Chapter 3
Dan woke up before the alarm. He pushed himself to a sitting position. He rustled his hair and yawned. He stretched, feeling pretty good considering he only got a few hours of sleep.
He looks at the window as the rain taps against the window, a relentless rhythmic tempo echoes through the room. He looks away, gets up from the bed and leaves the room.
He went into the bathroom, walked towards the sink and opened the faucet. He cupped the water and splashed it on his face. His body shivered; it felt like he washed his face into ice water. He dried off with a towel then opened the bathroom door and got out.
He goes downstairs, scratches the back of his head. "What's for breakfast?" He asked as he got to the bottom.
"Bacon and eggs." His mother spoke as she settled down the foods.
He walked towards the dining table and sat down.
"Did you sleep well?" She asked as she sat down as well.
"Yes." He answered as he put the towel on the chair back.
Dan continues eating, thinking if he should tell his mother about the texts that he received but he doesn't want his mother to get stressed out much more so he stays silent.
He got up, grabbed his plate and walked towards the kitchen and put the plate in the sink.
"You're done, already?" His mother asked.
"Yes, mom and I need to go to work now." He turned to look at his mother.
"You have a part time job?" She asked, looking at him in shock. "When did you get a job? Why didn't I know that?"
"Yesterday, when I'm on the way home…"
"What's your work then?" She looked at him confusedly.
"A cashier… at the convenience store that is near the school."
His mother sighs not knowing if it's relief or she's mad that he got a job without telling her first.
"Don't worry about mom, I can do it and I'm old enough to do work…" He smiled.
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"You're late…" The store owner sounded a bit mad.
"I'm sorry, sir…" He bowed down. His hair is wet as well as his clothes and a bag on his shoulder.
The owner sighed."Go to the employees only and change your clothes."
Dan nodded and hurried, going to the employees only.
He got out wearing the owner's spare clothes that he gave to him. "Thank you, sir."
The owner just nodded. "I'll leave now and take care of my store. If you need the price there's a notebook in the drawer where the price is, understood?"
Dan nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Ok good and don't do anything stupid at my store." The owner left the store.
Dan is now alone at the store. He gets the notebook in the drawer and reads the prices. A few minutes later he heard the door open and looked. "Welcome, ma'am." The lady smiled and started picking foods.
Another person entered and he greeted it but the man ignored him and walked towards the refrigerator.
The lady walked towards the counter and put down the foods she picked. "You're new here?" She asked.
"Yes,ma'am." He smiled and did his work. "This will be $345.28 dollars, ma'am." He spoke as he put it in the plastic bag.
The lady paid. He gave me the change. She got the plastic bag and smiled then left the store.
The man walked forward and put down a bottle of alcohol and a box of cigarettes.
He looked at the man. The man looks like a drunkard in thirties well it's obvious.
"The total is $108 dollars." He spoke as he put it in the plastic bag.
"Didn't know Mr. Brice hired a kid." The man said but Dan knows that the man is still in a drunk state. He ignored what the man said.
The man grabbed the plastic bag and left the store.
Dan sat down on the chair and got his notes in his bag and studied.
He heard the door open.
A few minutes later the man walks towards the counter and puts the thing down.
Dan put down his notes and froze to see condoms. He looked at the man. Well he looks old enough to buy this…
The man paid, put it in his pocket and left the store.
He shook off the thoughts and continued to read the notes.
The owner arrived and my last customer left.
"Welcome, sir." Dan spoke
Mr. Brice just nodded. "You can go now."
Dan put his notes inside his bag.
"Thank you, sir. I'll bring your clothes back dry clean."
Mr. Brice shakes his hands. "It's yours now."
Dan bowed down, grabbed his bag and put it on his shoulder.
"Kid, your new time is 6 pm." Mr.. Brice spoke.
"Ok." He answered and left the store.
"It's still raining…" He muttered. He then starts running. "Shit! My bag will get wet."
As he ran. He saw a sign in the corner of his eyes. He ran towards it and entered a restaurant. "Umm… excuse me." He brushed his hair to the back.
An old woman walked towards him.
"May I help you?"
"Are you still hiring?" He asked.
"Yes, it's still available." The old lady smiled.
"Can I start working?"
The old lady looked around the restaurant and there's a couple of people inside waiting for their orders. She nodded and pointed at the counter.
Dan nodded and put his bag on the chair and got the food tray.
"Table number 8" The chef says.
"Got it." He walked towards the table and put down the orders. "Here's your order."
The person thanked him. He walked towards the counter again and got another tray and went to the other table.
Dan now wipes the tables and starts cleaning.
"You did great, young man." The old lady patted his back.
"Just doing my job, Ms. Kate."
He heard the name of the old lady from the chef.
Ms. Kate gave him money. "Here it's for your transport and it's still raining. You need it."
Dan looked shocked because he didn't expect Ms. Kate to give him money. "T-Thank you, Ms. Kate."
Ms. Kate smiled and went to the kitchen and gave the chef money as well.
He didn't expect that Ms. Kate would be so nice. Well Mr. Brice is nice as well because he gave him clothes. He turned to the table and continued cleaning.
. . .
Dan got home looking like a wet cat. He saw the door was open wide and the floor was dirty and full of shoe prints. He ran inside to find his mother. He looked at the kitchen, saw that the fridge is not there, he even looked at the living room and the tv was gone and his mother was not there as well. He runs upstairs and his mother is not in her room or every part of the house and their house is messy and a lot of electronics are missing. He starts to panic. He took out his phone and dialed his mother's number. "Please pick up…" He starts biting his lips, tapping his foot on the floor. He dialed again and it's only ringing.