Safe and Sound(3)

She’d been saving up for a car and had close to one thousand dollars in her savings account. Another thousand and Lola would have enough to get a somewhat decent car.

The temperature in the store was kept cool and the store smelled of cleaning solution. Low music played from speakers in the ceiling. The wall near the registers was made up of windows. It was odd to look out at the dark night from the brightly lit interior; it was like a different world out there.

It was nine-thirty and she had half an hour left to go before the store closed. It was slow and she and the other two cashiers passed the time by talking to one another. Well, they talked, and she listened.

“Lola, you’re quiet tonight. What’s the matter?” Dorothy asked in her loud voice.

Lola’s face burned. She wasn’t being any quieter than any other night, but as Dorothy needed constant chatter, she could see how she would come to such a conclusion. She looked up from the uneven fingernail she’d been staring at.

Dorothy Dean was in her fifties, plump, and had a laugh that made others around her want to laugh as well. She was retired and said she worked part-time at the store so she didn’t go completely nuts from boredom at home.

Her green top and black slacks clung to her body. Her gray hair was short and spiky. Her olive green eyes always danced and Lola found herself smiling more than usual in Dorothy’s company. But not tonight.

Dorothy and Roxanne were watching her.

“Nothing. Everything’s fine.” She even managed a brief smile, though it felt forced. It was forced.

Dorothy narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “I’m a mother. I know when something’s not right with a child. What is it?”

Lola bit her lip and looked away. What she wouldn’t give for her mother to acknowledge something wasn’t right. Lana was in denial. Lola knew that. It was Bob’s word against Lola’s and Lola’s didn’t matter.

She felt like nothing; like she was nothing and meant nothing to her mother.

“I’m fine,” she said in a shaky voice.

“She’s always like that, Dot, you know that,” Roxanne said. “Might as well save your breath and not bother talking to her.”

Lola bristled, but kept her back to them.

“Roxanne. You hush,” Dorothy admonished.

Roxanne Zanders was a year ahead of Lola in school. She was also most recently Sebastian Jones’ girlfriend. Lola didn’t like her, but that wasn’t why. She didn’t like her because Roxanne was manipulative, sneaky, and mean. To her, anyway. Lola didn’t know what she was like to other people and she didn’t care.

Roxanne was tall, slender, had flaming red hair, and just as red lips. Freckles spattered her pale skin, somehow adding to her cold beauty. Her eyes were an unusual shade of green; close to lime, and flashed with dislike whenever they encountered Lola. Roxanne had a perfect body and liked to show it off in tight, short clothing. Even her work outfit molded to her lithe frame in a positive way.

Lola may have had a good body at one point, but it was too thin now. She didn’t eat much because her stomach was upset all of the time. She knew most girls her age would love to have such a problem, but she would trade with them without hesitation to be able to eat a large burger and fries and not throw it back up.

“I’m just stating a fact,” Roxanne said.

“Facts aren’t always nice, nor do they always need to be stated,” Dorothy retorted.

Lola’s lips curved up and a small, but significant weight lifted. She looked at Dorothy and mouthed, “Thank you.”

A few customers straggled through Lola’s checkout lane and the store closed for the night. She went about her closing duties with the register, pulled on her white hooded sweatshirt, and grabbed her purse.

She shivered in the chilly night air. Street lamps offered a little light in the parking lot, but not much. Two cars were in the parking lot; one a blue Nissan and the other a silver Pontiac.

Dorothy squeezed her shoulder as she passed. “You have a good night, sweetheart. Don’t let Roxanne get to you.”

Lola knew it was stupid and weak of her, but her eyes pricked at the thoughtful gesture. She watched as Dorothy contorted her large frame into her little blue car and drove off.

The door opened to the other car and Sebastian got out. For one brief, dizzying moment, Lola thought he was there for her. Then reality set in. Roxanne brushed past, bumping her shoulder, and skipped over to him. She flung her arms around him and kissed him long and hard.

Lola felt sick and turned away. She began to walk toward home. Her mother didn’t have to be to work until eleven, but she never offered to pick her up. And the one time Lola had asked, Bob had ridiculed her so badly she’d never asked again.