Drowned in Golden

02| WALMART SUCKS

WALMART SUCKS

I need three things in life: Red Bulls, Champagne, and to piss. In that exact order if I'm being honest with myself. So, when I see the fluorescent Walmart sign glistening on the blue building, I nearly crash through traffic to get into the parking lot.

I'm aware that I'm not in familiar territory when the Walmart in front of me has a Cadillac sitting on the edge of the parking lot with a gang sign that I don't recognize embedded into the side of it. Scratch that — I do recognize the gang sign but surely if anyone were to see me they wouldn't recognize me, right? I usually stick to my own and don't bother anyone when traveling the country but I didn't care that I was in someone else's territory. I needed a Red Bull and nothing was gonna get in my way of caffeine.

I tongue the toothpick in my mouth before biting down on the wood. The automatic doors open smoothly and  one of America's biggest corporations greets me with fluorescent lighting and the smell of dirt and flowers. I glance at the long display of flowers that are about to go dead.

It was mother's day a few days back, so of course the flowers would be on the edge of death. I smirk at the display — it was pitiful. And then my own mother comes to mind and I try not to pull out my gun that's secured to my hip and shoot every flower to death. My mother was a touchy subject for me and to think of her was even worse.

The headache that I had pulsed and I realized my mission. I needed caffeine before I dropped. The freezers are all empty of red bulls and I do my best not to scream at the cashier when she points me to the back of the store. How does a Walmart run out of Redbull? That's literally insane to me. It's the south , all the teeny boppers do is drink red bulls, sweet tea, Big Red, Mountain Dew, and watered down sugared coffee.

Stealing some man's shopping cart while his back is turned I zoom to the back of the store where all the drinks are. My phone buzzes loudly against my thigh and the vibrations send a wave of tickles along my legs. I yank it out of my pocket before answering, "It's me."

"Brooklyn is that how you greet everyone?" My sister questions with a chuckle.

"Baby sis, what's happening?"

Bea sighs, "Just checking in on you, you haven't called in a while."

"It's been maybe a day." I reply with a roll my eyes.

Bea was the mother of the two of us even if she was younger. I protected her and I got us by when needed but Bea got us more than just by. She figured out how to access our parents bank accounts — she was how we got into a prestigious boarding school. Well, that and we applied for about a million scholarships. No one knew of our struggle not even the mafia we grew up in. Our parents were nobodies in the mafia, just a bunch of movers who let alcohol and drugs get the best of them. Even after they cleaned themselves up, the image of our parents were ruined and instead of taking care of their children, they abandoned us. We had been left to fend for ourselves. It was a good thing that the Yates' Siblings were fighters.

"Are you finally going to tell me where you are?"

"I'm at Walmart." I reply cheerily and I can tell her disdain from the humph noise.

"The state or city, Brooklyn, for fucks sake."

"Nope, Bea, I'm not going to tell you because you're so rude."

"And you're a child!" She huffs and I can hear the frustration in her voice. "I'm trying to look after you and you won't even tell me where you are."

"I don't need you looking after me, I'm a grown adult."

"Debatable." She grits out and I smirk.

Bea didn't understand that her purpose in life wasn't to take care of me. For once in her life, she needed to focus on herself. It wasn't fair that she was so concerned in my life. She needed to get her own and I said that with love.