← Back to Chapter Two
by
Al Bruno III
"And then what?"
Lake
Wales High School was shaped like an E; the top and bottom ends of the E
were the auditorium and the gymnasium, and the middle was the
cafeteria.
"And
then I ran," Thelma explained. An entire weekend had passed since her
bizarre encounter with Brad Waterman, and those 48 hours had helped
diminish the worst memories. Those girls she had met had left her
feeling uneasy and curious. And those men she had glimpsed? Those faces
she had seen? It must have been a trick of the light, Thelma thought.
"You
ran?" Samantha Reid asked. She was a heavy girl with frosted blonde
hair and an easy smile, "Just when it was getting good."
A short boy with dark eyes and too-long hair nodded, "I bike by that house every day while I'm doing my paper route."
"Maybe you should see if they want a subscription Peanut," Samantha said.
"Maybe
I'm afraid to," Peanut's real name was Steve Cross, but he had always
been shorter than the other kids, and since the seventh grade, everyone
from teachers to students had taken to calling him Peanut. "Although the
tips might be memorable."
The
three of them had been sitting together at lunch since last spring
after the popular girls' catty remarks and conspiratorial whispers had
driven Thelma away from the more upwardly mobile tables.
"Look," Thelma said, "I don't know who those guys were or what was going on there, but you can count me out."
"They were probably all college kids getting high." Samantha mused, "College boys always have the best weed."
"Oh
really?" Thelma said. When Samantha said something like that, Thelma
could never be sure if she was being truthful. All Thelma really did
know was that since September, Samantha had run away from home twice and
had one pregnancy scare.
"Really,"
Samantha said, "and if you ask me, you just read too much into the
whole thing. If this Brad dude is sitting on a nice fat lawsuit check,
he sure as hell will have a bunch of girls at his beck and call. The two
biggest aphrodisiacs in the world are washboard abs and a personal
fortune."
Peanut sighed sadly, "I am so screwed when I get to college."
"Poor Peanut." Thelma said, "I should have taken you to the dance."
"Oh sure, and I'll just pencil in regular beatings from Winston from now until the end of time."
Samantha
waved her hand, "Oh, he's too busy with his new girl. Any regrets
there, Thelma? I mean, that was a pretty good set of abs you left behind
there."
"Robin can keep those abs," Thelma said, "I've got better things to do with my time."
The
routine of school and home was broken up on Wednesday nights and
Saturday afternoons by flipping burgers. It wasn't the best job in the
world, but it got her out of the house and earned her a little spending
cash. On the days when the manager was there, the job was bearable,
mostly because he spent most of the shift in his office drinking.
Unfortunately, this Wednesday night wasn't one of those shifts; the
assistant manager, Blanche Costello, was in charge, and she was a bear.
If
someone had told her about Blanche, Thelma would have rolled her eyes
at the obvious exaggerations, but truth was unfortunately more
irritating than fiction. Blanche was skinny, with over-permed hair,
over-tanned skin, and a prodigious nose. She reminded Thelma of nothing
more than a cartoon buzzard. Thelma also learned quickly that the only
thing Blanche hated more than her life was the teenagers she had been in
charge of. When Blanche held court, the employees were not allowed to
talk to each other while on the clock, breaks were skipped whenever
possible, and lunches were grudgingly granted late in the shift.
Sixth
months of working at Burger Clown had taught Thelma not to cross the
woman, but there was a history quiz on Thursday morning, and she really
wanted that fifteen-minute break for studying. Fifteen minutes in a
four-hour shift, was that so much to ask?
Clearly
it was. The request had sent Blanche screeching, and the next thing
Thelma knew, she was outside searching the parking lot for trash and dog
poop.
Burger
Clown was one of the three businesses on the road that led to Eagle
Ridge Mall. And it was the only one that hadn't gone under. Grumbling to
herself, Thelma walked the circumference of the Burger Clown parking
lot, a dustpan in one hand, a ratty broom in the other. Cars sped by,
filling the air with exhaust.
Well, it could be worse. Thelma tried to tell herself as she walked around the parking lot. On
Saturday, she made two of the college guys climb onto the dumpster to
jump up and down on the garbage so it wouldn't have to be emptied for a
few more days.
Thelma gagged a little at the memory of the smell those boys brought back with them.
I'll just get to school early and study in homeroom. Thelma
decided as she walked along the rear of the parking lot, picking up
wadded paper cups and napkins. Thelma went to work at a particularly
hardened piece of gum and then just gave up and sat down on the curb.
She stared sullenly across the parking lot to the abandoned gas station.
I
should just quit. I bet Samantha could get me a job working with her at
the Fashion Bug, or heck maybe Peanut could get me a paper route.
Anything but this, anything…
A
black pickup truck pulled into the parking lot of the empty service
station. Thelma sat up; she had heard from one of her co-workers that
hookers took their johns to the back of the building to turn tricks.
Turn tricks. Thelma
mused at the turn of phrase. There were so many metaphors for that one
thing, and it seemed that between high school and work, she had heard
just about all of them. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad still haven't had 'The Talk' with me yet.
The
truck's engine idled, and the headlights shifted from low to high
beams. Thelma waited, wondering what she would see, wondering what she
wanted to see.
She
certainly didn't expect to see Brad get out of the truck. The very
sight of him sent competing shudders of fear and excitement along her
spine. Brad walked to the passenger side and pulled out a bulky shape
wrapped in a dark dropcloth. He hefted it and brought it over to the gas
station's side entrance; the door swung open with a nudge of his hip.
He
half-dragged and carried the shape into the building. The door swung to
a close behind him. Thelma held her breath, expecting him to come right
back out again, but he stayed in there.
What's he doing? She wondered.
Thelma
thought again of the girl on the mattress and the men kneeling over
her. She thought of their faces; you didn't see faces like that anymore-
there were surgeries and cures.
Lights
flashed in the abandoned gas station, brief eruptions of emerald-tinged
illumination that filled the building's dark windows and faded away. It
was as though Brad were striking a flint or playing with firecrackers.
Thelma wondered if she could get closer without being discovered. She
stood, leaving the dustpan behind but keeping the broom in case she
needed a weapon.
Thelma
made it halfway across the parking lot before Blanche Costello caught
sight of her and started yelling for her to get back inside and start
manning the fry station.
Next: Chapter Five →
