Page 8 of Rise
5
Natalia
“Areyou planning on buying something, Miss?”
I nod my head without looking directly over at the tall, blond teenaged gas station attendant standing guard over his cash register. The sound of his skinny fingers nervously tapping against the countertopgrates on my last nerve as I keep an eye on the roads, and on the tow truck driver. My unsuspecting rescuer. Any minute now, he’ll finish replacing that tire for the customer and head off to somewhere else. When he does, that's when I’ll leave.
“What was that, Miss?” the young attendant behind me asks again.
“Yes. Yes, sir,” I reply, my gaze still pinned outside. Raising my lefthand, I show the attendant the cash I stole, now neatly folded between my index and middle finger. I then lift my small plastic shopping basket that holds a container of cheap red hair dye, a travel-sized pouch of wet wipes, a souvenir Colorado Mountains hooded sweatshirt, oversized sunglasses, and a thick, floral patterned flannel scarf, all of which I picked up while perusing the three aisles ofgoods in here. It’s everything I’ll need to change my appearance and keep warm, as least for the time being. “I’ll pay for these in a minute.”
“All right, Miss. There’s a two for one sale on those day-old muffins to your right,” he adds. “In case… well, if you’re hungry.”
I pull my gaze away from outside long enough to whip my head back to the kid. He has my attention now. Of course,I’m hungry. It’s been long hours since I ate. Hours, but it feels like it’s been forever since I had any decent food at all. Which isn’t inaccurate, given the disgusting slop-like garbage those men fed me while I was their captor. Judging from the way my stomach continues to gurgle and groan, it’s as though it wants to make up for lost time right fucking now. The thing is, I have my priorities,and food doesn’t rank too highly at the moment. There’s no telling how long it’ll be before I have the chance to put in an honest day of work to top up the funds I stole. This money has to last. It has to pay for my ticket out of town and put a temporary roof over my head for at least a few days. Once I check those two big items off my list, then I can think about how much I have left for food.
But it’s the way this kid has seemingly taken an interest in my health and state of hunger that makes me curious. And tense. Cautiously, I approach him with the items I plan to purchase and begin to study him with more focus than before. One thing I’ve learned from my father is that people have friends in unexpected places. And in the underworld, people have eyes everywhere. It sounds paranoideven to me, but who knows if this kid could have some connection to those men who took me. I could probably say the same thing about anyone I run into in this town.
I can’t trust anyone.
Not even this teenager.
I notice him glance down my body to the shoes I stole and catch his reaction as his gaze trails slowly back up my body, stopping at the top button of the overalls Istole. I’m still wearing it inside out to avoid having anyone recognize the logo, especially the tow truck driver.
I take a breath and relax when I realize what I’m dealing with. I’ve seen that look before.
Many times.
Not that I’m bragging, because men can be so predictable when it comes to how they interact with the opposite sex.
The kid isn’t not spying on me. Notin the way that I need to worry about, anyway.
It’s not suspicion.
It’s honest, innocent, youthful lust in those pale blue teenaged eyes.
Lust, well that I can handle.
Or maybe, make the most of it.
“A two for one sale?” I chirp, squaring my shoulders and lifting my chest out toward him. “On those?” I point a dainty finger back toward the spot where I was standing,and he nods.
“Yes, Miss,” he answers, his eyes now glued to my chest. “Would you like to buy one? Or two? There’s no limit on how many you can get for free.”
“You see, I was hoping, seeing how they do look so… well, so stale, that you might consider letting me take a few of them off your hands. Or all.” I keep my eyes fixed to his face, my even gaze determined and unyielding. I’veseen Father negotiate many times. He’s a confident man by default, but when he’s in the middle of settling a deal, he can be ruthless. More than a few times, I’ve seen him shed his soft side, setting aside the charm, changing his composure, masking any emotion on his face and in his eyes as he swoops in to close a deal. Now, I’m not Father, but I’ve swayed him before. And being a girl, I know howuseful a little charm and sweetness can be, when paired with determination.
“They’re um... not exactly, um... free,” he informs me, still mesmerized by the hint of cleavage that shows at the top button of this stolen shirt.
“I understand, that, but you do realize that I’m buying all these things here at full price and all? Each of them costs more than a regular priced muffin, don’tthey?”
“Um… yes, I suppose they do.”
“Okay, then tell me… what would be so hard about giving me one little old day-old muffin for free with each of these items? Just five little muffins you’ll throw away eventually.” It’s hard to draw the kid’s eyes to mine while he’s fixated on my breasts, but I do what I can, stepping backward toward the shelf that holds the tray of several flavorsof muffins at the window. “Am I wrong, sir? Or do you agree that it’s pretty fair?”
“I don’t know if I can,” he tells me timidly. I scan outside again to find no real change, other than the spare tire is now on the car and the tow truck driver has the flat one on the ground beside him. As I turn back to the attendant, I find him with a wincing expression on his face, furrowing his browsas though saying no to me is in some way painful for him. “I haven’t seen the owner give them away like, ever, so—” he continues to explain, and each word before he stops speaking is quieter than the one before.
“But in my case, you’re not really giving them away?” I state in a question. “Are you?”
“Well, sure, I guess I could let you have them… if you’re buying these five things…”
