Shoshone Station: The Galactic Consortium season 2

Episode #7: Homecoming #5

The next day, Kleppie took his mom shopping. It took a couple of promptings to get her to let him drive them in his rental car instead of the beat-up station wagon that she and Dad owned. "Nice," she said as she climbed in the passenger seat.

"Just a rental," Kleppie said. "Now, the Target out on Euclid? I want to grab some stuff for the house."

"You don't have to," she protested.

"I want to," Kleppie countered. It was the least he could do. Dad taken early retirement a couple years back. It was a smart move, since the company had gone under only a year later, but it was still a lot less money than a full-time job would bring in. They'd both talked about getting jobs at least part-time, but neither had. "Consider it a late Christmas present," he said, thinking about how hard it must be to budget on a fixed income, and smaller to boot.

Mom pursed her lips and then said, "Fine. But Target's gone out of business."

Kleppie started up the car and pulled out of the driveway. "Walmart then?" He started down the street. In this neighborhood, every third house, at least, had a For Sale sign, and the houses that weren't for sale were looking shabby.

"Walmart's fine," she said. "But it's not on 42nd anymore. Out by the highway, across from where the tire plant used to be."

"Used to be? The town has changed a lot since I left."

Mom nodded but didn't answer. He drove down to 42nd then turned out toward the highway. "Should we hit the grocery store after?" he asked as he remembered it was just up ahead. When they drove past, he was astonished. The parking lot of the grocery store was empty, weeds growing up in the cracks. The sign had been taken down, and the front windows were boarded up. "The grocery store too?"

"They opened one of those price saver chains on the edge of town," Mom said.

Kleppie just shook his head as he watched his old town go by. The burger joint had been replaced by a Mexican franchise. It was one of the few new businesses he saw. The hardware store, the comic-book shop where he'd spent many hours as a kid, and the clothing outlet next to it were all empty.

His old high school looked pretty much the same. The chain-link fence on the edge of the yard sagged a little bit more, and it could use a new coat of paint. But then again, even in his day, it could have used a new coat of paint.

"There's a game tomorrow," Mom said as they passed. "If you're interested."

He wasn't, but he said, "Yeah, sure," anyway. He had never been a "school spirit" kind of guy when he was a student, nor was he athletic. But local sports were huge in a community like this, and both Mom and Dad would be thrilled to go. Plus, he might see some people he'd known back in the old days.

The tire plant on his left was indeed abandoned and empty, windows broken out. To his right the Walmart was new and in good repair, an oasis of commerce in an otherwise dying town. The parking lot was crowded. He pulled up to the front and came to a stop to let Mom out. He parked in the far corner, not wanting to get his rental car hit.

It was cool but not really cold this time of year in Texas. Kleppie thought momentarily of grabbing one of the jackets out of the trunk of the car, but instead opted to simply run for the entrance to the store.

Mom had already retrieved a cart and was waiting, talking to the greeter. "You remember our son Karl Junior," she said to the man when Kleppie approached. "He's in the Navy. Karl, you remember Mr. Roberts."

Kleppie didn't. Not that it mattered.

"You were on the USS Cambridge," Mr. Roberts said, offering his hand. "An honor to meet you, sir."

"Thank you," Kleppie gushed, taking the man's hand. They talked for a little while, and Mr. Roberts, whoever he was, was suitably impressed with both Kleppie's service and his future plans.

They wandered the aisles for a long time, picking up a few things here and there, neither in a hurry to finish their shopping and get home. Dad wouldn't miss them. He would already be in in his easy chair with his third beer of the day, surfing through TV channels—a couple of minutes of that show, a few minutes of that ballgame, and then on to yet another show.

At the checkout counter, the woman greeted Kleppie by name, and not as Karl either. "Hey, Kleppie, you back in town?"

"Yeah," he said slowly, trying to place the woman. She had shoulder-length dark hair and a pretty face.

"Mindy," she provided. "Mindy Horner, but it was Sparks back in high school."

Mindy Sparks. He remembered her now. She'd been one of the cheerleaders and had lost homecoming queen to Holly Ford by a couple of votes. "Mindy, yeah." He looked her over with new eyes. She was still very pretty, though there was a roughness to her now, a sense that life had turned out harder than expected. "Back in town for a visit. Horner?"

"Married James Horner. For a couple years. In town long?"

"Just a week."

"There's a game tomorrow, at the school."

Kleppie look back at his mom. "That's what Mom said. She and dad always go. I'll probably tag a long."

She'd finished scanning their stuff. Kleppie put his slate up on the small counter in front of the register. She definitely seemed impressed. "Whoa, you got one of those things?"

Kleppie nodded. "Got the credit-exchange update too." He opened the app which created a holographic credit card of sorts. He swiped it across the register and then held his hand up as the Consortium bank activated. It took only a couple of seconds to approve the transaction and exchange the currency.

"Maybe I'll see you at the game?" Mindy said as they loaded the bags into their cart and made ready to leave.

Kleppie shrugged. He didn't want to appear eager, especially since he had a girlfriend already. But it felt nice to have her attention, especially since, back in high school, she would've been way out of his league. "Yeah, maybe."