Page 42 of On the Double

“You’re just getting cold feet.”

“Over a fucking barbecue?”

“Watch your mouth, young man,” he chastised me. “We’re in public.”

“You torture people for fun!” I hissed.

“In private!”

“That doesn’t make it any better!”

“It does if no one else knows about it!”

He opened his mouth to argue, but was suddenly distracted. I wasn’t sure why I turned around, but it proved to be the start of my downfall. I just didn’t realize it at the time.

12

HARPER

Another beep filledthe air as I scanned yet another grocery item. When I was a little girl, I always pretended I worked at a grocery store. It was fun at the time. People would come to my line because I was the cheeriest cashier. They loved buying my gum and seeing the happy smile on my face. Plus, I had the best pretend bubblegum.

Real life was nothing like that.

My gum was getting old and leaving a foul taste in my mouth. My water was warm and desperately needed ice, but I didn’t have a break for another hour. The smile I always reserved for my customers had faded with every hour that passed. My feet were killing me from standing in the same spot, and for some reason, that damn beeping was really killing my mood today.

Things didn’t get any better when I saw that familiar face walking toward me from the front doors. Gray curls rolled on top of her head, Gram was a force to be reckoned with, and the way she was marching toward me right now, I knew there would be hell to pay.

In front of all the customers.

She wasn’t exactly one to keep things in the family. No, if she was mad, everyone knew it. Not that she ever truly got mad at me, but she sometimes treated me like I was five years old and scolded me infront of everyone in town. I had a feeling that was going to happen today.

I put on a smile and quickly finished checking out the current customer, hoping to push things along and avoid as much humiliation as humanly possible. Except, my next customer was none other than the man I had indecent dreams about this morning. And I didn’t mean James Earl Jones. That would have been less embarrassing.

The good thing was that he was currently arguing with his friend Fox and not paying any attention to me. But how long that would last, I wasn’t sure. I smiled as Gram walked up.

“Hey!”

“Don’t you hey me, missy. I heard about what happened here yesterday.”

I cocked my head at her in confusion. “Sorry?”

“The avocados? The toilet paper run? That has your name written all over it. Why, I have a good mind to bring you home with me until you find a real job.”

Here we go.

I heard this about once a month. My life choices were never good enough for her, much like how my parents felt. She seemed to be even more concerned about me since they passed, taking it upon herself to remind me I wasn’t living up to my potential whenever she could. I somehow always wiggled my way out from under her questioning gaze, but this time felt different.

“Gram, I’m busy working right now. How about we talk about this later?”

“Later? When? You never want to discuss things with me. You’re wasting your life as a cash register!”

“Um…I’m a cashier,” I corrected, not that it mattered.

“No man. No prospects. Is this really what you want to do with your life?”

I opened my mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the jovial voice of Edu’s friend.

“Are you Harper’s sister? You look just alike.”

---