The City Lake

III

Taking this shift had been a bad idea. The heat of the afternoon was busy dehydrating people, and he had more than one customer asking if they could have a second serving of coffee or a cooler drink, to which he was obligated to refuse when the new machine which tracked purchases of anything water-based via ID flashed red. He knew the rationing was the right thing to do, but refusing the requests sometimes put him in an awkward position where he personally wanted to help, yet legally couldn't. When it was just teenagers trying to poke fun, it was a little easier.

This all came to a head when a parent walked up with their young child. Caleb struggled for a moment in his own mind. Growing up with binary genders, he felt compelled to give the adult and child a binary pronoun based on clothes and construction of facial features, along with other stereotypical traits. Meeting Noah had helped him to realize he shouldn't assume, although it was taking a little longer to train his brain not to react that way. Shaking this off, he stated his standard greeting.

"Hello and welcome to Jiving Java, what goodness would you like to drink today?" he said. While he attempted to put some pep into it, there was no way he sounded like anything other than a bored robot.

"Please," begged the parent. There was desperation in the air and Caleb could tell the child was in misery. "A cup of tap water. That's all we need."

Caleb held out his hand for ID. The adult handed theirs over hesitantly, and that made Caleb know before he tried that they had reached their daily limit. A red light flashed at the top of the machine, indicating the decline Caleb would have to make.

A strong hand grabbed his arm, stopping him from moving the ID away from the machine.

"Please," his customer said again. "We spilled some of our supply. We need water. Just a little bit, to tide us over."

Caleb looked down at the child, who nodded solemnly in agreement.

"You know I can't," he said. His heart was breaking that there was nothing he could do. He had used his daily purchased drink in the form of coffee that morning so could not sacrifice his own to help. The child's head drooped.

"I really want to. But you know how it is," he continued. His hand reached for a clear cup nearby him just the same, as he would if there wasn't a ration on water. He watched the adult nod, accepting of the decision and yet disappointed. He regretted opening his mouth but the word fell out anyway. "Wait."

He looked over to what Noah and the rest of his coworkers were doing. Feeling that they were amply distracted, he slid over to the drink station and poured tap water into the cup. Once it was brimming, he brought it back and urged the parent and child to drink it quickly. The adult took a few sips and then passed it on. The kid brought it to their mouth and gulped it down like they couldn't get enough water, tilting their head back to get every drop, and Caleb knew he made the right decision.

"Thank you," said the adult. The two strangers left the building, but a feeling of accomplishment remained. Another feeling, of eyes on his back, began although he didn't pay it much attention. He wasn't asked for illegal water again.

Sadly, the feeling faded a little when he was angrily called into the back office after his shift. He sat down in front of his manager, Sophie, and stared into her stormy face for a few moments before he had to look anywhere around the small room except her. While he wasn't normally claustrophobic, the walls felt like they were crushing in and Caleb clutched his knees tightly to hold down the swell of fear. He knew he had been spotted.

"You've been a very good employee," Sophie began. She didn't sound like she wanted to do this. "I'd like to think you would have been promoted soon."

Caleb nodded and sighed deeply. "I know what you're getting to."

"Don't you see the position you put me in?" Sophie said softly. Too softly. Her voice rose to a shout now. "We can't just be giving water away! Someone has to be held accountable!"

"They needed water," Caleb murmured.

Sophie dropped her head into her hands. "I know. And I'm not sure I wouldn't have done the same. But if I noticed, someone else might have noticed, and the next thing we know, we're all out of our jobs for covering this up!"

"Just say it," he whispered. He would take the fall. It's not like his employment record would take too much of a hit as he bounced around jobs enough already.

"I'm going to have to fire you, Caleb, as much as we'll greatly miss you," said Sophie. "Take your things and leave."

Caleb nodded in defeat and pulled his apron off, struggling with the knot at the back for a moment. He passed it over the desk before standing up.

"Good luck," Sophie called to his back.