Wiping down the dirty counter, Danielle Reed shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she tried to hurry to get the bar of the Pool Hall cleaned so she could close for the night. She felt a bit irritated, her tip jar was only half filled and yet there must have been at least fifty people there for some woman's twenty-first birthday party. She silently blamed all the construction that has been going on recently. Not only has there been a decrease in the number of customers, but also all the commotion from the machines left the ones who came here to drink or shoot pool leaving in a grumpy mood, forgetting to tip or sometimes pay and Danielle had to start keeping track on tabs.
She was the only one that was scheduled to work that night and making the minimum hourly pay, plus the little tips she was given and all the trash that was left behind for her to clean did not put her in the best of moods. She was so happy to have Glen Lee there to help her, a middle-aged Asian American who has worked there since he was Danielle's age. His body was frail and thin and as he worked the mop over the concrete floor, his body hunched slightly and he seemed to move stiffly. Danielle has known him for a year and knows that he can handle himself very well, but she still worries for him. He called her halfway into the party and asked if she needed any help cleaning up the place. Danielle was so grateful for his volunteering. She will make sure that she sneaks most of her tips into his pockets. She knows that he will refuse the money but she will find a way to sneak it onto his person. It is the least she can do for him since he was doing this for her.
Danielle sighed deeply and turned to lean against the counter, swiping the back of her hand along her sweaty brow. She looked up to catch what was on the muted television they had hanging along the wall. She suddenly leaned back to grab the remote and quickly turned up the volume. It wasn't one of the reporters that Danielle recognized that normally did this segment during this time of night. The replacement did seem a little under the weather. Her hair seemed dirty and oily and there were dark rings around her eyes and it almost looked like she was trying to hold in coughs, often placing her hand over her mouth and clearing her throat. She was talking about this thing that was going around called the 'Green Flu' and others like evacuations and the CEDA. This has been going on for a while now and Danielle has only seen one person that was sick this past week but she assumed it was the cold. She hasn't seen that person since that day but that is the most she has seen. Apparently this flu was a big deal and has caught Danielle's interest. She didn't think it serious, but more of an interesting thing to hear, since it was the most interesting thing she has heard of since her name was announced during her high school graduation. Glen grunted and walked to the counter, wagging a finger at the TV screen, "You know what they call this?"
Danielle watched the reporter for a few seconds more before veering her eyes to Glen, feeling a bit iffy with Glen's reaction, "Hmm?"
"Convergence. It is when one company benefits another."
It didn't take long to figure out what Glen meant by that, "So you think that the CEDA is trying to scare us to buying some type of medication from someone else that really doesn't do anything for us?"
Glen raised his hands in the air and turned and shuffled back to the area he was cleaning, "Bah! It's all lies! It's all nothing but for money in their pockets from us! I don't believe it and neither should you, child!"
Danielle bit her lip, not wanting to get into an argument with an elder. She didn't think she was a child, she was halfway through being twenty one, but she had to put herself in Glen's shoes for a moment that in his eyes, anyone younger than him was a child, and she didn't feel like arguing. Both have had a long night and Glen didn't have to call and ask if she needed his help. She relaxed and wrung out the washcloth in a green bucket contained the water and bleach she used to sanitize and clean with. Folding the washcloth and neatly and placing it beside the cash register, she picked up the handle and walked to the back of the building. Propping the door open, she grabbed the bucket with both hands, one on the edge and the other on the bottom as she walked to the garbage dumpsters and poured out the dirty water beside the farthest one and with a heavy sigh, made her way back and made sure the back door's lock clicked. Deciding to check the amount of bleach they had, since they used only one bucket of bleach and water throughout each day, bleach didn't need to be worried about all the time, but as she picked up the bottle, it was extremely light and as she shook it, she guessed that there was just enough for one more bucket use. She'll get another bottle tomorrow and stop by the store on her way to work. Setting the bottle back down on the rack, she walked back to the bar and began placing the clean mugs on their shelves and smiled at Glen while doing so.
"Well, thank you for coming in and helping me, I couldn't have done it without ya." Placing the last mug on the shelf, she dumped her tip jar and quickly began counting the pile of ones, separating them into two even piles.
Glen mumbled before turning back to Danielle and made a shooing motion towards her as he began walking towards her again, "You would do the same for me. Besides, I needed to get away from the wife and her sister. She is visiting us for the weekend and all she talks about are her cats and how many of them have kittens and such."
Danielle couldn't help but to quietly chuckle and smirk a little. Glen has never liked animals, but his wife owns a Russell Terrier that they found as a stray a couple years back. Danielle knows that Glen has developed a soft spot with the little dog, he just refuses to admit it and is nasty to the dog whenever other people are around.
Danielle takes a look outside and sees a small drizzle starting to fall. She wished that she took her mother's car to work today, but her mother needed it more to get to her monthly medical checkups and to get to her job at the souvenirs store near Rayford's riverbank. Danielle has walked in the rain before, but that was when she was coming to work and when she was carrying a book bag with dry clothes and shoes. The news has been too focused on the Green Flu to announce the weather lately.
Grabbing both stacks of money, she went into the office and she slipped on her hoodie and placed her money stack in her jean pockets, and slipped the other handful of ones into Glen's jacket. She flung the hood over her head and walked out of the office after clocking out and walked around the bar one last time, making sure that everything was in its place before she closed for the night.
Glen walked out of the closet from putting all the cleaning materials away and he walked to the one slot machine they had that was next to the jukebox, "You go on home. I'll lock up after I hit the 8's. They are close to hitting, I just know it!" Glen had a bit of a gambling problem and before Danielle could say anything, he slipped a twenty into the machine. If he hits a line of 8's, then that is an easy hundred dollars. If not, then it was a waste of a twenty. At least Danielle gave him half of her tips. That would cover a bit of the twenty for him.
Danielle smiled and nodded at the man and gave him a small hug around his shoulders with one arm while the other was resting in her hoodie pouch, "Thanks again, Glen. I'll see you tomorrow?"
The man nodded and waved her off, not taking his eyes off the slot screen. If Danielle asked for a car ride from him, she would have had to slip more money in his pockets to pay for the ride and gas but she would also have to sit and wait for probably an hour, and she didn't feel like waiting around for him. It takes her twenty minutes to get home so by the time he gets done gambling, she could already be home taking a soothing and well deserved hot bath. She doesn't take baths often but rather quick showers every day after work, but after walking in the rain, a hot bath sounded very rewarding.
Outside, she already felt the chills of the rain soaking through her clothes. Hugging her arms around her, she took the sidewalk that led her home. It was almost a straight-forward shot but she already felt like she was a walking sponge. Nearing her first corner, a man and woman dressed in fancy outfits suddenly shot past her from the local liquor store. They were holding newspapers over their heads as they made their way from the small store to an awaiting taxi that was parked by the fence. They paid no attention to Danielle and just tossed the papers at her feet. She stared at them in disbelief as they commanded their driver to their destination.
Swearing under her breath and feeling a bit frustrated, Danielle kicked the newspapers out of her way, between the sidewalk and street and watched as a stream of water washed it down the storm drain. She shivered a bit and suddenly hoped that she wouldn't get sick. She couldn't afford to catch cold and call in sick. She and her mother needed every bit of cash that they can get, especially now when her mother is getting worse. A sickness her mother has had for as long as Danielle could remember and these past few months, she has been going downhill and Danielle fears the worst. Every night, she would see her mother kneeling at her bedside, her cross necklace in her hands and neck bowed as she mumbled a prayer for several minutes. Danielle has always questioned faith, and she doesn't particularly think much of it. Danielle respects her mother's faith and supports her, but she hides what she really thinks. Her mother tries to seek religion for healing, but Danielle wishes that she would visit her doctor more often and take her pills when she was supposed to. Danielle hates seeing her mother suffering so much with little recovery. She does what she can for her mother so that she can stay happy and comfortable for the little time she had left.
Danielle could feel the tears forming and she rubbed the back of her sleeve against her eyes, for several seconds not paying attention to her surroundings. Her shoulder bumped into a man's chest and she quickly threw an apology before continuing on her way. A hand gripped her shoulder and turned her around once more. The man was close to her age, if not slightly older, he smiled down at her but she felt something disturbing about him.
"Hey there, pretty miss. You seem lost. Me and you can go to my place and we can get those wet clothes off you," Danielle felt like punching his Adam's apple but quickly brushed his hand off her shoulder.
"Not this girl. Thanks, but no thanks!" she didn't have time to turn around. He quickly shot his arm up and blocked her path, placing her between the wall and himself as his arm leaned against the building. He still smiled down at her, still persistent.
"Come on, I can tell you are tense. I haven't been doing too good myself so let's do both of us a favor and let off some stress?"Danielle felt so disgusted and angry all at once, wishing that he would just take the hint and leave her alone.
Before anything else could be said or done between them, a car pulled to the curb and stopped. The car was placed in park and from the seat, a tall figure strode over towards them and a rough hand turned the man in front of Danielle around and a threatening tone could be heard from the shadowy face, "I think you have the wrong girl. Why don't you move along,"
The man suddenly backed off to the intruder, placing his hands up in defense and slinking away, "My mistake, I'll see myself out…" and as he turned away, he began jogging and vanished down the next corner.
Danielle felt herself relax but she also felt like she came too close for comfort.
"You okay, Danny?" relief struck her when she saw the face of her savior. She takes a deep breath and rubs her face with slight shaky hands, and tried to smile at her friend, "Yeah, I'm fine…"
Hunter Michael, a friend of Danielle's since high school. Hunter was one of very few people she could trust her life to, and she couldn't have been happier to see him. She wanted to squeeze-hug him to show how much she appreciated him showing up, but she knows that he didn't like any surprising physical contact and respected his personal space.
"Come on. I'll drive you home," he said, lightly laying his hand on her back and leading her to the passenger's side and opened the door for her. She gratefully sat down and she lowered her hoodie from her head. Through the little waves of rain on the windshield and the slow-moving wipers, she could see Hunter jogging back to the driver's side and joined Danielle in the car. He was also wearing his favorite navy blue hoodie but it wasn't often he had the hood lowered. He was the 'mystery' and 'silent' type but he only seemed to get along with Danielle and manage to hold conversations with her, if she could start a decently timed conversation with him. His answers and sentences were always short. Really there was no mystery to him at all, just more of the silence.
He noticed Danielle was still shaking but didn't really know what to do. He kept silent and turned on the heater for her. That was when she noticed that he had the Midnight Riders playing. They were his favorite band. She thinks they are okay but in general she doesn't listen to music except for what is playing at work. Midnight Riders was a popular band around here, so she does get to listen to enough of their songs to know some of the lyrics. The one he had playing now was called Save me Some Sugar, if Danielle's memory served her correctly. It was one of their songs she was happy to hear play on the old jukebox.
"How did you know I was walking home?" Danielle asked as they turned back on the road.
"Your mother called, saying that you should have been home already so I came looking."
"I had a birthday party. I didn't even know about it until I got there so I'm a little pissed that I wasn't noted of it."
Hunter nodded in agreement, but that was all. Danielle figured that he had a lot on his mind so she didn't question him. He wouldn't give her much of an answer if she asked anyway. So silence fell on them for most of the way to her apartment. As far as she was concerned, her, her mother, and an elderly man that lived on the second floor were the only three living in the old building. Just two apartments were finished and refurbished while the rest of the building was still being completed. Just by looking at the building with the worn lettering on the front that it probably used to be some type of factory and now was being made into an apartment building. With the construction still going on, the rooms that were available were really cheap with the guarantee that when everything was completed, the first few residents that were living there beforehand wouldn't get charged of the extra fees that the landlord will be adding.
There was a little conversation when Hunter asked how work was going. Danielle gave little detail and short answers but she made sure to give Glen credit for his help. He nodded every now and again to show her that he was listening. when they reached the apartment building, Hunter pulled up behind her mother's old brown car and Danielle thanked for the ride and got out, quickly making her way to the door, but stopped halfway and turned back and knocked on the window. Hunter rolled it down and she stuck her head halfway in to avoid speaking through the rain, holding her hood above her eyes to shield them.
"Hey, it's Monday and Mom is making her seasoned chicken. You want to join us? It will be as payment for bringing me home." she said, her lips slightly tugging in a smile.
Hunter sat there for a second before looking up at her. He seemed uninterested in the meal until he spoke, "Will there be homemade apple pie?" he asked with a little smile. Danielle's smile broadened in return and nodded, happy to see him in a good mood. He turned off his car, leaving the key turned enough to roll up the window and locked the doors after getting out. He pocketed his keys and walked with Danielle to the door. Hunter seemed to open up more to his old friend and Danielle even managed to squeeze out a little chuckle from him by the time they reached the doorway.
When they entered the apartment, they were greeted by Emily, Danielle's frail mother with a large and kind heart. Hunter became silent around her but still smiled towards her, even when she brought up random subjects. Some were mainly about her younger life; starting how she didn't know her father and her mother never married, to talking about the 'good old days', how things weren't the same, to suddenly finishing with when Hunter and Danielle were going to get serious as dinner was finished and she was serving the apple pie, "You two have always been so close. Even out of high school, Hunter is still coming over at least once a week to visit you. I won't be here forever and I'd like to see some grandchildren before I go," at that moment, Danielle tried to ignore her mother's random ramblings. She was beginning to feel flustered. Even though Emily says this almost every time Hunter comes over for Sunday meals, Danielle still feels embarrassed and sorry that Hunter had to listen to it. Around the first time this subject first started, Hunter was so surprised by the random topic he nearly choked on his meal.
They were just good friends, Danielle knows, but what she doesn't know is if they could ever date and become more than friends. She was pretty sure Hunter felt the same way. He's always had a protective side, but nothing ever romantic or showing any signs of interest. She's never seen that kind of side of him.
After the apple pie and a little more discussions, the rain has stopped and the pitter-patter on the windows ceased. Hunter stood and thanked for the meal and Danielle walked him out the door, where she stood, leaning against the building, "So, will you be joining us again next week?" she asked, knowing he would anyway.
"I think so. I enjoy your mother's cooking too much to stop coming here," he slightly smiled at his own joke as he leaned against the his car, shoving his hands in his pockets. Danielle joined him in the small bit of laughter before crossing her arms over her belly to try to keep enough heat about herself to keep from shivering and pushed from the railing to stand up straight, facing the door, "Talk to you later, Hunter."
"See ya," he replied back with a halfhearted salute.
Nodding goodbye to each other, they went their separate ways and as she closed the door and rested herself against it and she sighs, relieved that the night was almost over. Her mother walked from the kitchen to the living room, "I wonder when that boy will ever ask you out, honey. It's obvious that you two like each other."
"We are just friends, Mom…"
"Oh I think there is more. You two just don't know it yet."
Emily turned on the TV to the news. As Danielle walked to her room, she could faintly hear more jabber about the new flu and evacuations from nearby towns. She didn't think anything of it, not feeling interested in what they had to say. At the moment, her mind was on Hunter. They are just friends. They both didn't have room for any romance in their lives and she wished that her mother would stop badgering them about it and it bothered Danielle each time her mother mentioned it.
Slipping from her wet clothes and into a tub of hot water, she quickly relaxes and all her worries of the day were soon forgotten, mixing a small handful of lavender bath salts into the water. Taking in the refreshing scents, the smell of alcohol, bleach, and sweat that clung around her nose was overpowered by the lavender.
Drying herself and slipping on a loose gray sweatshirt and white boxers, Danielle felt completely refreshed. She brushed her almond-brown hair and studied the length. It dangled just a few inches past her shoulders. Any longer and she'd have to consider a hair cut. She likes the length to be just long enough to put in a messy bun during work hours. Fighting the tempting comfort of her bed for just a few seconds longer, Danielle forced open her window and felt the cool, rain-washed breeze flow into her room, giving her a chill, but one she always enjoyed before sleep. Turning, she moaned as she collapsed onto her bed and quickly snuggled into the blankets, sighing one last time before she could feel herself dozing off into slumber. Just seconds before sleep took her, Danielle could hear faint sirens wailing in the distance.