The five thousand dollars that Ticket gave Cleo was gone as soon as she got it. When she dropped JJ off at school the following morning, she drove straight to Target, passing the Dollar Tree that she almost instinctively stopped at.
A feeling she hadn't experienced since her foster parents were alive overcame her body when she walked into the red store, the smiling employees and aroma from the fresh coffee slightly overwhelming her. She wandered through all the aisles, touching everything that caught her eye, but placing it back on the shelves when she saw its price.
She found her way to the men's section and began hesitantly loading her cart with properly fitting white tees, black tees, underwear, and socks for JJ, also throwing in a new pair of headphones she knew he desperately needed.
Cleo was subconsciously tallying the total in her head as she added items into the cart due to her scarcity mindset. She had never had more than $100 to use at her disposal at one time, let alone five thousand, but she knew what she was doing would bring a smile to her brother's face.
She went down the school supply aisle, making sure to add an array of blue and black spiral notebooks, binders, colored pencils and mechanical pencils, which JJ told her were better than those 'boring lead pencils'. She turned her cart to the next aisle where the bookbags were, her eyes widening at the sight of the $30 price tag of a single Jansport bag. She quickly put it back, opting for the $15 all-black one right next to it.
It was at this point that she checked the time, 8:15 am, and knew she had to make her way to Twon's in order to complete all the opening tasks before 9:00 am.
She pushed her cart to the first open check-out lane, handing the cashier 3 one-hundred-dollar bills and getting $2.36 back in change.
The amount she had remaining was already allocated for her past-due bills. She stopped at the ATM to deposit the rest into her account before making it to Twon's. She sat in her car in the back parking lot and paid the four missed payments for her car note, her water and light bill, and the next two months of JJ's tuition, leaving her with just enough until her next check.
Cleo entered through the back and flicked on the lights to the empty store. She only had 30 minutes to do an hour worth of tasks but was relieved that she was at least alone, her new counterparts nowhere to be found.
But when 9 o-clock came, so did they. The four of them, Nayeli, Ticket, Vette, and Chief, barraged through the front door in a fit of laughter. Vette and Chief were carrying two big boxes, quickly greeting Cleo before they disappeared into the back.
"I got a surprise for you on Friday!" Nayeli sang as she joined Cleo behind the counter.
"A surprise?" she asked, simultaneously counting out her current customer's change.
"Yup. But I can't say it in front of Ticket cause he's a big hater."
"I'm finna go, actually," he said, "I need the keys you made, though."
"Oh, I didn't go yet," Cleo said innocently.
Ticket and Nayeli fixed their eyes on her, making her feel nervous.
"The place doesn't open until 11, it's only 9," she laughed awkwardly.
"Right...Tell them I'm waiting in the car," he said before starting toward the door.
"Wait," Cleo stopped him, "Could y'all start parking in the back so my customers can have the street parking?"
"Fa sho," he muttered before pushing through the door and exiting.
"So, your surprise," Nayeli turned to her. "We gotta do something about all this," she said, gesturing her hands around Cleo's body.
"What does that mean?"
