Love and Hamburgers [Rick and Liz Saga, Season 1]

[S01E06] "Oasis, USA"

About an hour later, they were at a gas station. Rick was sticking his head underneath the car to see if there was anything broken or leaking.

"Looks like just some scratches to the body. Nothing major," he said.

"I'm going to see if they sell phone chargers here," said Liz.

It was a full-service truck stop. Ah, Civilization, thought Liz. They had a large spinning rack with all sorts of cords and plugs. She grabbed a charger that was the right size for her phone and brought it up to the counter, but not before grabbing a tall can of Old English out of the fridge.

"That will be twenty-three dollars and forty-three cents," said the man behind the counter.

"Wow. That's a lot. Do you have anything cheaper?" Liz asked.

"They don't come any cheaper than the Old English," said the store clerk.

"What? No," said Liz, "I meant the phone charger."

"Everything we have is on that rack and it costs about the same price."

"Alright then," said Liz. She pulled out her debit card and handed it to the man. He ran it though the machine and the machine gave it a negative beep. He ran it again. Again, the machine gave an unsatisfied beep.

"Sorry," he said, "but this card doesn't seem to be working. Do you have another?"

"Can you try it again?" Liz Asked.

"I'm sorry, but it's saying declined. Do you have cash?"

"No. I don't." Dammit, Liz thought. "Okay, just the phone charger then," said Liz.

Even at just over eighteen dollars, the card was still declined.

"Just the beer then," said Liz. At least she could have that she thought until the card was declined again.

"What the hell!" Liz shouted.

"Miss," said the clerk, "I would ask you to watch your language in the store."

Liz put her hand over her mouth.

"Okay," she said, "I'll just put these back then."

As she reached out for the beer and phone charger the clerk snatched them away.

"Don't worry, miss," said the clerk, "I can put these back for you."

He handed her back the card. As she put it in her purse, she found the five-dollar bill Rick had given her at the bar last night. Thank God for small favors, Liz thought. She put the bill down on the counter.

"Actually, I will buy that beer," said Liz. The clerk eyed her suspiciously.

"I thought you said that you didn't have any cash," pointed out the clerk.

"Well, I didn't think I did," said Liz, "but apparently I was wrong. Now can I have my beer please?"

The clerk put the beer in a brown bag and made change.

When she turned around she noticed an impatient line had formed behind her. A sharp dressed man wearing a brown trench coat that had mud splattered on the side bellowed a cough in her direction. She knew it was meant for her by the way the man glared at her. They were all glaring at her.

"I'm sorry," she said as she walked away.

"Damn crackheads," she heard one of the truckers say as soon as she turned her back.

"I know how you can make a quick twenty dollars," said another as they all started to laugh. Liz felt hot blood surging up her neck and into her brain. Her mind flashed with an image of Rick giving her a twenty-dollar bill.