Crumble by Martin North

Author:Martin North [North, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crackerbox
Published: 2014-05-30T22:00:00+00:00

Claudine hated working at MultiMart. Nothing ever changed. Every single day was the same. The early morning hours brought a string of angry senior citizens who wanted to argue over the rising price of their prescriptions. The lunch time rush saw the snooty business professionals, who never had enough time to wait in line, and they were quick to complain about how slow the service was, and then there was Claudine’s least favorite group, the twelve year old, never put your smart phone down folks. Half of the time you couldn’t tell if they were talking to you or the person on the other end of the line. Some days Claudine’s temper got the better of her and she had to fight the urge to practice what she called the pharmacy arts, maybe replace that old bitch Harriet Mazel’s blood pressure pills with Chicklets. She had gotten away with it once, luckily, but a return to the slammer was the last thing she needed right now. Lately Claudine had found herself playing nursemaid to her mama. Since Homer’s death she had become more high-strung, demanding, and needy. The loss of her father had created a monetary vacuum. The constant worry of staying ahead of the shut-offs was overwhelming. Her mother wasn’t taking the constant phone calls from the creditors well. Finally, Mrs. Cranford had snapped. Claudine was just returning from a 10 hour shift at MultiMart when the front door burst open and there stood Mrs. Cranford, chicken drumstick wedged between her teeth and fully nude except for the King Saver Chicken Bucket now doubling as a hat.

“You gotta be shitting me,” Claudine muttered as she put the car into park. With a “yee-haw” Maxine Cranford jumped from the porch and took off running. The old woman was incredibly fast for a two pack a day smoking hermit. Claudine took off, but was too late. Claudine could hear what had happened before she actually saw her mom. Mrs. Cranford had run straight into the electrified fence that surrounded Rogers Cattle Ranch. The sound was similar to a bug zapper that had ahold of one big bug. Mrs. Cranford was howling and screaming. Without thinking Claudine grabbed her mama to try and help her out of the fence. Both women howled in pain. The sound of a shotgun rang out and Mrs. Rogers soon appeared and stared open mouthed at the pair.

“What are you idiots doing?”

“Mama decided she just needed a little exercise.”

Claudine sat on the couch next to her mama applying antibiotic cream and band aids on their cuts and burns. Mrs. Cranford had been silent since returning from her jog through the electrified fence. Claudine was thankful for the silence. A swirl of thoughts and emotions ran through her head. The last thing I need is for mama to have a nervous breakdown. God knows I can’t afford to pay for a trip to the nuthouse.

“Mama, what were you thinking?” Mrs. Cranford didn’t answer her irritated daughter, instead she started mumbling about bills and the satellite being cut off.

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