Elementary

by Jason Zandri

  Mark turned around then glanced over at the clock. “Four fifteen,” he murmured. “Yeah, I guess I got into a rhythm and hadn’t realized what time it was.” He walked towards the store.

  “I just swept in there,” Diane said, stepping into his path. “You’re a dusty mess. What did you need? I’ll go get it.”

  Mark looked at her, and while he did, Diane felt uncomfortable about the way she’d just addressed him. Mark then looked down at his pants covered in sawdust and sheetrock debris. “Yeah, I guess I am dirty enough that I would track into the store.” He stepped over to a work stool and sat down. “Could you get me a soda, please?”

  “Sure,” Diane said, relieved that he’d responded well to her comments. She stepped into the store to take a bottled soda from the shelf of the cooler, and then went back to the work area to give it to him.

  “My favorite,” Mark said and took it from her with a warm smile.

  “In the glass bottle, not the plastic one and not the can,” she said. “I remembered.”

  “I think I’ve had two sodas in front of you in the short time you’ve worked here. That’s a pretty good eye on the details.”

  Diane grinned then looked away as something caught her eye.

  “Excuse me,” she said. The bell to the entrance rang when a customer walked in, and she was already on her way out to wait on her.

  ***

  From the high stool, Mark looked out of the large glass window into the main part of the store, not focused on anything but just staring generally.

  The past couple of weeks with Matthew had been difficult with the culmination of the events from the phone call. While he’d missed the one day of school immediately following, he went the day after, and he seemed to recover fairly quickly. Maybe it was because we’ve been separated for a while, Mark thought as he continued to look through the window. It wasn’t as if she’d taken any of the initial visitation she was entitled to. The whole year prior she wasn’t around either. She would come and go. It was just Matthew and him. The call was like a final slap in the face rather than a deep knife wound. Quick shock and done. Then you heal, and it’s all superficial. There may be more to it, and it might manifest in other ways, but Matthew seemed to be dealing with it okay.

  Mark’s attention focused on the events in the room and the short transaction for the cigarettes and lottery tickets that the customer wanted. He stood up and walked over to the door between the expansion area and the original store, which allowed him to watch a little more closely and make out part of the conversation. He noticed that Diane smiled, made small talk with the customer, quickly got her items, and pointed over to the store shelves to suggest something additional. The customer waved it off but thanked her, paid for the items, and left. As the customer crossed near the door to exit and the one he was standing at, she smiled at Mark and waved. “Have a nice day,” Mark said, pulling the door open. “Thank you for stopping in.”

  Diane came around the counter, “Out, you’re dirty,” she said with a motherly tone and then tensed up. “Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from.”

  Mark laughed. “It’s okay. It’s not like I’m your boss or anything.”

  Diane froze in her tracks then turned away to straighten out items at the soda fountain station. Mark backed up into the work area and brushed off his pants quickly with his hands, and then went into the store. “Are you okay?” he asked her, concerned at her sudden shift in attitude.

  “I’m fine,” she said but remained timid. “I was out of place. I’m sorry. That won’t happen again.”

  “I was kidding. It’s fine. I understood what you said and why you said it.” Mark wanted her to return to her former manner. She only nodded and

  went back to work.

  Mark watched her walk around the store and straighten out items on the shelves, moving them forward, so they were more aesthetically pleasing.

  She’d effectively lost all her personality and passion that she’d had from just the moment before.

  “Diane, I’m really not upset at the comment,” Mark said and stepped forward.

  “Yes, I understand.” She nodded.

  “Would you look at me, please?” Mark walked up and stood right next to her. Diane stopped what she was doing and turned to him, but kept her head bowed down. “You turned toward me, but you’re still not looking at me,” Mark said in a gentle voice.

  Diane lifted her head slightly but continued to avert her eyes. “I have a few more things I should finish ahead of the end of the day close.” Her tone sounded calm and nearly without pitch.

  “Look,” Mark said, walking over to the door and locking it, then turning the “BACK IN TEN MINUTES” sign around. “We never did have a full conversation over what happened last week after your sister was here with Matthew and the exchange with your stepfather.” Mark stepped away from the door and towards her. Diane lowered her head and folded her hands in front of her. “I have this sinking feeling that a lot of this,” he said, waving his hands about, “has a lot to do with what happened after we left you girls there.”

  Diane didn’t offer any additional explanation and continued to stand there quietly.

  “I don’t want to berate you, you’re not a child, but I think you should talk to someone. I assume you must have some friends you could talk to about this. I’m a pretty good read of people and their reactions to their environment. It’s a blessing and a curse, to be honest.”

  Diane glanced up at him while keeping her hands in front of her. “I have a couple of girlfriends I do things with, but we’re not especially close,”

  she murmured. “I really would like to finish working. Taking care of things around here settles me. It makes me happy.”

  “Why? I mean, I don’t want to complain; you excel at customer

  service. I wish I could afford to pay you twice what I can because you’re worth at least that much.” Mark continued but noticed that Diane’s face lit up when he praised her. “Why is tending to the store and your duties so important?”

  “I feel useful,” she said with a few tears welling up in her eyes. “And you honestly appreciate it.”

  Mark became uncomfortable and turned to unlock the door. “Okay, here’s the deal. We’re going to drop this now. It’s not right for me to discuss this with you in this manner. Here in the store, I’m still your boss, and you’re my employee. I want you to think about your friends and if the things that you have going on are something you feel comfortable discussing with them.” Mark turned and pulled down the “open” sign. “If you decide you’re not comfortable talking with them,” he said, turning back around to face her,

  “I want you to consider talking to me. After six p.m., of course. I don’t judge, and I’m a bit further ‘around the block’ as they say, than you.”

  Diane’s expression changed, and she smiled. “Of course.” She unlocked her hands and got back to cleaning around the counter areas and the stock on the shelves.

  Mark smiled at how happy she seemed at getting back to work, then he stepped out of the store back to the expansion work area.

  ***

  The school bus pulled up to the corner where Matthew would generally get out, but he continued to stare out the window.

  “Hey! Are you getting off the bus?” the driver called out to him.

  “Sorry,” Matthew said across the rows of seats. “I’m getting off the Ward Street stop today.”

  The driver waved in the mirror and closed the bus door. A few stops later, they reached Ward Street, and Matthew got out. The bus pulled away, and he turned to walk toward the store, but then stopped suddenly and watched Melissa coming down the street toward him. He turned and headed in her direction then called out to her, “Hey.” He waved, and a smile widened on his face. “You weren’t in school today. Not feeling well or playing not feeling well?”

  Melissa looked wan and withdrawn. “It wasn’t a good night at the

  house last night and I didn’t s
leep well. I told my Mom I didn’t feel well, which was technically true on the lack of sleep.”

  Matthew looked at her and tried to figure what to say. He thought about the questions his father might ask him when he wasn’t feeling so good.

  Then he turned and looked up the street in the direction of the store and fished around in his pocket and found two dollars. “Want to walk with me to the soft serve place for an ice cream and tell me about it? I know it’s kind of cold out and all but … my treat.” He held up his cash.

  Melissa smiled and nudge-bumped him, “You’re awesome, you know?”

  Matthew tried to stifle the return smile to her, but he failed miserably and didn’t care. Melissa was nice to him and kind in general, and he liked the way he felt around her.

  The two finished the small walk to the ice cream shop. Matthew looked diagonally across the street to his father’s store. Melissa took her chocolate cone from the serving window while Matthew turned back around to pay.

  “Do you have to head over to the store?” Melissa asked, then took a lick of her ice cream cone.

  “Yeah,” he said, putting the change in his pocket. “It’s pretty much the routine.” Matthew stepped away from the window area and turned to look back down Ward Street in the direction from which they’d come. “I can walk you back home first.”

  “You’re not going to have an ice cream?” Melissa asked and pointed back to the service window.

  Matthew smiled. “I only had enough money for one.”

  Melissa’s face lit up. The pair stepped away from the serving window back to the sidewalk area. “Could I come sit with you at the store?” Melissa stopped and looked in that direction.

  Matthew stepped back and looked over at the store. He could see Diane walking around working. “Well sure, that’d be fine. Did you need to walk home first to get anything?”

  “No homework for me, out sick, remember?” she said with a wry

  smile.

  Melissa and Matthew headed in the opposite direction toward the store, and then someone called out, “HEY! MISSY!” It was loud enough that it caught Diane’s attention inside the store. She stopped and looked up at the same time as Matthew looked up Ward Street to the east. On a black dirt bicycle, jumping from one remaining snow pile to the next, was the source of the voice.

  “Who’s that?” Matthew asked Melissa as they neared the corner.

  “A friend of mine,” she said. The boy pedaled across Route 5 and came to a stop where they both stood. “Michael Anderson,” she said, gesturing to the boy on the bike, “meet Matthew Sanford.”

  “Hi.” The boy stepped off the bike. “Do they call you Matthew or Matt?”

  “Matthew.”

  “Cool. Friends call me Mike. So, Missy, long time, no see. What’s up?”

  Melissa turned to Matthew. “Mike goes to a private school. It’s why you don’t see him at Pond Hill.”

  “Actually,” Mike said, wheeling his bike away from the edge of the road, “I think I would go to Stevens.” He pointed in the general direction of where he lived.

  “I’m fairly new here, so I don’t know all the schools,” Matthew said a little uncomfortably, noticing how Mike stood close to Melissa. “Missy, I probably need to get in, that and it’s getting a little cold.” Matthew pointed over to the store.

  “Your old man owns Colony Convenience?” Mike asked.

  “Well, it was my grandfather’s place for the longest time. When he stopped working there, he leased out the building. My dad and I are here now, so he’s going to work it.”

  “Cool.” Mike turned his attention to Melissa. “Missy, I’m free for a bit. It’s been a while. Did you want to catch up?”

  Melissa looked over at Matthew. “It’s okay. If you want to catch up, go ahead,” Matthew said, but half-heartedly.

  “Are you sure?” she asked, taking another bite of her ice-cream.

  “Sure.” He turned to Mike, “Well, it was nice meeting you. See you around.”

  “You too, San-man,” he replied.

  Matthew smiled a little, looked quickly at Melissa, and turned to walk to the store as the walk signal changed. He made it to the east side of Route 5

  and crossed the parking lot to the front door without looking back. Diane had opened the door for him, and he muttered a shallow “thanks,” then walked past her and his father into the back room.

  ***

  “What was that all about?” Mark asked slightly above a whisper.

  “He’s not prone to being moody.”

  Diane looked back towards her sister who was walking back towards home with Mike. “I think my sister had something to do with it.” A small smile grew on her face. “I bet neither one of them knows what just happened.”

  Mark looked puzzled as Diane walked away from him and towards the back room.

  Diane turned the corner and her light blue skirt flung at her mid-calf.

  Matthew was fishing through three of his custom made 8-track tapes. “You know, I meant to ask you,” Diane said from the doorway, “when you and Missy were here last time, were you constantly changing from one 8-track to another?”

  “What do you mean?” Matthew said, looking up at her.

  “Well, I heard a number of different artists. Are any of those K-Tel or Ronco tapes?” she asked.

  “Oh, the samplers?” Matthew responded as she shook her head. “No, I make these at home from my albums.”

  “You have a stereo at home that lets you record onto 8-track?” Diane stepped in and extended her hand for one of the red tapes.

  “Yeah.” Matthew handed her one of the tapes, the cardboard holder, and the song list. “I wanted to save up for the one that recorded cassettes at first, but everyone does that. That and it was a hundred dollars more

  expensive. I decided on the unit I have at home instead.”

  “Interesting. I didn’t even know they made home units that recorded on 8-track.” Diane set the tape down, moved to the side of the desk, and sat on the corner. Matthew nodded and eased the tape back from her. He took the one marked “MIX TWO” and put it into the portable player his father had in the office, and then took his books out of his backpack.

  “So, I saw you, Missy, and Michael Anderson at the soft serve. I didn’t know you knew him,” she said.

  “I just met him.” Matthew averted his eyes. “Missy introduced us when he came down the hill on his bike.”

  “I didn’t mean to watch you kids, but I was looking that way when I noticed you come up the road,” Diane said in an almost motherly tone. “You weren’t in the mood for ice-cream?”

  Matthew looked up at her with wide, unsure eyes. His answer, when it came, sounded truthful. “I only had two dollars. I could only get one, and I wanted to get it for her.”

  “I see,” Diane responded. “She went back home, I guess, then?”

  “Well, I offered to walk her back but she said she wanted to come here. Then Mike stopped and wanted to catch up with her. I guess he hasn’t been around or something. I wasn’t going to stop her if she wanted to go with him,” Matthew said. “I better get to my homework,” he said, shuffling his books around.

  “Okay. If you need anything let me know.” Diane turned to walk out of the room. She stopped short of the doorway and turned back. “So, Matthew?” He looked up at her. “Just so you know, Missy likes you.

  Sometimes we girls are not paying the right kind of attention. The nice boys get overlooked. You’re a nice boy. Make sure you don’t get overlooked.”

  “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.” Matthew’s brow creased into a frown.

  “If you like Missy, tell her. Don’t let someone else.”

  Matthew squirmed in his seat. “We’re just friends. I mean … you know … I like girls but …”

  “I know it’s a little embarrassing. You’re a young boy, and things

  change between fifth grade into sixth. Or around this time. Everyone’s different. You can always talk to
your Dad. If you feel like you can’t, then please consider talking to me. Either way, you should find someone you’re comfortable to talk with. At the end of the day, though,” she said softly,

  “girls like to be pursued. Be chivalrous and thoughtful, and you’ll find someone worthy of that.”

  Diane stepped out of the office and into the hallway toward the store area. Her last comment, “Be chivalrous and thoughtful, and you’ll find someone worthy of that,” echoed in her head.

  Mark stood next to the last beverage cooler when she emerged from the hallway. “What was that all about?” he asked.

  “Well, as near as I could tell from watching across the street, Matthew went and got my sister or she met him at the bus stop or something, and they were on their way here. He bought her an ice cream and then ‘the competition’ got in the way. Michael Anderson came down the hill on his bike and interrupted their conversation.”

  “Ah,” Mark said, leaning back against the counter. He looked out the window as a car pulled up to the pumps and the driver got out, with credit card in hand, to fuel it up. “So Melissa didn’t go to school today?”

  “No,” Diane said, somewhat withdrawn, “she wasn’t feeling well from last night.”

  “What happened last night?” Mark asked.

  “Oh, you know … everyday things with mixed families. Step parents and all. I think she ate her dinner too fast trying to get back up to her room, and upset her stomach.”

  Mark nodded but frowned. “You know,” he said, “we never really did talk about things from last week. And then there was that exchange earlier. I know I said we could wait until six but …”

  Diane’s jaw tightened involuntarily.

  “That, right there,” Mark said and pushed off from the counter. “What is that? You’re happy and passionate, and then you lock up.”

  “I’m not sure you’d understand,” she said and lowered her head.

  “Well, I mean … I don’t think I’ll explain it well.”

  “You’re very empathetic; I can hear that in the way you talked to Matthew just now.” He pointed his thumb over towards the office. “It’s like you said to him; you should find someone you’re comfortable to talk with. If you feel like you don’t have someone, then please consider talking to me.”