In the Belly of the Beast

7

The sheets were in the washer on the heavy-duty cycle when Ruby left for the store. She had been right. Today was a much better day. Sunny and not nearly as windy.

She had another purse and her grocery list and the small buggy she pushed on grocery days. The market was a short walk from her house. 

Not a market at all really, but a small grocer who, like so many here, clung on, barely surviving, stubbornly refusing to surrender to whatever demanded his demise.

She filled her buggy quickly. No one was at the register when she decided she had everything she needed. 

Grocery days were the only times she felt flush with cash. They were scary days for her, especially after yesterday. She paid for the groceries and started home.

She had not gone very far when she heard voices behind her.

"Well, what we got here?" the young voice asked.

She turned and saw two figures. They were the same ones from yesterday. She was certain.

"Must be kaaar-maaah. What you think?" the taller one asked.

"Think she's got more mail 'n two bucks?"

"Don't know. Let's see."

They started towards her, pressing close. She felt her face grow flush and her heart rate quicken.

"Get the mojo bag," the taller one said.

The other youth reached for her handbag. It was just as battered as the one they'd stolen yesterday.

"You got yo'self some kinda supply of these, Mama?" he asked as he reached for the purse.

The instant he touched it, electrical currents coursed through his body. 

He twitched and jerked in a series of high-voltage spasms. The black bag glowed blue, and sparks flew from the purse to his hands. He fell as dead to the ground.

"What the. . ."

The taller youth backed up a step.

Ruby saw her chance. She felt nothing in the exchange. She pushed the buggy forward. The taller youth let her pass unmolested. She continued home.

Unlocking the door, she wrestled the buggy full of groceries into the house.

"You're back," the man said.

Ruby swore neither he nor the cat had moved the whole time she'd been gone.

"Yes," she replied.

"Any trouble?" he asked, rising to help her with her packages.

"Little, but it turned out O.K." she said.

"Good. Did you talk to anyone?"

"I didn't speak to nobody," she said. "I swear."

She began unloading the groceries.

"Geoffrey behave while I was gone?" she asked.

"Haven't heard a peep out of him," he answered.