{My thoughts} {Who's gonna tell you when it's too late?}
[Text] Craig [Who's gonna tell things aren't so great?] Nyla [What are you talking about?]
Chapter 4 Drive
My first day in produce at Everyday Earth started the next day. We needed to deep clean our produce section, and Miss Cheryl asked me to clean the top shelves of the coolers.
"It does seem dusty up there like it hasn't been cleaned in a while. Who was the last person to clean up here before?"
"Jerimiah, damn tall string bean, never really worked, but he did, heh." {Turned out}
"Do we have a ladder or something so I can clean up there.?"
"Yeah, I think Stephanie in the Bakery has it."
"Okay, I get it."
"Miss Stephanie, Hi. I'm here to get the ladder." I looked around the bakery section and couldn't see anybody's presence—just the smell of freshly baked bread.
"Well, I guess I'll look around then." Peeking around the counter into the Bakery freezers, I hear sounds. First, moans. The freezer doors are slightly jarred open; I crack the door open slightly as the clapping sounds increase.
"Right there, Tommy," said the female figure.
"Hush, girl here, put this bread in your mouth." The male figure behind her grabbed a piece of frozen bread from the walk-in freezer shelf. He was bringing it toward her mouth.
"But Mr. Tommy, It's froz... ugh."
"There ya go."
I look on in amazement as the Assistant Store Manager and the Bakery manager enter the cooler. I shouldn't look, but I couldn't turn away; damn, Keisha was right; I am a freak.
"Almost there, almost there."
"Ket it, Kaddy."
{Okay, I got to pull my eyes away from this before I get caught, and what the hell would even happen to me in this situation? You know what? I don't even want to know. Where is that damn ladder?}
"Bingo!"
"Is there someone out there!" Tommy shouts as a loud bang hits the floor.
"My bread!"
"Shit, sorry, Steph."
{Time to get the fuck out of here before I get roped into cleaning up bread and cum..ewe.}
I grabbed the ladder and stealthily moved back to the Produce section quickly. Miss Cheryl is waiting with me outside the produce refrigerator door, looking at her phone.
"I found it."
"Yeah, you did. Was it in the bakery?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Okay, let's get this done; I got to run home and let my husband in to get some of his stuff."
"Had the locks changed are something?"
"Yup," she says
"Do you need me to steady the ladder?"
"Sure, it is kind of wobbly."
"I got ya; this dang thang is almost as old as me. Told Ross he needs to get a new one gonna get someone killed."
"Oh, don't say that, heh."
"Just joking, say you butt clinched up there for a moment. Could crush rock with those cheeks."
"Thought never crossed my mind to that."
"Must got a lot of power in your hips, probably put me in a wheelchair."
"Oh, no, I mean, I wouldn't just go town like that. That could be dangerous."
"Dangerous is good sometimes, especially when an inch needs to be scratched."
"An itch?" {I mean}
"A deep itch." She says, pinching my butt.
"Ohh, you got me good there, might leave a mark."
"Something to remember me by, maybe."
"Hard to forget you; I see you most days. I don't need a permanent mark to jog my memory." I tell her while coming down the ladder. "I think I cleaned all the roofs; disgusting up there."
"Yeah, you got dust all over your uniform; take that shirt off so I clean it a little."
"My sh..my shirt."
"Yeah, your shirt. Come on. We don't get all day."
"Okay, you got it." I take off my shirt and look up at her, those brown eyes looking at me intensely. Her ruby red lips made a smirking smile as if it was dinner time.
"You must be workout every day."
"Yeah, I was a chubby kid, so you know I work hard to ensure I don't be a chubby adult." She grabs my shirt letting her hands brush against mines as she grips it. {You know, I don't mind all this attention, but man, I feel like she is terrible at this; she is trying too hard like I am already on board here.}
"You have beautiful hands."
"These old things."
"They're beautiful, just as the person is holding them." Her eyes lit up with compliments.
"Thank you, sweetie; if you keep that up, I might put something on ya."
"I'm all for that, as long as the something. You know good."
"Oh. She laughs. Okay. Let me wash this; you can finish up those shelves then we can start unloading some produce to the floor."
"Sure thing, Miss Cheryl."
"Oh, don't call me Miss Cheryl. Makes me feel old."
"But what if like calling you Miss Cheryl?"
"Oh. Oh my. I'm gonna go now before you get me fired. I already got two strikes from Keisha." {Two strikes?!}
Close to an hour goes by, and I finish cleaning the shelves. Finally, Cheryl came back inside with my clean shirt looking at me sad as I put it back on.
"Can you help me with this banana cart? It has a bad wheel; it needs a man's touch."
"Sure thing," I say to her, grabbing a corner and pushing. She wasn't lying. A dead wheel on this thing made the whole cart of bananas challenging to move back out of the refrigerator area. After pushing it sideways, I navigated it outside to the sales floor.
"Thank you, sweetie, now let's go over and make sure there aren't any old fruits, and then we take off for today. "
"Bet."
An hour goes by, and the sun starts to set on the day as we finish our shift. Cheryl waves me goodbye as she looks over at her phone. I waved back and ran into Keisha as she pulled some carts in from outside.
"Damn, I thought this was beneath sis."
"Don't get me started."
"Damn, Skyler called and said she was gonna be late, and now we don't have a bagger til she gets here."
"What happened to James?"
"He had an appointment he needed to make."
"It's 8 pm; what appointment? You know what, not gonna ask."
"Best not; I just want to say I didn't hire those two."
"You need some help?" She pauses for a second.
"If you don't mind?"
"I don't, and you should say something."
"I'm not going back in there because Cheryl is there."
"She told me something about her having two strikes."
"That bitch has nine strikes."
"But that..defeats the purpose of the reference. It..you don't care, do you?"
"No, Craig, I don't."
"Alright, what do you need me to do? Are there more carts outside?"
"Yes, get the carts, then come back, and I will get on register, please, and thank you."
"You got it, boss."
"Hey, wait before you go real quick. Have you heard from Megan today?"
"Me.no."
"I need to do a wellness check because it's been a whole week."
"Damn, Lance putting it down like that."
"Didn't think he had it in him; she said they barely. But, oh, you don't need to know that."
"I mean, I'm curious now, do tell."
"Go get those carts already."
"Shit, I was, but now I want dragon fruit passion tea."
"Craig!"
"Alright, Geesh. You did this, not me." I move as quickly as possible, gathering carts scattered all over the parking lot. {Still got it.} I speed back inside to see Keisha already at the register, with the new girl panicking as her service gets filled with groceries. Keisha looks at me and nods her head in her direction. I acknowledge her and move toward the Asian-descent coworker.
"Hi"
"Oh my god, thank you. Craig, did I say that right?"
"You did, and nice to meet you." She smiles at me, the worry melting off her face. I quickly grabbed and bagged the groceries as she picked up her past scanning items at a rate that was hard for me to keep up with.
"Damn, your quick."
"Sorry, do you need me to slow down?"
"No, I'm impressed you are like a machine."
"Oh, thank you." She removed some hair from her face and looked back at me with a smile as I finished placing groceries in the cart.
"Mr. Craig, can you come to help me over here, please," Keisha says mockingly.
"Sure thing Ms. Keisha, I remarked back to her." Finally, the rush died down, and Skyer showed up briefly after to clock in on shift.
"Sorry, I'm."
"No, we can talk in my office; just clock in and meet me there."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Oh, I've never seen her like this before, the new girl remarked, looking over at me."
"Oh yeah, she can be Tyrant when she wants to be."
"Oh, she laughs. That's so mean; I like Miss Keisha."
"I hate her; she is always so bossy."
"Oh." She says, looking down at her cash register.
"I'm kidding. What is your name
"Naomi"
"Hey Naomi, it's nice to meet you; I'm Craig. I work to produce, but if you ever need me to come here to help, I am always down to help."
"Thank you, and I will take you up on that offer."
"Okay, I'm gonna clock out."
"Craig, come over here for a sec," Keisha shouts
"Sure, thing, boss. See ya, Naomi."
"Bye, Craig." I walk to the service counter, where Kiesha finishes her talk with Skylar. The girl's eyes are red as if she is about burst into tears. As soon I make it to the counter, she departs off to the counter over by Naomi.
"Jesus Keis, did you read her? Her rights are something."
"Something like that..she takes a deep breath. I'm gonna need you to train her."
"Me?" "Why do you do that? Yes you, dweeb."
"But I'm in produce with my Mistress Cheryl."
"Okay, so this is officially your first strike."
"Out of what?"
"Don't worry about that, that's for me to know and you to fuck around and find out."
"Okay, I've been here too long; it's time to go."
"Wait, one more thing."
"What's up."
"Did you and Cheryl clean your area today?"
