I Like Your New Tights

Call Me Spiderman

Five more minutes until the end of my shift... then I can go home and sleep.

These thoughts ran through my head as I stared at the little clock on the green, back wall of the flower shop I worked at. The owner of the shop came from the stairs that led to the roof and looked at me with a sad, sympathetic smile on her face. "Adinah, are you alright dear?"

She asked me this while she went over and flipped the open sign on the glass door to "closed". I shook my head and laughed a little, hoping to get the fog out of my head. "I'm fine, Ms. Rebekah. Just very, very tired."

She nodded. Her pants, I noticed, had water stains on them. She probably got done watering the plants, which was my job. Which I forgot to do, again.

"I'm so sorry I forgot to water the plants. I would say it wouldn't happen again, but that would make me a liar for the second time." I looked at my hands on the counter, the nail polish chipping off after only a day. I closed my eyes in shame, wishing I could just get my act together. I was trying but it wasn't working out.

"That's okay. I had a feeling something was up. How about you go on home for the night. I'll close up. You have school in the morning." I gave a smile and bowed slightly, expressing my thanks. She was always so generous. If my boss was anyone else, I probably would be let go by now. Ms. Rebekah wasn't like that though. She was an old friend of my mom's, and her daughter Laura, also my best friend, suggested I take up work here. Now I get a little money to my name and I get an excuse to be out of the house.

"Thank you so much," I begin, grabbing my small denim backpack from a shelf behind the counter, and my school books beside it. "I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, I practically lurched out of the store, my bag weighing almost a ton and my books weighing even more. The walk home was not a long one, but it was already pitch dark outside. The early fall new moon didn't help much, but who needed it when you had neon signs of every color, blazing your eyes to a crisp?

My street shoes scuffed against the dirty concrete as I walked home, my long laces dragging through the muck on the sidewalk. No wonder they were gray. I could see the blinding lights of Queens disappear behind me as I walked on to the rather dark street that my townhouse was on. Just beyond that, I saw my high school, Midtown High, the spires and columns barely visible between the trees of the park in front of the school. I sighed and strained my eyes to check my watch in the dark. I'd be there in about ten hours, sitting in my least favorite class: Algebra. I just couldn't wait.

It was quiet on the street, very unusual to say the least. Usually, there would be a car or two passing by, or maybe some people walking. At least two or three dogs, strays mostly, would bicker back and forth, making the neighborhood feel less lonely. But there was none of that. If anything, the loudest thing on the whole block was me breathing. I walked a little faster. This didn't feel right.

There was something shimmering in the road by the gutter, although it was against my better judgment, my curiosity got the better of me and I walked over to investigate. A ring lay in the midst of broken beer bottle glass. I stirred it around with my foot. It looked gold. Looking around to see if anyone was watching, I quickly bent down to pick it up. I admired it. It was a gold braided ring, the band about as wide and a slip of fortune cookie paper. I swear it looked familiar... I shoved it into my pocket and got back on the sidewalk, almost trotting now because of the eerie quiet.

"Well, well. If it isn't a cute little puppy, out for a walk."

I turned around to see a guy in a blue college hoodie. He held a blackjack and swung it around in his left hand like something that didn't really matter. I kept walking, not giving him a second glance, praying he wouldn't do anything else but talk.