Louisville Magazine

MAR 2013

Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.

Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/111400

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 26 of 136

bit A of FLASH FICTION And Then A Plastic Bag Suffocates You (Maybe) By Arielle Christian Illustration by Steven Dana B ecause it is close and right now you are lazy, park at ���Kroghetto.��� Lock your car once ��� no, twice just in case. Do not trust the loiterers, high and scratching, lost words foaming by cracking commissures. Do not trust the brown salads, punctured peppers, Manager���s Specials. Te whole place is of-kilter. Te lights pop from fuorescent to dim. People crowd the customer service counter in dizzying lines. You make eye contact with the security guard. After mazing aisles, eyes down, approach register three. Te light is of, but the chain is not pulled from chip to magazine, so step forth with the rattle of your buggy. His scanner is with another customer. Lemonade, beep. Green beans, beep. Aluminum foil, beep. He is hard at work but not too occupied. You slant forward. With politeness: Is it all right if I check out here? He shoots you a blank look, lip dangling. You feel dumb. Your eyes awkwardly dart to his name tag: William. Wordless William. Wordless and angry. Feel it in his stare, his glare. Well, OK, you mutter defensively, out of breath. You are obviously a friendly person. Wonder why he hates you and question discrimination. Confused and impatient, you start unloading right there, right there at register three. Your business isn���t tough anyway: 15 items or less, no coupons. William will be fne, you assure yourself as you softly place item 12 on the rubber. Silent, he keeps to his robotic bitching. Hear the creak of his metal joints as he reaches for your Lean Pockets, 10 minutes thawed rolling around the store, refrozen with his cold fngertips. See the ice crystallize the cardboard. Feel it, too. Tis ice all around you. Freezing you. Skaters swim across your pond, sharpening their footed knives as you stare into William���s face cut with prematurely picked pimples, scars of something, maybe lifelong sorrows, maybe another annoyed customer. Te longer you stare, glare ��� his eyebrows a blackening valley, too close; his shirt too loose and wrinkled, by God! ��� the less sturdy your pond. 20 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 3.13 Consider calling the manager over when William doesn���t ask for your Kroger Plus Card, doesn���t give the option to save some cents, knowing the devil is intent on ripping you of, looking for your soul to steal. As William takes your already-in-hand cash, you wonder where his fngers have been. Dirty fngers. Dirty debt. Your thumb touches his. Goosebumps, cringing belly, vomit impulses. Become deliciously malicious, thoughts of: Beating the bastard with your bottle of ranch. Ripping open the cat food and making him eat it, the little pussy, conveyer belt churning and grabby: What���s got your tongue now, huh? Drowning him in your soda, bubbles of the waves pushing him under, to the bottom of this plastic sea, past shopping carts and snapping sharks, to trash-bin trenches, to absolute darkness. Te receipt machine screeches. It joins the wheezy scream of a baby in the buggy behind you. You think of making their lovely duo a trio. Your eyes bulge as wide as your soup cans. Finally, words. Toneless: Tanks for shopping at Kroger. Because it is his job: Have a good day. Snatch your receipt and sarcastically punch: Yeah, you too, Willy. Willy. Willy.

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Louisville Magazine - MAR 2013