Oil & Ink

Chapter 7: A Stranger in Town

Sara was always relieved to be back at Tucker's and not working on the farm. She hadn't ever done anything major to make her family distrust her, but she felt like they were always watching everything she did.

Except when she was at Tucker's. Her shift started at 8 am, which usually caught people just starting off on their road trips for the day.

She counted out a new register drawer for her shift and made herself a coffee from the machine in the front. She liked to add a splash of the hot cocoa, even in the height of summer. She walked up and down the aisles, straightening the chips and putting all of the name license plate keychains on their proper hooks.

When everything appeared tidy, she took to her chair behind the register. It was much easier to see who was coming in the door from there. Plus, she could see most of the store with the help of the curved mirrors strategically placed near the ceiling.

Just as she was settling in, the bell at the front door chimed.

"Welcome in," she said. A man in a cowboy hat and boots tipped his hat toward her. She smiled back and opened a magazine.

Today was the start of a string of daily shifts she was scheduled to work. It would be another 10 days before a day "off" and she wasn't mad about it. She needed to buy her course books at the end of the summer, and she liked having the extra money to save, even though she wasn't sure what she was saving it for.

Around 9, Charlie pulled in. She always felt excited to work the same shifts he did, but she never knew what to say to him. He was quiet and kept to his corner most of the time. He approached the glass door, wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt.

"Hey Charlie," she said, smiling.

"Hi there," he said.

He always brought a backpack with him, and sometimes had a cup to fill with coffee or soda. He seemed to live off sticks of beef jerky, Sara noticed. He headed to his corner, turned on the lights, and then sat in his chair, looking at his phone.

The door chimed. It was a delivery man who popped his head in.

"I'm looking for, uh," he said, looking down at a label on a box. "Charlie?"

"Oh yep," Sara said. "He's here."

She hopped off her chair and stepped out from behind the counter. The delivery man walked inside, and Charlie met him at the door. He had a pretty tall stack of boxes and handed them to Charlie.

"Thanks, man," Charlie said.

"You have a good one," the delivery man said.

Charlie walked back to his corner with the boxes. Sara followed him.

"What is all that?" she asked.

"I ordered supplies to stock up for the season," he said. "They came in fast."

He restacked the boxes on his shelf and started opening them, one-by-one. He unloaded their contents onto the shelves, organizing them by product — gloves, sheets, ink pods, razors.

"Looks like you're ready," Sara said.

"I hope so," Charlie said. "But I also need more people to come in if I'm going to use up all of this stuff."

"We'll get people," Sara said. "The time always goes by so much faster when it's busy."

"That's for sure," Charlie said.

The door chimed again. A man in a pair of pressed slacks and a button-down walked in. He looked lost.

"Welcome to Tucker's!" Sara shouted from the corner.

The man looked at her funny but gave a small wave. "I'm looking for Hank," he said.

"Oh, he's not in right now," Sara said. "I can check his schedule for you, if you need me to?"

"Sure," the man said. "That would be great."

Sara ran to the back, leaving only Charlie in the front. The man wondered for a minute upfront, running his fingers across the counter and then looking at the tips of them, like the place was greasy.

Charlie tried not to stare, but the man headed in his direction.

"Tattoos, huh?" the man said.

"Yes," Charlie said. "My own little corner."

"Do you get lots of customers here?" he asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. His biceps bulged underneath the sleeves of his oxford.

"It gets pretty steady during the busy season," Charlie said.

"I see," he said, looking over at Charlie's shelves and the sketches on the wall.

Sara returned from the back, carrying a sticky note. Charlie breathed a slow sigh of relief now that this guy could get whatever he came for and head out.

"I wrote down his next few shifts," Sara said, handing him the sticky note. "He usually comes early on Tuesdays for restocks and scheduling."

"Okay, great," he said. "I'll come back then."

"Perfect!" Sara said with a smile.

The man turned and walked out to his car. Charlie and Sara both watched. It was a black BMW, shiny, except for the recent dust from the gravel at Tucker's. When he headed out of the lot and toward the highway, Charlie and Sara looked at each other.

"Who was that?" Charlie mouthed, not making a sound.

Sara shrugged. She had no idea.