Chapter 10
A dense, misty fog hovers through the streets on an unseasonably warm night. Tiny droplets of water collect on Kate’s windshield as she struggles to see the road. She switches her windshield wipers on to clear the watery debris from her wind shield and she makes her way to “P’s and Q’s Corner Store”.
She looks over to the passenger seat and looks at the shine from the stainless steel metal band around the camera.
‘I’m going to look so stupid going in here with this.’ she thinks to herself.
The steam from the inside of the car begins to cloud the driver side window. She takes her sleeve and rubs the mistiness away, leaving wild, circular streaks around the glass.
‘Agh, that made it worst.’ She looks in her center console for a napkin to clear the streaks, but realize she’s close to her destination. She sees a fuzzy lining from the lights of the store pushing through the fog. The closer she gets the sharper and brighter the lights get.
She pulls into the deserted parking lot. She sees Donovan in the window, reading a magazine behind the cash register. His feet are propped up on the counter as he carefully rocks back and forth on the back legs of his stool.
Kate swings open the car door. She reaches for the camera and holds it tightly in the crook of her arm. ‘Here goes nothing.’ She whispers.
She walks up to the door and slowly pushes it open, ringing the string of reindeer bells tied to the door. Donovan continues to read his magazine.
Kate shakes the door. The bells slam again the glass door and ring loudly. Donovan doesn’t look up.
Kate quietly walks up to the counter. She grabs a newspaper and rolls it up tightly before slamming it on the counter.
‘Hey! Put all four legs on the floor! If all of them weren’t supposed to be on the floor, they would have made them with two!’
‘Ok, Mrs. Teacher,’ Donovan says dryly from behind the magazine.
Kate begins to tap on the counter, ‘It must be a pretty interesting article you’re reading. You don’t have a playboy behind the cover of that “Men’s Mechanics” do you?’
Donovan slowly lowers his magazine, revealing his eyes, ‘If I did, I definitely wouldn’t tell you.’ He puts the magazine on the counter and stands from his stool, ‘You plan on buying something or are you going to pester me. I know how much your sick mind likes to land low blows on a working man.’
Kate begins to fiddle with the display on candy bars beside the cash register, ‘Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. What’s it to you?’
Donovan begins to laugh, ‘Well this is a business. And if you don’t plan on patronizing it, you are loitering. I may have to call the cops and say an undesirable is taking up space in my store and scaring away the customers.’
Kate pulls one of the candy bars from the display. The wonky leg under the display case sways back and forth, tapping the counter, ‘Does this count as merchandise? I would gladly buy it seeing how you’re taking such an interest in running your dad’s store now. Who know, maybe you’ll be promoted to head son with the initiative you’re showing today.’
Donovan snatches the candy bar from Kate’s hand and scans it. He sarcastically smiles as he puts it in a small paper bag. He rolls the top half of the bag into a tight, scroll before sliding it across the counter in Kate’s waiting hand, ‘That will be 400 dollars.’ He says with a smirk.
Kate looks that the cash register, ‘How about I pay you $1.25 like the machine says. I know math isn’t your strong point but the least you can go is pretend to comprehend numbers.’
Donovan raises his eyebrows, ‘Hey! It’s my store and I charge whatever I want. By the way, what are you really doing here?’
Kate takes the camera still tightly tucked away in the crook of her arm and puts it on the counter. Donovan looks at the camera, slightly confused. “What’s that for?’ he asks.
Kate slides her elbows across the counter, ‘I just joined the yearbook committee.’
Donovan lets out a burst of laughter, ‘The yearbook committee?! You? That old guy who felt you up musta really did a number on your head!’
Kate sighs, ‘The guy didn’t feel me up. Where are you getting your information from?’
‘I heard it from Mark Houston’ he replies.
Kate rolls her eyes, ‘The same Mark Houston who said he brought a car previously owned by Wilt Chamberlin? The same Mark Houston who said he got punched by Eva Longoria’s bodyguards because she wanted to kiss him and they saved her by assaulting him so she wouldn’t be in the gossip rags for trying to date a high schooler? Yea, he’s such a credible person to believe.’
‘Hey,’ Donovan says standing up from his stool, ‘That Eva Longoria thing was true, I saw the text messages.’
‘Oh really?’ Kate asks, ‘I bet he covered up the sender’s number with his finger so you couldn’t get her number too huh?’
Donovan scrunches his eyebrows together, ‘Well, if I had her number, I would do the same thing.’ Kate shakes her head, ‘Oh my God, you’re so dense in the head.’
Donovan smiles, ‘Thank you, my mom says the same thing and last time I looked it up, a dense brain is a good thing. Einstein had a dense brain, weighed like 13 pounds or something…’
‘Anyway’ Kate says with an annoyed tinge, ‘The yearbook plans on taking photos of the lacrosse team tomorrow. I just thought I’d let you know so you don’t go out drinking and show up tomorrow looking puffy.’
Donovan laughs, ‘You came all the way down here to tell me that? C’mon, why did you really come down here?’
Kate smiles nervously, ‘That is the reason I came. To tell you that and to make sure you come to school tomorrow. I was going to tell Linny to tell you this but she went to do that thing with her mom.’
Donovan takes a rag lying beside the register and begins to wipe off the counter, ‘Thank you for your counterfeit concern. I’ll surly take it into consideration. But tell me, why the sudden interest in making sure I look good for a picture? Did Linny send you to do this?’
Kate shakes her head, ‘No, I came out of the goodness of my heart. That, and getting extra credit for history. So make sure you get plenty of sleep tonight and no alcohol.’
Donovan grins, ‘You know what? I’m gonna do you this favor.’ He leans over the counter, ‘But one day I my ask you for a favor, and I hope you oblige.’ He says in a scratch, muffled tone. Kate rolls her eyes, ‘A favor?’
He scratches his chin, ‘Yes a favor. This favor will likely be in the form of a monetary reward so, save your pennies.’
Kate grabs her camera and her candy bar and begins to walk to the door. She opens it and looks back at Donovan. She hesitates before closing the door.
‘Donovan? Can I ask you a question?’
He shrugs his shoulders, ‘Yea, I guess so.’
Kate begins to fidget with the bells hanging on the door, ‘You know Linny loves you. And against all the advice I’ve given her about you, both of you will more than likely end up married or together for a while after school. I probably shouldn’t involve myself with your relationship but, the way you act, the way you skip school almost all the time, I wonder what your lives will be like if you don’t graduate. I love Linny too and I don’t want her in a situation where she regrets loving you.’
‘You think I’m going to end up a loser?’ he asks.
Kate nods her head, ‘Not a loser but someone who didn’t live up to their full potential.’
Donovan puts the rag down on the counter, ‘I’m not the smartest apple in the bunch, you know that. Linny, now she’s a smart girl. She’s definitely college bound because she’s, clever, smart, all those brainy things. The most I can possibly be is what I’d doing right now. I’m probably going to be 80 years old operating this same store, and that’s ok. I work for Linny so when she graduates, I’ll have saved enough money for an apartment, some down payments for certain things we need to get started, and even a couple dollars for her education. It’s ok if I end up a loser, bu
t it’s not ok if she does.’
Kate smiles, ‘I’m impressed. Maybe I had you all figured out wrong.’
‘No,’ Donavan laughs, ‘I’m a dumb ass, always will be. Now get out of here before you get all woman-emotional and start hugging and crying and junk.’
Kate pushes the door open, ‘Ok Donavan, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Remember, straight home and go to bed.’
Donavan waves, ‘Yea, yea yea. Get outta here.’
Kate steps out of the store. She hears the bells behind her clinging as the door closes behind her. ‘I have nothing to worry about.’ she says under her breath.
She sees Donovan sit back onto the stool and relax back into his previous position. He rocks back on the stool and lifts the front legs from the ground.
Kate takes the camera and points it through the window at Donovan. She places her hand on the button. As she readies herself to snap the picture, she lowers the camera. The thought of jinxing this moment of normalcy makes her reconsider taking the photo.
She tucks the camera away and walks to her car,‘Yea, everything will be alright.’
Chapter 11
The lights illuminating the “P’s and Q’s Corner Store” sign on the top of the building clicks off. Donovan unhooks the open sign hanging in the store’s window and replaces it with the closed sign tucked under his arm.
‘Well, that’s that.’ he says to himself as he leans the open sign against the wall next to the door. He looks around the store and notices the almost fully stocked shelves and the still pristine floors. He walks over to the cash register and sees the thin amounts of bills and rolls of coins in the tray. He takes a deep breath and lets it trickle through his nose.
‘We were pretty slow today,’ he says to himself looking at the register disappointed, ‘I’m sure Dad knows that.’
He picks the tray from the register and empties it in a green bank deposit bag. ‘But I guess he’ll accuse me of stealing…again.’ he says. He bends down behind the counter and pushes the bag through a slot in the safe.
He walks to the corner behind the counter and grabs a broom and dustpan. ‘I’ll just give it a once over. I doubt there’s even enough dirt on the floor to sweep up.’
He begins to sweep the welcome mat in front of the door when he feels his phone vibrating and buzzing the loose change in his pocket. He lets go of the broom and lets it slam to the ground. He checks the display. “Paul Sutter” flashes across the screen. He pushes the green accept button, ‘Yea Dad?’
‘You closing up now?’ Paul asks.
Donovan starts to rub his temples, ‘Yes, I just dropped the deposit and I’m sweeping right now.’
‘Ok’ Paul replies, ‘Just make sure you…’ Donovan cuts Paul off, ‘Make sure you restock the shelves and lock the door because if I don’t and you come in tomorrow and find the door open, you’ll break my neck. I know, I know.’
A low grumble echoes on the other end of the phone, ‘You don’t have to get an attitude about it. I’m just making sure you do what you’re supposed to do.’
‘Dad,’ Donavan says annoyed, ‘I’ve been closing up for the past 3 years. It’s not long division; it’s the exact same thing I’ve been doing for the last 3 years.’
A silent hum resonates through the phone. Donovan bends over and picks up the broom, ‘I’ll talk to you later.’ He says before quickly pressing the end call button.
He looks around the empty store at the merchandise on the shelves. His grandfather, who owned the store before his father, always said that full shelves are a sign you’ve fallen on hard times. With graduation a year away, Donovan knows hard times aren’t compatible with his plans for the future. He knows he would make 3 times as much if he takes on of the many construction jobs around town. But that would also mean giving up the store and breaking the long standing tradition of a Sutter always being at the counter.
He feels his phone vibrating in his pocket. ‘Ugh, what now?’ he thinks to himself. He angrily shoves his hand in his pocket and retrieves his phone. His teeth grit as he waits for another pestering call for his overly concerned father. Before he brings the phone to his ear, he presses the accept button. ‘What?’ he growls.
The calm, delicate voice begins to speak from the other side.
‘Geez, why so angry? Did I call at a bad time? We’re you busy?’
Donovan looks at the display. The name Linny is lit up, bookended with two hearts.
‘I’m sorry babe,’ he says apologetically, ‘I thought you were Dad.’ Linny laughs, ‘Is he giving you a hard time again?’ ‘Doesn’t he always?’ he replies.
‘Don’t let it get to you. You know he was going to call sooner or later. Anyway, I’m driving back from Grandma Miriam’s house. Want me to stop by and help you get out of there faster?’
Donovan looks around the store, ‘There really not much to do. You just go on home ok?’
‘Ok.’ Linny responds ‘If you’re not too tired, you can come through my window. Tell me now so I know whether to leave the ladder by the fence before I go in.’
Donovan can feel the heat from his blushing cheeks glowing under his eyes, ‘Yea, leave me the ladder. I can’t stay long though; Kate stopped by and said something about getting sleep tonight for some yearbook picture tomorrow.’
‘Huh?’ Linny says with surprise, ‘Kate is doing the yearbook? I guess that is what that weird kid Simon wanted to talk to her about the other day. I can’t believe she accepted.’
Donovan holds the phone between his ear and his shoulder, ‘Look, let me sweep this floor so I can get out of here.’ ‘Ok, call me when you’re finished.’
Donovan hears the phone click off from the other end. Just as he begins to place it back in his pocket, he calls Linny again.
Linny picks up, ‘You’re outside already?’ she ask, ‘I’m about 5 minutes from my house so wait across the street until I get there.’
‘No, it’s not that,’ Donovan says, ‘I just forgot to say…I love you. You do know that, right?’
He hears her breathe out slowly, ‘Awe, I love you too Bippy Bear. Of course I know it, and I wouldn’t want to be in love with anyone else but you.’
Donovan feels his smile stretching across the corners of his mouth, ‘I’ll talk to you soon.’ He tries to say coolly. He hangs up the phone and looks around the store. ‘There’s nothing here that can’t be done tomorrow.’ he thinks to himself.
He walks behind the counter and places the broom back in its corner. He grabs the key ring hanging from a nail hammered into the side of the counter and his coat. He swiftly walks to the door and swipes the light switch as he exits and locks the door behind him. The jingling of the bells grows fainter and fainter as he makes his way to his car, flipping through his keys.
‘I should’ve parked closer, it’s not like we needed the spaces today.’ He says to himself. The misty fog blanketing the parking lot seems to thicken the further he walks from the store. Small droplets of water collect on Donovan’s windbreaker as he hastily walks across the deserted parking lot. He faintly sees the light from the streetlamps gleaming from the hood of his silver Jetta muffled inside of the haziness.
‘Ah, there you are.’ He says to himself as the blurred image of his car get sharper.
He walks to the driver side door and pushes the key inside the lock. It jams. He takes the key out and tries to push it in again.
The tip goes in slightly further than before, but jams once again.
He holds the key close to his face and examines it carefully. ‘That is the right key. What’s wrong with my door?’ he thinks.
He bends down and rubs his thumb flush over the lock’s opening and feels a pinch. The pain makes him jerk back his hand.
‘Was that a shock?’ he says while shaking his thumb vigorously.
The Slender Man Game of Myths Page 10
