Dead Apples

6- Jail Visits

My job is kind of awful but it keeps my mind off of everything going on around me. And with all of the bad things going on around me, I sure don't mind having to work as much as I used to.

I work at a gas station just outside of town that's about a fifteen-minute walk from my house. I like working there because nobody from the town really goes out to this one because there's a better station closer to the heart of town. This one is mostly for travelers passing by on the highway who need gas and see the sign.

I meet a lot of colorful people out here but it does get boring because not many people are traveling through the heart of Iowa. I mostly just sit at the counter and sketch when I'm the only one working, like I am today.

When I was a teenager, younger than eighteen, I wasn't allowed to work by myself because I couldn't sell alcohol or cigarettes but now that I'm an adult, I can work alone which my boss really appreciates so he schedules me by myself a lot. I don't mind it. I think that I like working alone even more.

Today, I'm just itching to get out of the place though because after work, Sage is picking me up in her car and we're going to drive into town to the county lockup where Robby is staying. Tomorrow, he's officially moving to the jail that's about half an hour away while he waits for his trial.

I've been reading up on it though, and sometimes the courts get so backed up that trials take years to happen. I don't know how busy our courthouse gets but I don't think that Robby will have to wait years for a trial. Unless he pleads guilty then I guess he wouldn't have to go to trial at all. But the minimum sentence for armed robbery is five years, so I don't want him to plead guilty. Even though he is guilty.

As I'm leaning against the front counter that I've already cleaned earlier, I continue sketching the sketch that I had started about a week ago when I had first met Dex. At first, I was only using the glancing memory I had of him when I met him in the basement but since we spent a considerable amount of time together at the carnival, I think that I have a better idea of what he looks like. He's still so gorgeous to me and so terrifying at the same time.

And it's not only me that he's captivated, it's so obvious that all of his friends admire him just like Sage said. They all want to impress him, be like him, want to be his very favorite friend. They're like his little puppies. And Amber is clearly so in love with him too. Everybody just loves him. I don't even think that anybody knows why they love him so much, there's just something about him. I felt it the second he walked into the room and I think that everybody feels it too.

It's just an overwhelming rush of 'whoa' the first time that you see him and then an indescribable desire to get to know who he is. I think that he hides the real him very easily and maybe that's why everybody wants to know him, because he's such a mystery.

What does the anchor tattoo mean on his neck? What does that side-smile mean? What's hiding behind those wildly blue eyes?

I want to know it all. I want to know everything about him. I want to sit down in the grass and listen to him tell me his entire life story and I have no idea why. I want to know why he was hiding in the park with a girl who isn't his girlfriend, who is a really nice girl. I want to know who he is when nobody's looking.

Somebody walks into the store and I hide the sketch before smiling at the customer. I don't say anything to the man until he's grabbed a bag of jerky and he approaches the counter to pay for the jerky and a tank of gas so I ring him out and tell him to 'have a great day!' in my best customer service voice.

And soon after that, my shift is over so I close my sketch book and put it back in my bag so that Sage doesn't see it when she comes to pick me up. I don't even know how she'd react if she saw that I was drawing Dex. I know how creepy it is and I know that she'll know how creepy it is too and I think that she'll judge me a lot. As she should because it's a very creepy thing to be doing but I can't help it. I want to remember what he looks like because I highly doubt that I'll get to look at him a lot.