,” the woman said, seemingly genuine. “I just...your curiosity was obvious.”

“I’m sorry,” Kristen said with a sheepish grin. “A bad habit, I guess. I mean no offense. No judgement or anything.”

“He wears diapers as a punishment,” the woman freely offered. “He has two months to go. It's a hassle, honestly. It seemed like a good idea at the time...but I’m kind of sick of changing diapers.”

“Oh…” Kristen wasn’t even sure what to say. She certainly didn’t ask for this information, but now that it was being put out there, she found she was just as curious as she was regretful that she allowed herself to get roped into something that was clearly not her business.

“I assume you wanted to know,” the woman said with a shrug. “I don’t blame you. It’s a weird thing. And I certainly don’t mind talking about it. It adds to the punishment.”

“So...he uses diapers? Just diapers?” Kristen hadn’t actually wanted to continue this conversation. She wanted to just go about her life. But here she was, asking questions.

“Just diapers. In fact, I should probably check him when he gets back. I bet he’ll need a change when we get home.”

Ahead of her, she could see that it was her turn to at the checkout. Just in time too, as she could see the punished diaper-boy heading back, baby powder in hand. Kristen awkwardly waved goodbye and hopped up to the register. Behind her, she could hear the woman addressing the diapered man.

“Turn around, I want to check your diaper.”

“Come on, please, not here,” he replied.

“Don’t make me have you go back for suppositories too.”

Maybe he had turned around and complied as she had asked. Maybe, as the cashier bagged Kristen’s card and handed her a receipt, the woman was peering into the back of the man’s diaper in search of a reason to further humiliate him.

Kristen didn’t look back, she just left the store instead. She was walking fast, maybe even running, to her car. She got in, put the key in the ignition and was about to turn it when she paused.

How often do you get to see something like this, she thought to herself. This wasn’t her world, and she even felt a little embarrassed to be so curious. But...this was interesting.

Maybe she’d wait a little longer, she thought. Maybe she’d watch them go back to their car. Maybe the woman would further chastise him loudly for whatever state his diaper was in. Kristen’s mind wandered a little to try and imagine a grown man lying on a bed with his legs in the air while he got his diaper changed. She wondered what a man would have to do to even get such a punishment in the first place.

She wondered if the man liked it. And she suspected she knew the answer to that too.