The Final Seven

Chapter 2

June 11th, 2014 - 4:36 P.M.

I picked up my sister in front of her school and drove toward my work.  Every Friday night, I worked as a server at the Ben & Jerry’s in the mall.  My sister always came with me and worked on her homework from five, until we closed, at ten.  I didn’t trust Mother to take care of my sister herself.

I absolutely hated my job.  All day long I pulled scoops of ice cream out of a billion different flavor buckets and gave them to rotten kids.  I have to wear a stupid outfit that made me look like and oversized candy cane, and the hat was the worst.  It was literally a cherry on top.  I wore a candy cane suit with a cherry on my head.  Needless to say, it was the most miserable five hours in my week.

Unfortunately, if I didn’t work, I wouldn’t have any extra money to spend on my sister and myself.  I had the paperwork filed, with my forged mother’s signatures, to give me access to her checking account.  Whenever we received the social security checks and life insurance policy checks for my dad, I was able to take them to the bank and deposit them.

Because Mother didn’t work anymore, that money was used to pay for all of our families needs.  It was barely enough to get by, and we didn’t have the money for luxuries – unlike the rotten kids who came to the ice cream parlor.

So, for five hours before my weekend, I slapped on a stupid, fake smile, and begged with my eyes, for a measly dollar tip after serving the ice cream.  Most of the time I could leave with around fifty dollars, and because I worked alone, I was able to keep it all.  Also, I got to eat free ice cream whenever I worked.  I didn’t usually have time to eat any, but I took pleasure in watching Kate enjoy it.  For those few minutes while I watched her enjoying her treat, I didn’t have to fake my smile.

Today was an unusually pleasant day at my job.  It was almost time to close, and I had made over 75 bucks!  I even considered buying the swimsuit I had been drooling over for the last two weeks.  As I was wiping down the counters and gathering all the trash together, I heard a familiar snickering coming from the tables outside.

I lifted my head over the counter and saw something that would ruin my entire night.  It was the human forms of a gaggle of geese, flocking in their numbers, ready to torment the targets in their sights - the popular girls.  They were the five most beautiful girls in the school, who received more money in their weekly allowance, than I would ever see in my life.  They were the epitome of my envy, and naturally, the focus of my hatred.

I squinted my eyes and gritted my teeth while watching the leader of the group, Brooke, strut to the counter.  She had perfected the art of hips to step combination that most runway models would be jealous of.  Before she got there, she turned back to her friend and giggled hysterically between her fingers, while covering her mouth. 

When she got to the counter, she purposely leaned on the glass sneeze guard I had just wiped down.  She grinned wickedly.

“Hey Jessica.  How are things?  Are you about ready to get out of here?”  Her sweet words were laced with venom, and spoken with a forked tongue.

“Of course I am you twit,” I thought to myself.  I wish I could tell her how I really felt, but I needed this job.

“What can I get for you, Brooke?”  I returned her fake smile with one of my own.

“Oh, I’m not sure.  I know you are about to close up and all.”  She took her time and examined every one of the 32 different flavors.  Finally, after an agonizing five minutes, she pointed to the only empty bucket in the entire line.

“Oh, the Birthday Cake ice cream sounds wonderful.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have any more of that flavor in the cooler,” I replied.  I already knew what she was going to say before she even said it.