Decent People by De'Shawn Charles Winslow

Author:De'Shawn Charles Winslow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

TWELVE

SAVANNAH

Savannah went back to work at Aiken’s Rx and More the day after the memorial service. She had taken Friday off. Feeling out of sorts, she had told her boss, Stewart Aiken. And he understood perfectly. But because she and Marva were not family, he would have to deduct the time from her allotted sick days. Josephine Wright’s questions had nearly made her ill. Savannah thought she deserved at least two days for that alone.

In a wobbly chair, at the long, wobbly table in the cramped break room at the back of the drugstore, Savannah ate a tuna sandwich (relish only). The room was used for more than eating midshift meals. It was also a stockroom and a closet for their coats. Some of the women Savannah worked with even left their purses there, unattended. But not Savannah. Having lived outside of West Mills, she found herself unwilling. Not that there was much in there to steal besides cigarettes and money for the soda machine. Keeping her belongings in eyeshot had simply become habit after living in New York. She had never been mugged, but Fitz had.

Sandwich nearly eaten and Pepsi all gone, Savannah began to crave the requisite postlunch cigarette. It was another harsh reminder that she would no longer enjoy the weekday smoke breaks with Marva. Savannah found herself just staring into the Tupperware bowl that held the last bite of her tuna on wheat. Two co-workers entering the room broke Savannah’s trance. They were going on about the Patricia Hearst case. It had been the topic of the day on every other radio station, it seemed.

“I think she’s innocent,” said Miss Lynn, the drugstore’s oldest employee. Savannah thought Miss Lynn might be the oldest employee in the world. She was eighty-eight years old and wore a long, brunette wig like Cher. She and River, the youngest cashier—River was also girlfriend to one of Miss Lynn’s great-grandsons—had been listening to talk radio all morning, adding their own commentary. Savannah didn’t want to get into a debate with Miss Lynn or with any of the others. But she was dying to know how Miss Lynn had come to that ridiculous conclusion. It wasn’t so much that she cared what the old lady thought. It was more that Savannah knew that she would have to return to being at least halfway social at some point. Why not start with Miss Lynn? What Savannah wanted most was a Valium. If she had any, Miss Lynn could turn cartwheels around the room and Savannah wouldn’t care.

In lieu of How in holy fuck did you come to that dumb conclusion, Miss Lynn? Savannah politely asked, “May I ask why you believe she’s innocent, Miss Lynn?”

“Well, haven’t you seen her?” Miss Lynn sat in one of the other wobbly chairs at the wobbly table. Then she turned to River and said, “Where’s that newspaper we were looking at this morning, honey? We haven’t thrown it out, have we? Jesus, I hope not.” She opened her own Tupperware bowl.

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