“Hey, I’ve got a sandwich in the fridge. Why don’t you just take it?” I said.
“Oh, no. You don’t have to give my anything. I can pay for it.” She dug into her purse. “Rats. I must have left my wallet at home.”
I reached into the fridge, took out my bagged dinner, and handed it to her. “Please take this, I insist. Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“You are just getting so thin.”
“Yes.” She twisted a piece of her hair. “You can’t be too skinny or too rich.”
“I think you look perfect the way you are. You don’t have to go on a diet.”
“I’m not on a diet.” She clutched the white paper bag. “Thank you. I’ll get you the money as soon as I can.”
“No, I won’t take it. Plus, it’s my free meal.” I decided it was now or never. “Listen, I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been meaning to ask you, what are you doing this weekend?”
“Not sure.”
“Are you busy Saturday night?” I asked. My words felt thick and stuck like peanut butter in my throat.
She cocked her head to the side. Her eyes slit. “Why?”
“This is super short notice and all, and I would have asked sooner, but I’ve been saving up and…well… what I’m trying to say is, would you like to go to prom with me?”
Her eyebrows raised and her mouth opened.
Shoot. That was not the response I wanted. She did not look happy. Was she mad that I dared ask? Or was she just surprised? “I mean, I know I’ve only known you a few weeks, but this is senior prom. And I would love to take you.”
“No. I mean, I can’t go. I have to go now. Really, I am so sorry.” With that, Gabrielle turned on her heels and went out the front door.
What happened? Did I push too hard? Maybe she was breaking up with me. I wished I could call her, but she didn’t have a cell phone. She said her dad was getting her a new smart phone, but it was on order.
I let out a big sigh, my feet feeling like lead. Maybe, if I kept myself busy cleaning, I could forget about being shot down by my girlfriend. I wiped the white Formica tables and turned the black wrought iron chairs upside down on them, then got the mop out of the cleaning closet. All the while, I thought about Gabrielle.
By the time I finished mopping, it was time to lock up.
My girlfriend turned me down for prom and I was broke and hungry.
And I had to wear a stupid paper cap. Life sucked.
As I walked toward the door, my eye caught a patch of red on the poster wall. Red wall paint I shouldn’t be able to see.
Something was missing.
Then I knew what was gone.
A twelve by twelve inch shadowbox, which held an original signed script from a famous motion picture, as well as a five by six inch black and white picture of Leonardo’s great grandfather with the two original founders.
By the time the police completed taking my statement, it was almost midnight. Stanley Leonardo, the owner, had been called to the store as well. The police wanted to see if they could get videotape from the surveillance camera.
“The security camera broke down last week.” Stanley scratched his head. His glasses slipped down his long skinny nose as his salt and pepper hair fell on his face.
“I’m so sorry about all of this,” I said to Mr. Leonardo as the police walked around the store.
“That was an original signed move script,” Stanley said as he looked at the empty spot on the wall. “Last week on eBay, something similar went for over twenty thousand.”
Twenty thousand? Holy smokes. My head spun. Guilt strangled me, I’d left the store, and someone took it.
“Mr. Leonardo, we think that it could be a snatch and grab. We’ve had a few reports this week of other local business having the same type of theft.” The officer flipped open his notepad.
“Oh?” Mr. Leonardo looked around the store.
“Yes, the store owners on either side of you had their tips jars stolen when a perpetrator ran in, grabbed it and then escaped,” the officer said. “Usually, it’s just petty theft. Well, except for your shadowbox.”
Mr. Leonardo shrugged his shoulders and turned his palms up. “Why would they take that instead of the tip jar?”
“These types of criminals know what they are after. They do their research. More than likely, they were in your store earlier and cased the place. They knew exactly what they would grab if they had had the opportunity.”
“But my employee was here the whole time. Weren’t you?” Stanley furrowed his eyebrows.
“Sir, I’m just telling you what I know.” The officer clicked his pen.
“There was a lady in here looking at it this evening,” I said to the officer and Mr. Leonardo. “Maybe she took it?”
“Did you see her take it?” Mr. Leonardo asked.
“No. But she seemed really interested in it,” I said.
“But you must have seen her take it down from the wall, you where right here the whole time she was in the store, right?” Mr. Leonardo pointed behind the counter.
“No sir. I left for a minute to go to the back door.” I looked down at my feet. I studied the scuffs crisscrossing along the tops of my brown loafers.
“You left a customer in the store alone?” His face scrunched like a crumpled paper hat.
“Yes, sir. I did.” I felt a rush of heat go from my chest to my head. I wanted to tell him that I had locked the register, and hid the tip jar, but decided against it.
“Then you are fully responsible for the cost of that picture. You were in charge, and you know better. Rule number 23 is to never leave the store unless it’s on fire.”
“Yes, sir. I am sorry,” I said. Rule number 1, the owner is always right.
“You leaving the store unattended made the store an easy target for the crime.” The officer strolled to the front door. “Someone could have been sitting right there across the street. Saw you go in the back and then made their move.”
I nodded. This night skidded downhill fast.
Mr. Leonardo sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. “The contents of that shadowbox are irreplaceable. I hate that this happened on your watch, son.”
Again, I nodded. What could I say?
“If you weren’t such a great employee, I’d fire you right now.” Mr. Leonardo cleared his throat.
“I’ll work overtime. All weekend even. Whatever I need to do,” I added.
“Son, don’t worry, I have insurance. But I have a five hundred dollar deductible.”
“I’ll pay the five hundred, it’s the least I can do.” It was also better than getting fired.
The irony. Had Gabrielle said she could go to prom, now I wouldn’t be able to afford to take her. In a weird twist of fate, it was lucky that she turned me down. Then again, if I didn’t go to the back door to lend Theodore twenty bucks, then the picture wouldn’t have been stolen and I wouldn’t be out a gazillion dollars now.
The universe sure had it in for me that day.
Mr. Leonardo paced the floor. “I have to get it back. Maybe, if I offer a big reward, someone will come forward and return it.”
“I sure hope so,” I said under my breath. Mr. Leonardo talked with the police officer for a while as I locked the doors and finished cleaning the store.
Maybe I could try to find that lady from Pennsylvania. Maybe she saw the person who stole the picture while I was outside.
I had to take a chance. I had nothing to lose. It looked like I’d be without pay for a long time. There goes any chance of upgrading from my bicycle to a car.
Or ever affording to take Gabrielle out anywhere.
The next morning I slunk into the kitchen, my whole body slumped. “Morning, Mom. How are you?”
“Okay, honey. And you?”
“Don’t even ask. I’m in debt for a million years,” I said. Last night, my mom waited up for me and I had told her what happened.
“Sweetie, forget about what happened. It really was
n’t your fault.” My mom hugged me. She had that same sad look in her eyes she always got when something bad happened to me, like when my frog died.
“It was stolen on my watch. So I can’t forget about it.” I kissed her forehead as she handed me a brown bag lunch. “Can I just live with you and Dad forever?”
“Of course you can, but trust me. You’re a good egg. Things will turn around for you.” She reached up and brushed her hand along my cheek.
“I sure hope so,” I said.
“Theodore the bus will be here soon!” Mom screamed up the stairs. She took a five-dollar bill from her purse, and pushed it into my hand. “Here, just to hold you over a little. But you know the rules of our house, no money unless you earn it. I expect that five back.”
“Thanks mom, I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”
“After prom, then pay me back.”
“There is no prom.”
“Did they cancel it?” My mom asked.
My Dad walked in and gave my mom a kiss.
“No. I can’t afford to go, plus Gabrielle said no,” I said.
“Bad luck, hey champ?” My dad poured himself a cup of coffee into a to go cup that said ‘World’s Greatest Dad.’
“Yeah bad luck.”
“You’ll figure it out.” He snapped the lid on the cup shut.
“I guess.” I stuck my lunch in my book bag and zippered it up.
“Prom is tomorrow, and I know that you want to go and you’re broke. But you know the rules around here---” My dad gave me the ‘you’re shit out of luck' look.
“No free money,” I recited to him.
“You shouldn’t have left the store, you know.” Dad grabbed the newspaper and his car keys.
Turning my hands over, I shrugged my shoulders.
“I love you son. I know it’s a tough lesson to learn, but you’ll be stronger for it,” Dad said before he walked out the door.
Stronger for it, yeah right. If that were correct, I’d have Herculean strength afterward.
A yellow school bus for Savannah Arts Academy pulled up in front of my house. The bus driver honked and pulled to a stop in front.
Theodore stomped down the stairs and grabbed his lunch. We both ran out the front door into the bright morning sun and boarded the bus. The air hung heavy with humidity and smelled like fresh cut grass.
On the bus ride to school, I told Theodore about what happened at Leonardo’s.
Fifteen minutes later, we were at school. Theodore ran ahead of me to meet his girlfriend.
I went to my locker. That was when I remembered that I had a calculus test I hadn’t studied for. Damn. By the time I gotten home from work I’d just enough energy left to take a quick shower, talk to Mom, and crash. As usual, I hadn’t had a second to spare in the morning.
Eighties-themed posters and streamers announcing the prom lined the hallways. I bumped into a table as I left my locker.
“Get them while you can, only forty dollars for a pair of tickets,” said a smiling chubby girl with short curly black hair.
A sign hung from her table that read, “Get your prom tickets here.”
“Did you get yours already?” she asked.
“No. But it sounds like fun,” I said.
“You’re a senior, right?”
“Yes.”
“This is your last chance to go to prom. Can I count on you for two tickets?”
“Well, I’d like to but …”
“You have a date right? That new girl, Giselle?”
“Gabrielle.”
“Yeah, Gabrielle. So, you’re taking her?” she asked as she opened her cash box and got two tickets out.
The bell sounded. I shook my head, and then ran down the hall to class.
Fortunately, the calculus test was easy. Maybe my luck was turning around. After class, I went to the entrance lobby where Gabrielle and I always met before AP literature class.
“Hey, how are you?” Gabrielle stood alongside me as I leaned against the wall.
Horrible, awful and rotten. “Fine and you?” I asked.
“I’m sorry,” She said as she brushed my hair from my eyes.
Just her touch made my heart ache. It’s like she was my girlfriend, but yet a complete stranger at the same time. “About what?” Breaking my heart? I tried playing it cool.
“Prom. I want you to know that I can’t go, not because I don’t like you, but well, it’s complicated.” She looked out the glass front door.
“No biggie. I mean I really didn’t want to go anyway. It’s a huge waste of money. Plus, you’ve probably been to fancy balls and all that, so this rinky-dink little prom would be a joke to you,” I said.
Her eyes welled up. “Yes, you’re right. Prom would bore me.” She closed her eyes and a tear ran down her cheek.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. Fine.” She straightened her back and smoothed out her shirt. “Let’s go. One more tardy and I’ll have detention.” She grabbed my hand and we walked to class.
Throughout class, I watched Gabrielle. I half listened to Miss Ely talk about the alienation that Holden felt in Catcher in the Rye. She talked about the young man’s struggle to find himself.
Right then, I felt like the lead character.
As we walked out of the classroom, I asked Gabrielle, “So, will I see you in the cafeteria today?”
“Um, I’m not sure. I forgot my lunch.” She pulled her still damp hair into a ponytail.
“You know my mom always makes me a bagged lunch, I’d be glad to share with you.”
Gabrielle smiled and said, “Thanks. I feel so bad you’re always sharing your food with me. One day, I’ll make it up to you.”
“When your chef gets back he can make us lunch, right?”
“Huh?” She raised an eyebrow. “Yes, of course. He would love to.”
“You are always welcome to have anything I have.” I gave her a big kiss. She smelled like chlorine. “Did you have swimming in gym today?”
“Why?”
“Nothing. I’ll see you at lunch.” The bell sounded and we went our separate ways.
I sat in the back row of my AP history class. Theodore plopped down next to me.
“Hey, was it because of me that you got robbed?” Theodore asked.
“You’re a jerk. You told me it was an emergency.”
“To me it was.” He grinned and tapped my shoulder. “Sorry.”
“Forget it. I shouldn’t have left the store. I know better.”
“Do they have any leads?”
“Not sure. The officer said it could have been a snatch and grab thing. I told them about the lady that was in the store at the time, but they didn’t seem interested. Maybe I can find her on my own. She might be able to tell me if she saw somebody else come into the store.”
“So, you’re going to talk to her?”
“Maybe I’ll do a little poking around to find that lady after school,” I replied.
“Sucks huh? If you don’t find the stolen picture thing then you’ll be working for weeks without a paycheck ‘cause you have to pay the insurance deductible.” Theodore smiled. “At least you’ll have twenty bucks soon ‘cause I get paid tomorrow.”
I pulled out some paper and a pen and began to scribble circles. “Just give me fifteen and give mom five, okay? She loaned me five this morning.”
“Okay.” He scooted his desk a little closer to mine. “You know, I got a great deal on a tux at the Formal Shoppe on Bay Street. Mine has an eighties like frilly shirt and pastel belt. It’s hilarious.”
“That’s great.” I hadn’t told him yet that Gabrielle turned me down for prom.
The teacher began class. I half paid attention as my mind traveled back to what that lady, my last customer, had said. She used to have family who lived in the Victorian district, and she now lived in Pennsylvania. She was in town until tomorrow and the Marshall House had given her a brochure on Leonardo’s.
Now I had to fit all of the pieces t
ogether.
Or in the future, I’ll end up being the only eighty-year-old still living with his parents and working minimum wage at an ice cream shop.
“May I ask if there is a red-haired lady, with a really big multi-colored bag staying here?” I asked.
“I’m sorry, sir. We aren’t allowed to give out information about our guests,” replied a man behind the front desk of the Marshall House. He wore a dark green blazer with a pineapple emblem on the pocket.
“Right.” My heart plunged into my stomach. She was my only lead. I wondered if I should wait in the lobby for a while. Maybe the lady would wander in, and I could talk to her. I had to go to work in an hour, so I guess it wouldn’t hurt to kill some time.
Sinking into a deep leather armchair, I looked around. The lobby looked like it came from an earlier time. It smelled like a combination of flowers and wood cleaner. Heavy dark furniture sat on hardwood floors. Large oil paintings, with ornate gold frames, adorned the walls.
I grabbed a handful of mints from a crystal container on the coffee table. The sign beside it read, “Help yourself.” I unwrapped one and plopped it in my mouth and then put a few in my pocket. A guy never knows when he’ll need fresh breath.
Looking through the large picture window, I saw Gabrielle walk past. I jumped out of my chair and left the hotel in search of her. I quickly abandoned looking for the red-haired lady. Instead I went in search of my girlfriend.
Rounding the corner, Gabrielle was already half a block away. Then she disappeared into an alley behind the Pink House restaurant. I wanted to shout to her, but then an ambulance screamed by.
I decided to trail after her at a fast walk. She was just faster than me. By the time I got to Martin Luther King Drive, she had walked behind a bridge beyond the bus terminal.
A man stood in front of me, “Excuse me sir, but can you spare some change?”
He blocked my view of Gabrielle.
“Listen, I don’t want to bother you, it’s just that I need some help.” The man put his hands together in a prayer.
Damn. I lost sight of Gabrielle.
“Please? I have a job interview soon, and I need to take the bus.” He pointed to the bus stand.
Jeez. It seemed he had intentionally stopped me.
“Please, sir?” He asked again.
He seemed sincere. I sighed and reached in my pocket and pulled out the five-dollar bill and some mints. “This is all I have.”
“God bless you son,” the man said. His beard was scraggly, but he looked clean and fairly well dressed. His eyes sparkled like green emeralds. Where had I seen those same green eyes?