Recalculating

Chapter 2

Gina turned off the ignition. She rolled her neck and rubbed her hand over her face.

She was in the parking lot of a Best Buys electronics store. She got out of the car and then reached back in for her leather jacket. Her Dad had found it for her at the Salvation Army. "They wanted six bucks but I got it for free when I bought an AC unit."

She pulled it on, then put her hair up in a ponytail, a motion she had practiced in sixth grade until she could do it nearly as naturally as a girl with two normal hands.

Why she had had to drive to Langhorn, Pennsylvania to go to this particular Best Buys was a mystery. They had one in Paramus. Her Dad had some reason, she'd find out soon enough.

Gina checked her reflection in the window of her car. She looked... tired. And worn out. She looked sad, that was the truth, and she was sad. So what was the point in putting on blush to try to lie about it?

Gina grabbed her purse and locked the door.

The lights of the store were bright. The gift, she had decided, would probably be at the customer service desk, if they had one.

She asked an employee in a blue shirt. He was a squat, stocky kid with an eyebrow piercing and sleeve tattoos showing at the wrist.

"Is there like an um, customer desk or something?" gina asked.

The kid snorted. "I don't know. Is there?" He walked away, shooting her an obnoxious smile over his shoulder.

What a dick, she thought. It was such a weird thing to do.

She looked around. There were few customers wandering between the glass cases. She spotted another employee, this one a black woman. Her uniform was tight, bottom and top.

Gina approached her. "Mercy!" the woman said seeing her. She had on a nametag that read: Tamika, and had a plastic aqua-colored gem glue gunned to it. "What the hell is wrong with you, girl?"

This was so rude, Gina didn't know what to think.

"I... I... think my Dad might have left something for me," she stammered.

"Are you okay, hun?" the woman asked. "Do you need to sit down?"

Gina backed away from her. The woman was looking at her so strangely. Tears started coming up again in Gina's eyes. She should have stopped and eaten something on the road. She felt shaky. She shouldn't have come at all.

"Davis," Tamika called. "You better come over here."

Then a handsome, truly handsome, guy came up beside her. He was also in uniform, and the uniform was meant to fit him. She saw he was: "Davis, manager," from his tag.

"Mercy," he said. He put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't leave. Come on, babe."

She turned to look at him and she saw incomprehension float over his face like a veil. His hand slid over her shoulder, down her arm. She pulled away, but his hand skimmed over her withered fist inside her jacket.

He stepped back, stumbling away, his knees buckling. he tried to right himself, but fell onto the floor. His mouth was open, staring at her like she was out of a horror film.

"What the hell, Davis?" came a voice behind her.

Gina turned.

A girl exactly her height was standing there. A girl with her same hair. With her same face. A girl who looked exactly like her and wore a blue and khaki uniform and a name tag that said, "Mercy."