A very unpleasant tale about a young woman who had a very bad day.
***
Mackenzie Bruno worked for Great Buy, the discount electronics store, until late one Saturday afternoon when she got called into the manager's office. The office was just a dumpy and cluttered room in the back with a desk and chair, and Mackenzie had only been back there once before about 3 months ago when she got hired. Even though the manager was creepy Mackenzie needed the job because she had just bombed out of community college and her old man was adamant that she get a job or become the woman of the house with her mother gone.
Mackenzie hated the job and knew she wasn't very good at it because her knowledge of electronics was limited, and since at home all they had was a VHS player hooked up to the ancient TV, DVD's were a mystery. The only time she ever spent in front of a computer had been at school, and nobody really tried to train her at Great Buy because they didn't want her to compete with them for commissions.
The manager, a short stocky guy with sketchy teeth, led Mackenzie into the room and closed the door, turning the lock as quietly as he could. As he moved to the desk he sat on the edge which was the only clear place on it. He had a folder in his hands with her name on it that his stubby fingers drummed on nervously. Bud Leicht plopped his foot on the chair beside the desk, leaving the skinny teen standing in the center of the room fidgeting and waiting for what she suspected would be bad news.
"Ms. Bruno," Mr. Leicht sighed as he looked inside the folder and then glancing at the name tag on the blue company shirt said, "Mac."
"My name's Mackenzie," the geeky looking girl with glasses said and then explained, "My name is Mackenzie. They said it wouldn't fit on the tag."
"Oh yes, I remember that from your interview. You know what day today is?"
"Saturday?" Mackenzie said.
"No. Well yes, it is Saturday," he chuckled. "What I was referring to is that it's the end of your three month probationary period. As you remember from when you were hired, all prospective employees are given three months to prove that they are Great Buy material. We feel that this allows us to accurately determine a trainee's skill level and..."
Mackenzie stood there shifting her weight from foot to foot, listening to the manager reading something off a sheet of paper, and after a while he started to sound like the adults in the Charlie Brown specials. Whah whah whah continued until apparently what the guy had to read was over, and only then did he get to the point.
"So with all that in mind, the management team has evaluated your progress these three months, and unfortunately we've come to the conclusion that you aren't Great Buy material," he said and then added, "so we have to let you go."
"When?" Mackenzie asked as she pushed her classes back up her nose.
"Let's see," Mr. Leicht said as he looked at this watch. "You work until 6 and it's 5:15 now. You can leave now and I'll make sure you get paid for the rest of the day."
"Today? That's it?"
"No point in having you stay a couple more weeks. If you don't catch on in 3 months I doubt whether prolonging it 45 minutes would help," he mused aloud. "Says here you lack knowledge of our products."
"Nobody really trained me," Mackenzie said softly. "Just showed me how to run the register."
"Being a team player means not pointing fingers," he replied. "Remember, when you point a finger at others there are four pointing back at you - actually 3 because the thumb sort of - well regardless. Of course if you showed more of that team spirit I might - just might - be able to get your probation extended for a while."
"You know what I mean Mac?" he asked after an awkward silence
"Mackenzie," she murmured under her breath.
"I'm talking about the old saying. You know, 'go along to get along'?" Mr. Leicht explained as he set her folder down and approached Mackenzie who took a couple steps back until she was against the wall. "It seems like you need a job and I - well I have needs too."
"Hey, I know I'm no Johnny Depp," her stocky man admitted with a grin as he put his hands on Mackenzie's wrists and ran his stubby fingers up her skinny arms until the reached the short sleeve of the shirt. "You're no Winona Ryder either, am I right? "Hmm... your arms are almost as hairy as mine. Feels nice."
"What are you talking about Mr. Leicht" the teen insisted.
"You know what I mean. You're not a kid anymore - are you?" he suddenly blurted out. "You are 18 aren't you?'
"19 but what does that matter?"
"It means that neither one of us are drop dead gorgeous. I don't see guys lining up for you and I'm married but my wife, she's eh!" the manager grunted and then smiled and said, "We have something else in common. We're almost the same height. What are you, 5'6"? But you're nice and slim and have a lot more interesting body than I do. Let's see here."
"What are you doing?" Mackenzie said as she recoiled from the manager as he slid his hands under the teen's baggy store uniform.
"Pretty obvious isn't it?" he snorted as his paws landed on the outside of Mackenzie's bra and kneaded the padded cups. "Relax. Remember go along to get along? Hmm, you've got little ones, but that's okay. Anything more than a handful - what are you doing?"
"Leaving," Mackenzie snapped as she pulled away and went to the door.
"I need your name tag," the flustered manager said as the girl fumbled with the lock before getting the door open and bolting out.
"You won't be getting paid for that last half hour," he called out as Mackenzie hurried towards the exit as her eyes welled up, and as she went through the automatic doors she let them flow while the knowledge that she would have to go home and explain this to her furious father hung over her head.
***
Mackenzie walked the streets in a daze as dusk turned into night, the image of her father waiting for her keeping her wandering aimlessly, and her best case scenario would be that he would get drunk early and fall asleep. She looked in the windows of the mostly closed stores for HELP WANTED signs but saw none, and then she passed a bar where a few guys were standing outside smoking and after a guy snickered at her some other guy came to her defense as Mackenzie tried to get around them.
"Hey, leave the little lady alone," the tall skinny one said. "She's trying to get in the bar."
"No - I wasn't..."
"Well you should because it's a friendly place," he said and then put his arm around her shoulder and tried to herd Mackenzie inside. "Let me prove it to you by buying you a drink."
"I can't."
"You don't like me?" the somewhat handsome guy said.
"No, I mean it's not like that. I'm not old enough."
"Why, how old are you... Mac?" he asked as he looked at her name tag.
"14," one of the wise guy quipped but she was already telling the guy she was 19.
"That's old enough," her Casanova said. "You've got proof."
"No I don't," Mackenzie insisted but the guy took her hand and squeezed the inside of her wrist.
"Yep, you're alive," he noted as he took her pulse. "Old enough to be served at the Brass Monkey, and besides, you're a friend of mine."
"But I don't even know your name," Mackenzie protested.
"Dave," the guy said as he swung the door open, and as the smell of stale beer and the blaring of the jukebox cranking out Radiohead hit the girl in the face she was ushered to the end of the bar and slid onto the first bar stool of her life.
***