Page 2 of Two Marlboros

She let out a giggle and went back to waving me.

“Indeed, the guy from last week was really not bad.”

“Did you date him, then?”

He gave me a sketchy smile and began to fan herself only.

“Yes, but I don’t think we will see each other again.”

She burst out laughing. “Nothing new, in short.”

“No, but next week there’s a party where I hope to pick up someone interesting.”

She laughed again and patted my cheek with her free hand, then for a moment there was silence.

“Are you going to college after this?” she asked.

“No, no seminar today.”

“So, no air conditioning.”

“Yeah,” I replied, and sighed. “But, who knows, maybe if I throw myself on books, I’ll have a good chance to learn something. Although I’d rather spend an afternoon in the company of Carter and Cathy than hear about housing projects and architectural styles.”

Molly frowned. “I still wonder why you persist with this architecture thing if you don’t care.”

I sighed again, partly to chase away the heat and partly to drive away other thoughts. “Sometimes I wonder, too.”

We went quiet and the air was filled only with Molly’s waving fan noise.

“Go ahead and take off. See you tomorrow.”

I thanked her, stood up from the stool and slipped off the mini-market pin, which I placed beside the cash register. Molly put the fan down, slid a bag out from under the counter, and opened it. She pulled out a cheeseburger and fries, accompanied by barbecue sauce and ketchup; she pounced on the cheeseburger and tore off a third of it with a single bite, then shoved a handful of fries into her mouth. She didn’t offer me one, and I didn’t ask for anything, not to disturb her ten-minute break. I took back my belongings and my pack of Marlboros, which I stuffed in the back pocket of my pants and made sure I pushed it all the way down so it wouldn’t fall out.

“Ah,” my colleague added, with her mouth full, then she coughed and pounded her fist on her chest a couple of times, “the boss left a proxy for you.” She coughed again. “There’s something for him to pick up at the post office.”

“Yay, I was looking forward to it,” I replied sarcastically. Molly smiled smugly because that task had not fallen to her.

I found the document in the staff room, and when I returned in front of my colleague, I made her laugh by waving it around my neck as she had done with the fan until just before. I waved to her again and walked toward the exit, when - oops! -crack!

A much less pronounced sound than previous ones, but it was there.

I had accidentally stepped on the cookie, and it would be someone’s task to clean it up - but by then my shift was over. With some guilt, I crossed the threshold of the mini mart headed to the post office, ready to enjoy my well-deserved quiet afternoon.

Manhattan in July and at two o’clock in the afternoon had a certain charm only for tourists in shorts and tank tops, as well as for a few workaholics with jackets on their arms and briefcases in hand, ready to close the next deal; the other souls left behind, you would find them sitting at bar tables ordering cold drinks between chats, or perpetually standing in malls in front of air-conditioning vents.

And then there was me, long pants, and sunglasses, forced to work a few extra shifts because the rent was choking me, and I wasn’t going to be homeless.

Not one more time, at least.

So, I stood quietly with my boss’s proxy in hand, going from shadow to shadow, heading for the post office, hoping to get rid of all that useless paperwork soon.

I had just turned onto Lexington Avenue when a roar filled the air - stupid kids with their firecrackers. I reached the front of the post office, and the shouts inside sent cold shivers down my spine, because certain argumentative people could hold up the lines even for half an hour. I extended my arm toward thedoor handle and made to push, but someone else preceded me by pulling on the other side.

I was swept away by a shove that caused me to barely flinch, and I immediately looked up to see the rude man in a hurry’s face. I was confronted by a hooded figure and two green eyes that stared at me for a moment, only to look away a moment later. From behind, another person in a dark cap and sunglasses emerged and pushed the former toward a black scooter parked out front. They remounted in the saddle, and with a whoosh they disappeared behind a cloud of smoke.

My heart began to beat wildly. Why were their faces covered? And why were they in such a rush...?

Robbery.

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