Morose

Chapter Six

During the school year, I'm a public school librarian. During the summer, I'm a camp counselor. Mara helped me get this job a few years back and it's how I met Carmen, Reina, and Savaii. Aside from the five of us, the other employees are usually college kids home for summer break and they hardly ever come back the next summer. The job isn't easy; these camp kids are energetic and sassy.

Before summer camp begins, we spend two days cleaning the building. We scrub the walls, baseboards, and floor. We clean out junk from the school year and organize paperwork; we prepare the coolers for lunches and bins for snacks and the shelves for bags.

The building is a small, tin rectangle surrounded by hills of grass. There's two pavilions with picnic tables that homeless people spend their evenings under, a small playground, and a kickball field. It's definitely not a fancy summer camp by any means but our kids only spend one day a week stuck in here. The other four days are field trips, and as a camp counselor, I get to enjoy these trips for free.

My knees are aching as I lean my weight onto them and arch my back, stretching out my muscles as I push off from the wall I was scrubbing. I raise my arms above my head and check the time on the clock hanging on the opposite wall.

Carmen sits behind the desk, organizing paperwork, her light brown hair pulled into a tight bun. Music is blasting from the radio that sits on the counter where parents usually sign their kids in and out. There's also a nearly empty box of donuts, fried chicken, and a stack of paper plates. My stomach grumbles, reminding me that my lunch was only a donut.

I lean on the counter and roll my neck around. Then I say, "It's four. I'm about to head out."

Reina looks up from the crevice of baseboard she had been repainting and says, "What're you doing later?"

"Don't leave us, Lena!" Carmen whines, adjusting another stack of papers from behind the counter.

"I think it's two for one drinks at Chuck's tonight," Mara says. She pulls out her ponytail to re-do her hair into a big, messy bun.

"I'm down for that. When do y'all get off?" I pulled out my phone to see if Wyatt had texted me. He hadn't.

"Mara and I are off at 6." Reina tells me.

"I'm off at 5 but I can't go out tonight," Carmen says, then with a small smile she adds, "I have plans."

I walk around to Carmen's side of the desk to clock out and say, "Really?"

"She's got a dick appointment," Reina laughs.

I look at Carmen and she's grinning. I chuckle.

On my way home, I stop at the gas station to grab a bottle of wine. I'm not sure whether I'll feel like going out with them tonight, but I'd rather not be home alone and sober.

There's a girl at the counter instead of the usual guy that rings me up. I guess Travis isn't working tonight.

I place the bottles on the counter and she looks up to ask me, "Will that be all?"

I thought she was pretty cute from afar but up close, she looks a bit young. I glance at her name tag: Maddie.

"That's all." My voice comes out higher pitched than usual.

As she turns to scan my wine bottle, she takes a peak at the security cameras. Then turns back to me, rolling her eyes and sighing.

"Everything alright?" I ask, hesitantly.

"Um... yeah." She looks at the cameras again, then at the price on the screen. "That'll be $9.97."

As I take out my card, I try to peak at the security cameras too. It's hard to make anything out. There's a silhouette on the far corner of the screen who seems to be smoking a cigarette with one hand and holding a phone to their ear with the other.