sweet tooth - karl jacobs

chapter 3- taco bell

i shuffle my feet back inside the shop and check the clock. 5:38. 38 minutes after i could've gone home.

but i can't help but think about what had happened earlier. karl was an interesting character, to say the least.

since my apartment is only a ten minute walk away from work, i don't drive here. so i go to the storage room, gather my things, and head back home.

it's still warm, bright, and sunny out. but what else would you expect for the first day of june?

and anyway, i love it. my favorite type of weather is extremely hot and sunny, ideally in the 80's. i guess that's why summer's my favorite season.

once i finally make it back to my apartment, i'm greeted immediately by my cat, holly. she's a small snowshoe cat with big blue eyes. i got her a couple years ago during a not-so-great time in my life, so i like to think of holly as my lifeline.

"hi, sweetie!" i coo as i reach down to pet the cat. "how are you? did you behave yourself while i was away?"

"she did," a feminine voice says from the kitchen. i look up and see my 16 year old sister peek her head out from the kitchen nook area. i roll my eyes.

"maybe give me a warning that you're coming? my place isn't clean and i could've had a heart attack," i scold.

"whatever. why are you home so late?"

"why are you so nosy?"

"come on, haven! i've been bored here all by myself. humor me."

"you had holly to keep you company. plus, you didn't have to come. i didn't invite you."

we look at each other and smile. my little sister, ava, and i have always been close. ava looks just like me, other than she has a younger looking face, sometimes wears glasses, is shorter, and has shoulder-length hair that she dyed light pink at the tips.

"do you have dinner?" ava asks as she flops onto my couch and throws the pillows around looking for the remote.

"no? i'm not that hungry yet-"

my stomach grumbles loudly. ava snorts.

"what was that you said about not being hungry?"

"shut up. you wanna get dinner?"

ava's head snaps up and she smiles a big smile. she just got her braces off, so she's been smiling a lot more than usual. and i love it.

"let's get taco bell!" she exclaims. i giggle.

"whatever you say. c'mon." i grab my keys and holly jumps around at the sound of the jingling.

"no, holly! you can't come!" i tell her, scratching her behind her left ear. "mommy and auntie ava are going to get dinner! i'll see you later."

"why are you nicer to your cat than you are most people?" ava asks with a laugh.

"because my cat would never wrong me. isn't that right, darling?" holly purrs loudly and i give ava a look that says "i told you so."

"okay okay, i don't care. come on! that crunch wrap supreme is calling my name! i can smell it from here."

the two of us head to my car and drive to taco bell.

"i get aux!" ava announces as takes my phone, connected to the bluetooth of the car. she scrolls through my playlist, stopping on a certain one. "why do you have a playlist full of love songs?"

"sorry, i didn't realize you were the spotify police," i say lightheartedly, trying to change the subject.

"no seriously, haven. you KILL me whenever i put on any type of love song. you said it's because of-"

"let's not bring that up, yeah?" i stop at a red light and give ava a serious look.

"alright. my bad, i know that's still a sore subject." she turns on a random harry styles song and sings her heart out to the lyrics.

we arrive at taco bell and ava happily skips inside. she gets into line quickly, holding her stomach as she waits. i check out the menu a bit, wavering on what to get.

"good evening, what can i get for you two?" the sweet-looking woman working the cash register asks.

"i'll be getting a crunch wrap supreme. and a baja blast freeze. and the cheese potato side. also a side of sour cream and nacho cheese. and the cinnamon twists. oh, and don't forget the cinnabon delights! the twelve pack!" ava turns to me.

"i, uh, i'll just have a..." i squint to read the menu. "chalupa supreme, please."

"she also wants a baja blast," ava adds.

"i do n-"

"alright, so i got a crunch wrap supreme, two baja blast freezes, the cheesy potato side, cinnamon twists, twelve pack of cinnabon delights, a chalupa supreme, a side of sour cream, and a side of nacho cheese?" the woman working says. "will that be all?"

will that be ALL?

ALL?!

"yes, i believe that's it!" ava says happily.

"that'll be $22.64."

thank god this place is cheap.

ava snatches my credit card from my hand and hands it to the woman with a cheesy smile. i so badly want to wipe that smug look off her face.

"i hope you're paying for part of this," i sneer in ava's ear.

"oh no, you said this was on you! remember?" she snaps back.

"i never said that."

"you had a long day at work. you're a little delusional or something. you must not remember."

the woman hands ava my card back, and as soon as it touches ava's hand i snatch it away from her. can't have her pulling another fast one.

we get our food (more like feast) and find a nice spot at the window to sit at. since it's summer, the sun is still up in the sky, even though it's 6:02 pm. a ray of sun reflects on us, and it makes ava's skin even more tan and sunkissed than it already is.

the two of us dig into our meals, and ava is "generous enough" to share her cinnabon's with me.

"so tell me," ava said while taking a bite of her crunch wrap. "anything happen at work?" i groan.

"restocked shelves all day," i reply.

"manager had you working overtime?"

i scoff. how could i forget?

"no, actually. i worked unpaid overtime. there was a guy that needed my help."

ava's eyes grow wide.

"a guy? was he cute? how old was he? what's his name? did you get his number?"

"one at a time! please!"

"okay okay." she sets down her food and takes a sip of her drink. "what was his name?"

"karl."

"last name?"

"i didn't ask for his last name, weirdo. that's typically not something you just ask a customer the day you meet them."

"it's not?"

"ava."

"okay okay. what else do you know about him?"

"he bought 1,000 pounds of skittles." i laugh while thinking back to the two of us lifting those boxes. i know my arms are going to be sore tomorrow.

"1,000?!" ava asks, choking on her cinnamon twists.

"mhm."

"what..? why?"

"it was for someone named jimmy." i pause and take a sip of my drink. "it was so weird, we spent like 20 minutes getting all the candy together, then a whole ass TRUCK appeared and took all the candy. and the truck driver said something about a guy named jimmy. it felt like a fever dream."

"jimmy..." ava chews on her straw. "strange."

"you could say that again." i gaze out the window.