[2015] The Ghost Slept Over by Marshall Thornton

Author:Marshall Thornton [Thornton, Marshall]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-01-07T23:00:00+00:00

* * * *

Halfway to Mac’s house, I asked the very awkward question, “Do we have everything we’re going to need?”

“I’m assuming we both have a pen—” He stopped mid-joke. “Oh, I see. I hadn’t actually thought of that. I’m sure Mac…was prepared.”

“Do you know where he kept…what we need? I mean, it’s not like we can ask him.”

“No, I guess we can’t,” he said, almost wistfully.

“And, as far as I know, Mac wasn’t very…active. Whatever he has might be out of date.”

“Oh, I just assumed he’d be up to something. I mean, escorts at least. Masseurs.”

“Not in Marlboro,” I explained. “Maybe over in Winton.” Although I imagined the pickings would be slim. “He did travel, of course.”

“We should stop at a drugstore. I mean, if you think…not that we have to do exactly that…there are other things.”

“True,” I said. “But we should have the option, don’t you think?”

“Options are good.”

“Of course, all the drugstores are closed.”

“Oh, so we don’t have options.”

“I know a place,” I said, turning the SUV toward the highway. There was an exit near Farm to Market Road that boasted an all night gas station with a convenience hut called the Quicky Pick. There were twelve or fifteen pumps laid out under five tin roofs; in the center was a small, shack-like building that was about twenty-five feet long and ten feet wide. I pulled up to the nearest pump; we got out and walked over to the hut.

“How convenient,” Cal said. “Just in case you’re on a road trip and have a sudden desire for Cheetos and safe sex.”

“It’s the only place that’s open all night.”

Inside, the walls were lined with the kind of things travelers fall for. Chips and nuts and tiny packages of cookies. I had the feeling that if you opened every single package and piled up the food vs. the packaging, the packaging would win by a landslide. There was a small rack of magazines for bored passengers. An amazing array of candy, gum and mints. A coffee machine badly in need of cleaning. And a checkout counter in the middle of the store. Behind the counter was a surly looking sixteen-year-old boy. I had the uncomfortable feeling I’d gone to high school with his mother, who’d dropped out in tenth grade to have him. I led Cal to what I suppose would be called the personal products section. Since these were considered high theft items, they were placed well within sight of the cashier. Which meant we were as well.

Cal and I stared at the condoms. We had five choices. Magnums, which they were almost out of—though I doubted they were quite as necessary as the purchasers hoped—Regular, and Snugger Fit, which were small but couldn’t be labeled small since no one would buy them. In addition there were two regular varieties; one featuring extra-ribbing for her pleasure and another that was super extra thin, so thin the box boasted you’d hardly know it was there. A claim I doubted.

“Which do you think we should get?” I asked Cal.

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