Candy smacks the gum with more vigor now. She shuts the register hard and struts after Stevie. He’s no match for her.
Katie makes eye contact with Ella. A slight smile. Ella and Katie are the counterweights to Candy and Mandy. The older girls are graduating, heading off to college soon, and they know that Stevie doesn’t have it in him to fire them. So they disappear during shifts, take nights off without notice, flirt with the boys who come in just for a gander at Candy’s work shirt, which she altered to accentuate her cleavage.
Katie and Ella are more reserved. Both juniors. Both unlikely candidates for part-time jobs. Ella lives in a mansion in Summit; Katie is from a deeply religious family. No dating allowed. No drinking. No swearing. She seems to live vicariously through Candy and Mandy. The store is a place where she can be herself. Out from under God’s smothering reign.
From the back of the store, Candy bursts out of the office. She has a twinkle in her eyes.
“This is your last warning,” Stevie bellows after her.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“Are you coming tonight?” Ella quietly asks Katie as they empty the overflowing return bin.
Katie looks torn. “I don’t think so. My dad freaked that I was even scheduled to work on a Sunday. Said he was going to call Stevie. And I still don’t have my license, so my mom’s supposed to pick me up.”
“You could tell your parents we’re doing night stocking or something,” Ella says. “I can drive you home after.”
Katie thinks about this. “Let me call my mom.”
* * *
At ten-thirty, the four of them are parked in the lot of ShopFresh. It’s empty and Ella’s slightly disappointed. She’s imagined where Candy and Mandy go after work. In her mind, it was way more exciting than parking in a vacant grocery store lot drinking warm bottles of Zima.
A muscle car, engine rattling, veers into the lot too fast. It takes a sharp turn and Ella swears it’s going to crash into them. Her stomach flips as it screeches around and pulls up parallel to Candy’s car.
A blond guy, Sean Morris from the football team, leans out the window and stares at Candy, who responds with a lazy, couldn’t-care-less glance.
“Hello, ladies.”
“Hi, Sean,” Candy says flatly.
“And who do we have here?” Sean cranes his neck to see who’s in the backseat.
“Friends from work,” Candy says.
Ella has to admit that it stings a little being called a work friend.
Sean gives them a sly smile. “We’re going to Brody’s for some beers. Wanna come?”
Candy looks around the empty lot. Sighs. Then nods.
Sean nods back, then tears out of the lot in his loud car.
Ella has butterflies now. It’s exciting, going to a get-together—a party—with the seniors. But it’s scary at the same time. Katie looks like the blood has drained from her face.
Ten minutes later, they’re in a basement that smells like the inside of a bong. Lounging on an old sofa and two beanbag chairs are six boys and two girls.
Candy introduces Ella and Katie. The introduction has a maternal quality to it. A warning underneath: they’re too young for you, so back off.
One of the girls, her name is Scarlet, is cold, unfriendly. As if she doesn’t like the way the boys are looking at them, particularly Candy. Scarlet rises from the sofa and joins one of the boys on the beanbag, sitting on his lap, marking her territory.
Mandy hands Ella a beer. Ella tries to act nonchalant. She subtly poured out the Zima earlier, but there’s no way to avoid drinking here. It’s the first time she’s tried alcohol. Katie accepts the bottle but doesn’t sip from it.
Soon, the boys are goofing around. They’re not the brightest bunch, but they’re funny. One of the guys mentions that a dealer’s coming over to sell them pot. And Sean Morris has just lowered an empty bottle to the floor and placed it on its side.
Spin the Bottle.
She’s spared the indignity of refusing to play when a new guest arrives.
He makes an entrance, this boy. He’s handsome. Everyone yells “Vinnie” in unison when they see him.
This mysterious boy captivates the room.
But no one seems more mesmerized by him than Katie.
CHAPTER 28
KELLER
Keller and Atticus stop by the Union County Prosecutor’s Office before continuing their interviews. While Atticus tracks down the address for the former Blockbuster lead detective, Tony Grosso, Keller decides to take her medicine and speak with Hal about the Agent Badass fiasco. Keller hasn’t spoken with Stan yet, but maybe Hal has.