LOCATION: Shay-D-Mart employees’ parking lot (very dark)
Quick note before going in for my shift: not doing my affirmations today.

Kim called in sick.

Again.

Of course, Barry reeled me in to work her shift. Calling me last minute. Pretending that he already called everyone else. Because they’re all going to say no. Because they all have boundaries. Because they all have lives.

I’d love to have boundaries. But I also love to pay rent. And eat. I’m quite fond of the very basic groceries I can afford.

Picking up the phone is just force of habit. I don’t get a lot of calls. And… maybe someday it’ll be my mom calling, and I don’t want to miss out by taking too much time screening numbers. But once Barry gets me on the line, I never think of an excuse fast enough.

So, I’m coming in to work. The one night I specifically made sure I had off. The full moon. I’ve been scouting river locations for the last month. I don’t want to wait another month. It’s a super moon tonight. Next month is a regular old full moon.

Plus, I saw some interesting lights down by the river. Could be fireflies. Unusual for our part of the country. Will they even be there next month?

There won’t be any repercussions for Little Miss Slacker. There never are. Apparently, Kim Sterling doesn’t do repercussions.

I didn’t realize we could opt out of repercussions.

Barry would fire my ass in a second if I ever missed a shift, even if I was coughing up a lung. Pretty sure he hasn’t thought that through, since he relies on me to cover every other shift. Barry doesn’t think like that. He’s made a mint from Shay-D-Mart, and probably a good chunk of his wealth from the way he understaffs.

Next shift, Mizzz Sterling will flounce into the store, pop a hip forward, and throw her arms wide to Barry as if he’s her long-lost, rich uncle. With her trademark beaming smile, she’ll apologize oh so profusely and give the big lout a huge hug. Barry will eat it all up, slobbering. Oblivious to her insincerity. It’s a good act. I’ll give her that. I can cut Barry a break here. That amount of attention aimed at anyone is overwhelming.

Fifi—Fiona—once suggested I be more like Kim. Thank you very much, stepmom, for that extra little stab to the heart. She would literally die to have a daughter like Kim. She’s doing her best to raise the twins to be exactly like her. I’d warn dad about the potential disaster looming, but I’m already on the outs with him when it comes to his new family. No need to add fuel to the fire.

FROM THE WIDSOM OF FiFi:

I should smile more.

She says smiling doesn’t cost anything. She’s wrong.

Smiling at the wrong person can start all sorts of trouble. I don’t have the sixth sense that says, “This smile, okay. That smile? Danger.” Safer not to make a mistake.

Would it kill me to smile for a better shift? I could maybe take that page from the Kim Sterling playbook. Think of all the ways that might freak some people out. I might try smiling.

But hugging Barry like he’s my long-lost, bestest friend I haven’t seen for seven years?

No.

I’m not hugging Barry. Kim can hug someone and it’s no big deal. No one cares. I hug someone and everyone thinks I have a crush. Or I acquire a stalker.

I had planned to park here for my photos tonight. Rivershade isn’t the pinnacle of safety, and behind the Shad-D-Mart is the only safe-ish place near the river where I can afford to park. How a small town has so much expensive parking is beyond me.

But now Barry has called me to work. So even if I lie and say I’m also sick, I can’t park here. Barry takes his smoke breaks in the parking lot at least twice a shift. Not sure if he has hidden cameras out here. He should, but I don’t know.

The staff parking isn’t big enough that my car won’t get noticed.

Barry loves to threaten, but he won’t fire me. He’ll get revenge. Mess with the schedule to give me the worst jobs or cut my hours back. Since I can’t afford to have my hours cut and he knows it, I’m probably screwed. I can expect a shift of cleaning the customer toilets and flushing out the slushie machine.

Of all the days for Kim to call in sick…

Did she do that to mess with me? Am I being paranoid?

I never tell them about my plans at work. Barry mocks everything I do. Kim never joins in, but she never defends me, either. It’s more like I’m a non-player character supporting her main character syndrome.

This can’t be a coincidence…

But… I did talk about my plans at work. With Kes Macready. She came into the store, and I blabbed all about my plans to her.

Kes has that effect on people. People say she’s a little woo-woo. FiFi calls Kes a scammer. I think FiFi is jealous. Kes has the kind of energy that lights up any room she enters. People gravitate to her. Relax around her. I’ve never seen anyone walk away from a conversation with her and not look ten times more cheerful. She has this presence, and people just want to be around her.

It seems like being an energy healer can make bank. She exudes that old money style, like money doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t mind being woo-woo if I could pay my bills.

I admit, I was flattered when she seemed genuinely interested in my answer when she commented on the upcoming full moon and asked if I had any plans.

I told her all about mine. Then she told me about a full moon party by the river and suggested I stop by. I was (hehe) over the moon. I wasn’t going to go. It’s a party, after all. I’m pretty sure I was glowing just from the invite.

I didn’t think about it. Kim was in the back, busy, “organizing” something. AKA probably organizing photos on her smart phone because the back storage never looks cleaner.

Kim worships Kes. She wants to have the same kind of charisma. With Kes, it’s natural. People are drawn to her. Kim has to work at it. I know. I’ve seen her watching YouTube videos and taking notes.

Kim enters the room with a Ta-daaaah flourish—an I’m-here-look-at-me energy. It’s a performance and you can tell when she’s working the rizz. Witness the Barry apologies.

If Kes was in the store talking, I can totally believe Kim snuck through the aisles to listen-in. Kes always side-steps away when Kim fawns over her. Kim steps closer and Kes steps away. It’s an awkward dance and makes Kim look desperate. It’s petty of me to enjoy this, but it’s also one of the reasons I like Kes. The woman has taste.

All Kim would need to hear is a whisper of the word “party.” She goes to all the parties in Rivershade. Even the ones she’s not invited to. I think she’s wormed her way in enough now that she’s sort of an expected feature.

Rivershade still has that small-town feeling. Everyone is invited as long as you don’t cause trouble. Mostly.

I don’t go to parties. No time. Too many people for my taste. Dad never let me go to parties, anyway. And Kim makes sure to know I don’t belong.

I do admire Kim’s ability to insert herself into any situation. Like working here. She showed up one day, and the next minute, she’s employed here. I don’t use the word work. She doesn’t do anything like work here. Somehow, she gets a paycheck, and Barry seems happy to give it to her.

I don’t think they’re sleeping together. He’s not that much older than us, but he acts as a father figure to her. So weird.

Ah… the back door just opened, and Barry is looming in the doorway. And…. Yup. He’s spotted the car. Now he’s stalking over here.

Barry’s a big guy. Big ears and nose. He’s not just really tall. He has huge shoulders, a big beer gut and little legs. The combination makes it seem like he’s always looming over you. Even if he’s not.

Mostly bald—by choice according to him—except for spikey patches of hair that stick out from his head like stacks of wheat. Pretty normal for around here, Barry’s family is huge. Almost everyone living in the river bend is related to him.

I never noticed this before, but with the parking lot lights turning his figure into a silhouette, his meaty body is kind of troll-like. I think it’s the way the light is hitting the wide ears and his beaky schnoz. I’m going to take a photo…

Ooops! He’s stalking over here. I just realized I lost track of the time. If I don’t get out of my car before he gets here, he’s going to lecture me for ten minutes about being five minutes late.

“Bohdie Marchenko!  Get your ass in here!” he roars.

This does not bode well for tonight’s shift.