Heaven

chapter 2: blue light special

The click of the intercom echoed through the store, "Attention, K-Mart shoppers! There's a blue light special happening now. Head for the flashing blue light!"

Travis Cullen reached for a calendar full of sunsets and inspirational quotes. His mother's words echoed, "Get a simple one with prayers for the new priest. Father Hill is going to be here tomorrow and the house must look welcoming." Inspirational quotes were as close to prayers as he could find at the local K-Mart and Travis especially liked the Frank Sinatra one: Take a deep breath, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again. But as a gaggle of giggling girls rushed past and bumped him, his hand slipped and he grabbed the wrong calendar – one with a basket full of kittens on the cover.

"Sorry, mister but we gotta rush," called a teen with neon green hair and a lightning-bolt painted on her cheek as she paused to make sure he was alright. "Once they're gone, they're gone." Flipping the collar of her jean jacket up, she turned and chased after her friends.

Travis cowered as more teenaged girls ran past the stationary section towards the shoe department where a blue light flashed like a police siren above a pile of LA Gear runners in an array of pastel hues.

"I..it's oook," he uttered as the girls greedily grabbed shoes to try on. Pulling the calendar close to his chest, he willed himself to unscrunch his shoulders that had met his ears. "The calendars are o...on sale, too." Tapping his finger against the paper, Travis spoke to no one in particular. "Ninety-nine cents. I'm going to buy th-this one."

There was a slight limp in Travis' step and his Velcro shoes gave off a little squeak as he slowly made his way to another part of the shop where miscellanea trinkets went to die in a dime bin.

Here, he could no longer see the blue light nor could he hear anything but the low hum of a song playing overhead. The song was relaxing and the melody was soft but Travis couldn't remember the singer. Once he was a huge fan of it all – pop, rock, classical, and even vintage bluegrass. If it was good, he'd have the tape. He knew the lyrics to every one of them because he'd sung them all a million times. He knew the history of the bands, too. But that was before he got the living day-lights bashed out of him and ended up with a fractured skull and scrambled eggs for brains.

 "Th-the accident. That's some...something we don't talk about. Ever," he whispered as he riffled through the sale bin. "We don't ta-aalk about why I..I'm like this because it's sinful to do so. Mother said. Mother knows best she s-says but.." A pause as Travis sighed. "Sh-she's a God-fearin' woooman. Jesus loves her be-because she's p...pure." Picking up a handful of plastic Jesuses, Travis said, "People wh-who ain't pure feel the w..w...wrath of the Almighty. I ain't pure. Cookie ain't pure." Then he lowered his voice into the barest of whispers and looked at the Jesuses, "I don't care. I s-still love him. Love can never be bad, c-can it?"

Travis picked out three of the Jesuses. "For the n-new preacher coming to town. He pointed to one. "For me." He pointed to the second. "F...f...f...foooor...Cook." When he pointed to the third one he smiled. "Maybe one day I'll g-give it to him. When I..I'm brave again." Nodding, he clutched the three Jesuses and headed to the nearest till to pay for his purchases.

The cashier was a couple of years older than the girls Travis had seen rushing for the blue light special. Trav knew the cashier's name was August because she was born on the first day of that month. He knew she preferred being called Auggie and that she worked at K-Mart every day after school to save up and buy herself a Mustang. Though he was proud of himself for recalling those details, he wished he could still remember songs, too...and stuff like how to tie his shoes so he wouldn't have to wear runners with Velcro like a three-year-old or a grandpa. At least he remembered how to still drive even though he no longer knew how to skateboard. "God is..is merciful."

Auggie set down her copy of Teen Beat magazine and gave Travis a warm smile when he set his items down. "Hey, Trav. How's it hangin'?"

"Hi, Au-Auggie."

"You look nice today." Auggie gestured to his checkered shirt.

"Th-thanks."

Then she pointed to his brown hair and clean-shaven jaw." I remember when that used to be the other way around."

With a quiver on his bottom lip, Trav nodded as he patted his head. "O-only took six months to gr-grow back. But there's a...a paaart here that looooks funny." He ran his finger over a slightly raised area. It was the part that surgeons stapled back together after his skull had nearly split.

"Well, you have always been handsome." August gave him another smile yet her gaze lingered on the raised bit on his head. "Find everything you need today?"

"Yah-um." Travis momentarily placed his palm flat on his items. "A cal-lendar and uh..." as Auggie rang up the items, Travis' train of thought came to a halt. "Uh..."

August looked up at him as she blindly bagged his purchases, pausing to hold up the last plastic Savior. "I see you found Jesus."

"Oh, yah-um." Travis looked down at his feet and noticed one of the Velcro straps had come undone. "He was ooon sale."

"Yah, they dumped a bunch of stuff they want to get rid of in the dime bin last month. I like suggested they donate it to the Red Cross but Glen said no one would be interested in a bag full of dandelion stickers and ol' Jesuses. I don't know how the Jesuses ended up here anyway. Like, we don't sell stuff like that. I'm going to assume Glen was drunk again when he placed the order." Auggie gently set the last item in the bag and then chuckled when she looked at her till. "Jesus has saved."

Lifting his gaze to Auggie, Travis pulled out a five-dollar bill and touched it to the counter. "Huh?"

August pointed to the one dollar and twenty-nine cents total and chuckled again, "Jesus has saved because he shops at K-Mart."

"Oooh," Travis' lips curled in what could have been a smile. Yet it was lopsided. "No-no one caaan resist a bargain."

"For sure." After handing Travis his change and bag, Auggie reached for her magazine and flipped it open. "If I had one wish, it would be to meet him." She pointed an orange-painted nail to a teenager with just-out-of-bed hair. The young man was smiling impishly.

Travis shook his head. "I...I dooon't know who-who that is but I hooope you get to meet him one day."

August sighed. "He's an actor. Corey Ian Haim. Knowing my dumb luck he'll probably end up dead and I'll never get the chance. I'm cursed you know. I think that's like something you have to be to live in this bogus town. Cursed." Shrugging, Auggie bid Travis a good day as another customer came up to her till.

Walking out of K-Mart, August's words rung in Travis' ear. He knew they were true. Everyone in Heaven was cursed.

* Fun Fact: The reason August is reading Teen Beat is that I used to read it. I was also a huge fan of Corey Haim (along with a million others).