Akumal

Convenient Situations

Present

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So much can happen in a week.  Even in just a day.

Well, over this past week, I:

-Remodeled my room (it is no longer pink)

-Received my turtle necklace back from my mom, who got it fixed

-And, finally, I went to the beach here in RI.  Not bad either.

So while I haven’t made any emotional progress whatsoever, I have considered taking a walk around the neighborhood to maybe meet a new friend.  Ok, so it wasn’t my idea.  And when I say I’m considering, I really mean that it probably won’t happen.  And just because my necklace is fixed doesn’t mean I want to wear it again.  As of now, it’s sitting on my desk, next to my jar of acrylic paint tubes.  Speaking of which, I need some new brushes.  

I closed my diary that I’m too old for and got up from my blue and green quilted bedspread.  Closing my door behind me (I’m OCD like that), I lumbered into the kitchen and leaned over whatever my mom was reading so she would see me and look up.  She did.  “Can I help you, miss?”

“Could I get some new paintbrushes?”  I bit my lower lip.

“Sure.”  She turned back to her papers.  Ok, not what I was looking for.

“Could I maybe have some money?”  I crossed my fingers behind my back this time.  

She looked back up at me, staring me down from behind her glasses.  She gave me that you-need-to-start-buying-things-with-your-own-money look.  

Just then, my grandma barged into the room.  Of course, she had overheard everything.

“You know, if you’re looking for money, there’s a nice little convenience store within walking distance that you could apply at!  That’s where I got my first job, you know,” she said, getting all excited.  “Then you could earn some money and look for new friends!  Bonus!”  She did a strange little dance where she twirled her fists in the air and spun around.  Mom and I both looked at her questioningly.  

“Yeah, ok....” I said, slowly backing away.  But my mom turned her attention back to me before I could escape.

“That sounds like a great idea!  I can give you a ride right now!”  I would have said something to stop her, but she was already putting on her shoes and grabbing her keys.  I no longer had a choice in the matter.  Man, you ask for some paintbrushes and instead you get a ride to your potential new job.  Awesome.  

And that, my friend, is how I met Arizona.

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I was hired almost immediately.  No interview.  Sure was convenient for my mom, since right away they began teaching me like everything there was to know.  Stock the cups for coffee every morning, take this shift on Day B, don’t take any of the food for yourself or you’ll be fired...

I pretty much forget everything else that the assistant manager was telling me after that, but it wasn’t like it mattered.  I wouldn’t be cleaning or anything, just working the register at station number 2.  Then I would have to count the money at the end of the day and stuff like that.  But I already knew how to do that anyway.

You see, my mom is/was an artist and owns an art studio where she sells her paintings, sculptures from her friends, glass jewelry she buys really cheap, stuff like that.  I learned how to work her register on days when she was sick or had to do something else.  I was never allowed to take anything from her store, like paints (or I would have to pay her back almost immediately).  It wasn’t really hard to do it, because she never really had any customers.  No wonder we never had any money.

**********************************************************

I was sitting behind the cash register about two days later, checking out the store for real and learning the names of my fellow workers.  They were mostly all my age, except for the manager, some 19 year old guy named Dave, and the assistant manager.  So far I knew the names of the workers who had my shift on this fine Monday.  One was Roberto, a hispanic kid who was pretty much the janitor all the time and who never spoke a word.  Then there was Hazel, who had said hey to me and complimented my hair, Cora, who fake-smiled at me when I walked in, and....

Arizona.  He was cute, I’ll admit it.  Ok, super cute.  It almost hurt to think that after what had just happened between me and Akoni.  But how could someone who didn’t surf and who worked in a convenience store be this cute?  

The store was deserted, except for one old man who was taking forever to decide which snack to get.  I leaned on my counter.  This was boring, but I was getting paid whether or not there were any customers.  Cora, who was at register 1 and also happened to be the assistant manager and like two years older than me, walked out from behind her counter and into the back room.  Hazel, who had just finished filling the slurpee machines, walked over to me and pulled herself up to sit on my counter, which surprised me.  She looked down at me and held out her hand, as if she wanted to shake mine.  “I’m Hazel.  Oh wait, you know that.  You’re Kai, right?  I think so.  Yeah, it is.  So what do you think of it here?”  She asked and answered herself, all without taking a breath.  She was probably as friendly as it gets.  

“Uh, it’s pretty good I guess,”  I responded softly.  Hazel hoped of the counter again and pretended to check something behind Cora’s counter as I helped the old man check out his bag of Lay’s.  I placed it inside a gray plastic bag, handed him his receipt, and said “Have a nice day” in my sweetest voice possible, plastering a smile on my face.  The soon as he left, Hazel jumped back on my counter.  

“Yeah, sometimes it’s pretty deserted and there really isn’t a need for five people to work at the same time and they send Roberto home.  Then I have to clean up the messes because they kicked me off the register when you came.”

“Oh, I’m sorry...”

“Don’t be!  I sucked at using the register!  Cora always yells at me, but she can’t fire me.  My dad owns the place.  Not even the manager has a say.  To be quite honest, I think he’s afraid of my dad.  Instead they give me whatever’s left.”  She giggled.  God, this girl could talk.

“Your dad owns this place?”  I asked, not quite believing it.

She nodded.  “And you’re much better at the register than I am, anyways.”

Now I smiled.  “Wow, that’s probably the shortest sentence you’ve said yet,” I commented, and we both started laughing.  And that’s when Cora happened to come out of the back room.

“Hazel, get off the counter,” she said in a bossy tone without even looking at her.  Instead, she went directly to wear Arizona was placing bags and candy bars on the shelves.  The soon as they started talking, she began giggling and smiling.  For whatever reason, I felt a small pang of jealousy.  

Hazel hopped off the counter and leaned over the opposite side of the counter.  “I hate her,” she whispered.  “Assistant manager, boss of everybody, dating the cute guy...”

“Wait, who’s she dating?” Please don’t be Arizona, please. I want a chance to at least meet the guy before I find out he has a girlfriend.

“Arizona.”

Shit.