True Crime by Samantha Kolesnik

Author:Samantha Kolesnik [Kolesnik, Samantha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grindhouse Press
Published: 2020-01-15T05:00:00+00:00

15

MY FIRST PAYING job was at a hot dog drive-thru operation called “Jack’s.” It was a little white hut in a cordoned off section of parking lot. There was a small red overhang and a cheap picket sign that said, “Enter here” for the drive-thru. There was no set uniform. All I had to do was show up on time, keep the dogs hot, keep the condiment containers full, and serve people pork parts with a smile on my face.

I’ll admit it took me a bit to get the smile right, but in a month’s time I was a favorite of Mr. Jack, himself. He was an older man with a scraggly red beard and a hideous pock-marked face. He was one of those men whose appearance shamelessly showcased the darkness of his soul. Hank Riley didn’t seem to like him that much.

Mr. Jack had a friend, Milton, who was just released from the same prison Lim was in, and he’d tell me stories sometimes in exchange for small favors.

“Hey, you show me your titties and I’ll tell you about the time your brother broke a guard’s arm in two,” he said to me one afternoon.

I lifted my t-shirt and showed him my breasts. I didn’t care much about them, anyway. I let him get a good look while his hand neared his crotch. Just as he started stroking, I lowered my shirt.

“Well that ain’t right,” he said and let out a laugh.

I turned my back to Milton and dug a spoon around in the relish container which needed frequent mixing so the contents wouldn’t separate. It reminded me of snot. Whenever Milton was around, it was hard not to be hyper-aware of his presence. It felt as though at any point he might come up behind me and force himself on me. I knew he had considered it.

But there was something about me which made people hesitate. I was the black sheep, the sheep with teeth, the sheep even the wolf wouldn’t eat.

There was something gratifying about people’s hesitations and concerns when around me. Maybe I’d never needed Lim, after all. Though then again, there was no wolf fiercer than Mama and sometimes a mighty big wolf needed another wolf to take it down.

It was unwise to underestimate a weak opponent. Even a weak man could find someone strong to fight his battles for him. Even weak people sometimes had charming tongues and even the strong sometimes had listening ears.

A customer pulled up to the window. She was older, with short, bleached hair and small, delicate gold hoop earrings. She wore one of those staple-of-the-season v-neck sweaters, her décolletage an artificial shade of nut brown.

I handed her the chili dog she ordered and in return she shoved a wad of crumpled, sticky napkins into my hand. “Do you mind?” she sneered.

“Oh hey, Delores,” Milton said from behind me. The woman’s eyes filled with fear when she heard Milton’s voice. She averted her gaze straight ahead and drove off in a hurry.

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