“Ben, Kenny rubbed up against me. That’s what happened.”
“What the hell?”
“I bent over the beer,” I said, “and he pressed against me from behind.”
“Oh my god, April. This is serious.”
“I know. It was the worst yet.”
“What does that mean?” Ben asked.
“Well, Kenny does get kind of, um, flirty sometimes.” I couldn’t believe I was downplaying Kenny’s abuse.
“Oh really? I was hoping after I hired you, he’d stop that.”
My face flushed as I realized what Ben was saying. He had hired me and put me on the night shift with Kenny. Why? Because I’m unattractive and Kenny wouldn’t mess with me? Ben was staring off into space like he was trying to figure out why Kenny would come on to me.
“I just want my job back,” I said.
Ben snapped out of it, looked at me, and said, “I don’t know, April. I can’t afford a sexual harassment suit.”
“I need this job, Ben. I’m not the problem.”
“You’re the problem if Kenny finds you attractive.”
There it was again: If he finds you attractive. I was in Bizzaro World. “Ben,” I said, “I promise I won’t have any more problems with Kenny. I need this job.”
“Well, what if he brushes up against you again?” he said, massively understating what had really happened.
“I just won’t bend over,” I suggested.
“Hum,” Ben put his index finger to his lips. “Alright, we’ll try it, but you have to make sure that there are no more problems.”
“OK, sure, Ben. Thank you. So, I can come in tonight?”
“Yeah,” Ben said looking down at some spreadsheets on his desk and forgetting I was there.
So, I had my job back, but when 11pm was rolling toward me, I began to feel worse. My stomach was already a wreck from my heartache over Stevie, now I had to face Kenny.
Kenny is big, kind of menacing, but weak at the same time. He’s scary, that’s what he is. He finds ways to corner me in the store and I end up working my whole shift in fear. For instance, I’ll hold my pee because after 1am it is just Kenny and me there. If I want to use the bathroom, he has to come up to the front of the store. One time, when I came out of the bathroom (at the back of store) he was standing there blocking the hallway.
I remember his words exactly, “We should get a bite sometime.”
So creepy. What was I supposed to say, no f-ing way, dude? Instead I awkwardly squeezed past him while he purposely stuck his belly out so I basically had to shove him out of the way. All the while he was breathing his halitosis on me and staring at me through his thick glasses.
It may not sound like much, but there was a thousand of those little incidents. It was a constant threat. It was like he spent the whole night entertaining himself with ways to harass me.
“What has gotten into you?” my mom’s voice broke me out of my reverie.
“Huh?”
“Did you quit your job?” she asked.
“You see me with my uniform on?” I gestured to my green polo shirt.
She kept right on, “Ben called and said you walked out. A girl like you needs to hold on to a job when she gets one. You better not be walking out of anything unless you already have something else lined up.”
“I’m going into work, Mom,” I said, grabbing my keys off the end table.
I walked out onto the little concrete slab porch we shared with our neighbors in the duplex we rented. They were nice enough, for meth addicts. They were a couple, about 30 years old. They sat, spindly, on raggedy lawn chairs. I could tell they had been up for days and were about to crash. “Hi, guys,” I said.
“Hi, April,” they said softly, in unison, as I made my way to my deathtrap.
6
“Oh, hi, April,” Kenny said as I drug myself in to work at 11pm exactly. “Uncle Ben said you were coming in.”
“Hey, Kenny,” I managed. I had 2 hours of protection. Kenny never got weird until after the other cashier left at 1am.
“You think you can make it through your shift and not leave me hanging again?” Kenny whined through his nose.
“Yes,” I said, too beaten to protest in anyway. I could tell he was in one of his rare moods that meant he would be chasing me all night.
I stood by my register, watching the clock fly toward one. I felt an ominous vibe filling the store. It was a Thursday night; it was going to be really slow, and just me and Kenny for the rest of the night.
Barbara, the 60ish, other cashier, was as sweet as pie. Everyone loved her. Kenny wouldn’t cross her for anything. By 12:45 am, I felt like begging her to stay. I looked back at the clock and it read 1.
“Bye Bye, Sweetie,” Barbara said as the automatic door slid open to her freedom.
“Bye, Barbara.” I called, as the doors closed, feeling like they were prison doors.
“So,” came Kenny’s voice right next to me causing me to start, “are we clear about selling single beers?”
“Yeah. Yeah, we’re clear.” I leaned backward. He had snuck up on me and trapped me behind my register. He leaned forward. “Uncle Ben said you weren’t gonna cause any more trouble.”
“Yes. Yes, Kenny. Now excuse me I need to collect the carts.” I pushed past him. Creepy encounter number 1 was in the books.
Kenny was a ghost for the next hour or so. He liked to take frequent naps. It was little after 2am, and there hadn’t been a soul in the store since Barbara left.
“April, aisle 8,” Kenny’s voice said just barely loud enough for me to make it out. I got a chill from that, from the low volume of his voice. “Aisle 8, April,” he said, still barely loud enough for me to hear him.
“Coming,” I called out loudly. I couldn’t bear to hear him say it again. The reason why Kenny liked aisle 8, aside from the fact that he was probably an alcoholic, was we had stacks of cases of beer in aisle. This left barely enough room on each side of the stacks to get 1 cart through. So, he was able to block me off more easily and try to cop a feel.
I plodded toward him. Any hopes of dieting, that I had had earlier in the week, had vanished. I had been stuffing myself all day and was more bloated than ever.
I got back to Kenny and he pointed his long, thin, index finger toward a single six pack (out of probably 100) that had only 5 beers in it. “What’s this?”
“I didn’t sell any single beers tonight, Kenny,” I said.
“I thought you understood the store policy.”
“I do,” I sighed, “I didn’t sell any single beers tonight.”
“Oh, April,” Kenny mocked my sigh, “what am I gonna do with you?”
“Let me go back up front and finish my shift?” I suggested.
He pounced, sticking his chest in my face, looking down at me, and saying, “I’m tired of being made a joke of, April.”
“What?” I said, backing up, “I’m not making a joke.”
He was on me. He hadn’t touched me, yet, but he was inches from me. It was horrible. His breath was horrible. One of his claws grabbed me by the chin roughly, “Here’s what you’re gonna do…” but he was cut off by the sound of laughing and loud talking at the front of the store. I was saved again. He dropped his hand from my face, turned and walked toward the back of the store.
How was I going to keep this job?
I caught a glimpse of a couple of young guys, and 3 girls as they went through the store picking things up. They looked good. They looked like they had money. They looked like they had lives. They were my age exactly. I knew this because they had all been in my high school class.
It was like going out of Kenny’s frying pan and into the fire. The fire was 5 of the most popular kid’s in my graduating class. It came flooding toward me, this weekend was our 5 year reunion. Oh my god it was Leo and Jessie and 3 of their friends. They all came to the front of the store together and tossed their items carelessly down on my conveyor belt. Starbuck’s espresso shots, organi
c gluten free crackers, goat cheese.
All five of them had their own precious items. I held my breath hoping that they wouldn’t engage me. They were not my friends, none of them had been anything but condescending to me for 4 long years at Eldorado High. No wonder I hadn’t wanted to go to college despite the fact that I had scored very high on my SAT’s.
Jessie was the worst of them. Beautiful, sexy, smart, and evil. She could have been or done just about anything, but what she did was make life miserable for people like me. It wasn’t just her degrading comments, and hurtful jokes, she was also physically threatening.
She walked around the halls of El Dorado in these badass outfits. For instance she would wear a pair of black Doc Marten boots, a short plaid skirt, and a tank top that showed off her big boobs. If someone didn’t like the way she treated them, she would go after them and get in their face. If she even sensed that someone was disrespecting her, she would go crazy on them.
I remember one little freshman girl, Paula Klein. She was sweet, but she dared to stand up for herself during one of Jesse’s “jokes.” I didn’t see it, but everyone said this is how it happened. Jessie waited until the girl had turned away, grabbed her by the hair, and slammed her head into the locker. As the girl ran away crying, Jessie just laughed.
Jessie and Leo were last in line and their items were together. Jessie swiped her debit card, pressed in her code, and then looked at me hard. She looked at my name tag. “April.” she stated flatly. Weren’t you at El Dorado?”
“Yes,” I said, scanning her and Leo’s items as fast as I could and dropping them into a plastic bag.
“Well,” she said, devoid of friendliness, “I guess you’ll be at the reunion Saturday night?”
“Yes,” I said. No, I wouldn’t.
“I guess we won’t have to ask you what you’ve been doing,” Leo said.
The gang all laughed except for Jessie, who said, “Leo! You naughty boy,” and grabbed her bag full of stuff and walked out of the store without even glancing at me.
As the doors closed one of the group said something and they all erupted into laughter.
7
“Yeah, you’re going with us, or I’ll never speak to you again,” Tara said.
“You just assumed I was going,” I said.
“No, you had every intention of going until you screwed Mr. Dreamy Eyes, and now you’re all butt hurt and aren’t going.”
She was right, that was one of things I hated most about her. She was right a lot. I had made it through my shift the night before, made it home, and collapse from exhaustion. From the moment I got up that afternoon, Mom was on my last nerve. So, I showered and went over to Tara’s. Now I had to listen to Tara go on about our 5 year reunion.
“Sherrie’s coming back from Florida. Jamie’s coming in from Portland. What’s your problem? You’re going.” Tara handed me a glass of iced tea and sat down with me at her kitchen table. “You’re gonna wear that black dress you got at the goodwill last fall, you’re going to put on makeup, and we’re gonna have a good time. And don’t worry, Rodney’s not gonna dance with me anyway, so I won’t leave you sitting all alone.”
“Whatever,” I said. I had made it through work last night, but I still had to go in tonight. It was hanging over my head. Then, I had tomorrow night off, to go to our 5 year reunion. Oh joy.
“I did something for you,” Tara said, “I loaned you the truck. Now, you get to do something for me.”
“Yeah,” I said. I remembered how my old car had had another episode on the way over to Tara’s this evening. Why the hell couldn’t I get life right?
Rodney was at his bowling. Denny, Tara’s toddler, was taking its tenth nap of the day, and Tara was bossing me around as usual. “So, yes?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
I rolled into work at 10:59, without dying in a car crash. I was never so glad to start a shift because I found out it was Kenny’s night off! Another nephew of Ben’s, Billy, was the fill in night manager. Things were finally looking up. Billy was cool, smart, cute, and respectful. The exact opposite of Kenny.
It was Friday night, the store was swamped. The other cashier was Darla who was cute and blonde. So, most of the time, she had a line and I only had one or two people, but time went by fast. Billy even had to come up a few times to open up a 3rd register. I saw some familiar faces, in town for the reunion, but nobody seemed to recognize me.
Darla got off at 1am and things quieted down a lot. I wondered where Stevie was. Did he even think of me? Probably not. I wondered what chubby he was chasing tonight, or if I was just some kind of one time biggie fetish.
My suffering was cut short by, “April Linn. Big April.” Oh my god, it was Dylan Coe, my bully. I looked around for help, knowing that there was none to be had. Billy was way in the back, in his office, and the rest of the store was empty. How did it get to be 3:30 am?
“Big stuff!”
I glared at him.
“Bigger than ever,” Dylan laughed at himself.
I glared harder, my bottom lip curling in over my teeth as I jutted my chin out.
“Figures you’d work in a grocery store,” he said. I used to get this kind of wit spit at me every day. Dylan road the same bus to school as I did. I hadn’t seen him since graduation. He hadn’t lost it.
“Can I help you with something?” I said through gritted teeth.
“Yeah, do you have a diet section?” Dylan said and laughed at himself again.
He put a bag of Doritos Extreme and a six pack of Mountain Dew on my conveyor and I checked him out with slightly trembling hands.
“OK, Biggie Biggs,” he said and walked out snickering.
Oh, I couldn’t wait for the reunion.
8
So, it was time for Cinder-Ella to go to the ball, except there would be no transformation. Still fat, check. Thrift store dress that I didn’t feel that good in, check. Old shoes I’ve had since high school, all set. Cashier Girl goes out into the night.
Tara and Rodney picked me up right at 8 because Tara had the great idea that we should go early to get a good seat. It was still light out!
Whoever organized the shindig thought it would be great to hold it in the high school gym. You know, to help us all relive those great gym class moments? Normally my stomach would be in knots, but it had been in knots all week and it actually seemed to loosen up a little. I was beyond the point of caring. A strange calm came over me.
Sincerely, no offense, but only the most awkward and stiff classmates and their significant others showed up that early. Maybe it’s because it helps them feel more comfortable. Or maybe because they aren’t socially aware enough to know that you can come to something like this an hour or two late.
Since it was mostly social rejects in attendance that early, I knew quite a few of them. The pain in the room was obvious. Drinks in hand, sipping hard, time to drink enough forget who you are.
“Hi April!” Oh crap, Danny Leonard was huge. He had always been kind of chunky. I should know, we dated for a whole year. I lost my virginity to him. He looked like he hadn’t stopped eating since our senior year.
“Hi, Danny,” I said trying not to stare at his neck beard. Poor thing. I could tell he was so uncomfortable in his own skin. Takes one to know one, I guess.
“I’ve thought about you so much, April,” he said shifting into my personal space. I took a step back. “What have you been doing wif yourself?” He still said “wif” instead of “with.” He used to have about a half a dozen of those mispronunciation. I used to think they were cute.
“I’m, uh, working at Ben’s Food Place. What about you?”
“Well, I got my degree in computer science from UC San Diego, and now I’m over in Silicon Valley at Sematech pulling in 6-figures.”
This was going to be the way my night was going to go. People were going to ask me what I was doing. Cashier Girl. Then they were going to give me their commercial on how great their life was. I could feel it co
ming. My obese, neck-bearded, deflowerer was making 5 times more money than me doing something that might actually matter. Who knew? His benefits package was probably worth twice what I make, and he probably had fun at work. His computer was probably worth more than my car. I was doomed. “Great, Danny. Sounds great.”
“Hey, I’m not heading back down until Monday. Would you like to go have brunch or something tomorrow?”
“Yeah, yeah sure, Danny,” I said. I always liked Danny. He seemed as good-natured as ever.
“Yes!” he said out loud and brought his fist down to his side in a motion of victory. “Put your number in my new Samsung Galaxy,” he said handing me his fancy phone and looking around to see if anyone was noticing. “It’s on the Verizon network. They were voted best carrier by cNet.”
Rocker (Rockstar BBW Romance) Page 3