You're (not ) all bi yourself

His bike was back in the hall. Whoever had taken had put it right back later that day. Arnold pushed the bike down the stoop. It bouncing a bit with every step. Arnold looked up. He had a good view of the gray sky earlier when he woke up. It wasn't raining but it was going to. He got on his bike. A car passed by him on the street. Arnold started to pedal. After a bit of riding it started. First in the occasional droplet that would hit him in the arm or with a tap on the helmet. Then it really began. Real rain. There was humidity in the air and the feeling of the water hitting him wasn't bad. He got there ten minutes later. He hooked the bike to the pipe. His shirt was pretty wet. He stepped inside. The owner was looking through a shelf of candy, he turned and saw Arnold. "It's really coming down isn't it."

"Yeah." Arnold leaned out the door, rolled up his shirt, and wringed the water from the shirt and went back inside. He walked to the back, Helga passed by him as he entered the break room. He punched in and went to the refrigerator. Helga already had the cart. She wheeled it out to the front. He followed with his hands in his pockets. When they were in the aisle, Arnold took out his notebook. Helga started to remove the things that had just expired. She grabbed the heads of lettuce that looked a bit rusted. Arnold noted every thing she put in the cart. She grabbed a few cucumbers which had went soft in parts. She looked at the drinks. Aloe drinks, kombucha, lemonade, apple cider. She scanned the dates on them. He spoke. "Those rarely need to be replaced."

"I'm looking for myself." She sifted through them and yeah their dates were pretty far off. She stood and gave the aisle one last look. She picked up an onion which had fell. She put it on the cart. They stood there a minute. He looked at her. She had a black shirt with a white coffin on it. She also had a piercing, silver thing in her eyebrow. She noticed him looking. They met eyes. "Arnold."

"Yeah?"

"Stop staring."

"I uh..." It'd be a lie if he said he didn't mean to. "Sorry."

Helga sighed. He looked one last time at her piercing. Then return his eyes to the produce. He smelled the air. The aisle always had a smell. Dry, green. You could smell it. "Did that hurt?"

She looked at him. "Huh?"

"That piercing."

"Oh... I had someone do it for me. I don't really remember if it hurt."

"You don't remember?"

"Yeah. I was uh... high."

"On what?"

"I had a cookie before I got it pierced."

"Didn't they give you a drug test for this job?"

"Yeah but I haven't been high in like a year. I don't make it a habit anymore, bub."

"Oh."

Helga looked around. The store was pretty empty this early in the morning. "Have you ever got high?"

Arnold rubbed his fingers together. "No. I'm not interested."

"It's fun but you get real lazy. That's why I stopped. I just sat around and did nothing everyday." The two grew quiet. They had pulled quite a bit off the shelf. Helga wheeled the cart to the back. He followed silently. They loaded it with everything that needed replacing. The freezer made Arnold especially cold with the wet clothes touching his skin. He shivered. "You OK there?"

"Just got a little wet in the rain."

"I'll load the rest."

"OK." Arnold stepped out of the freezer. He looked at his list and told her what they needed. "Ya know what we really need..." Arnold walked back into the freezer for a moment. He picked up a watermelon and put it on the counter. He put on some rubber gloves. He started to cut it up. Helga took the produce to the front of the store. Arnold was going to make some watermelon pieces. Helga returned after restocking the front. She looked at what Arnold was doing. She grumbled. She went to the wrapper machine and got to work on the two packs he had finished while she was at the front of the store. There were two extra packs they didn't need for the front of the store. They stored it in the refrigerator.

They still had more to do but Helga looked at Arnold. Arnold looked back. "I had a question, Arnoldo."

"Shoot."

An employee passed by the room. Helga looked to make sure they were gone. "I was wondering. I heard a rumor last year." Arnold's face went red. Helga noticed this. "So is it true?"

Arnold leaned against the counter. He wasn't sure what to say. "Did the rumor have something to do with a boy named Riley?" Helga nodded. "It's true."

"I never knew, Arnold."

"What about you?"

"I'm straight as far as I know."

"Can you not mention this to anyone here?"

"I won't."

There was a knock. They looked towards the door. The owner had knocked on the door frame. "The produce is looking good you two. How about you take an early lunch?"

Arnold volunteered. "I'll bring the watermelon pieces to the front so you can eat." Helga nodded. She followed along anyway. Arnold wheeled the cart to the back and looked at Helga. "What are you going to eat?"

Helga shrugged.

"We can eat here, but I'm too used to their food. Do you have money?"

"A little bit."

"How much is a little bit?"

"Ten in cash."

"I got like twenty. Perfect." Arnold walked out the front of the grocery store. It was raining. Helga followed. They walked three stores over in the district. It was just a different grocery store. Parson's Grocer and Deli. Arnold stepped inside. It was an open store. You could see most of it from the front. It was practically packed compared to their grocery store. He pointed to the left. "Over there they make sandwiches, some subs..." He pointed to the right. "and over there is a salad bar."

"Hmm..." Helga looked to the left and then the right. She walked to the left and Arnold followed. "How much is it for a sub?"

"Ten."

"How much for a sandwich?"

"Eight."

She walked up the counter. A man wearing a red apron was passing a sandwich across the counter to a woman. The man noticed Helga. "What'll it be?"

"Roast beef sandwich with provolone."

"Anything else on it?"

"Nah."

Arnold went past her to where they were making subs. A woman asked him a question Helga couldn't hear. Helga looked at Arnold. He was still the handsome boy she grew up with. She hadn't written a poem about him in over a year. Yesterday she did. It was trash compared to what she used to do. He turned to her and he was smiling. She gave the smile back. She heard a man's voice. "Here you go." He passed the roast beef sandwich over the counter.

Arnold waited a few minutes longer. He got his sub. They both paid for their food. Arnold got two drinks. They walked outside together. There was a table with a fabric umbrella over top. They sat there. Arnold unwrapped the foil surrounding his sandwich. She undid the white wrap on hers. She took a bite. The cheese was mostly bunched near the bottom, but it was good. He took a bite. He looked like he was in heaven. "What'd you get?"

"Steak and cheese with everything on it."

"Not my thing." She took another bite of her sandwich. It was damn good. They silently ate together. Listening to the sound of rain. Arnold looked up. The weather was starting to clear. He took a drink out of the bag and put it across the table for her. She looked at it. "You bought this for me?"

"I did." He looked normal. He took another bite.

She pulled the tab and it cracked open. It was iced tea mixed with lemonade. She took a sip. She liked it. He did the same for his drink. It was iced tea with raspberry flavoring. He seemed to like it. They finished their meal and went back to the store. The owner was waiting by the front door for them. "Hey, Arnold?"

Arnold looked at the owner. "Yeah?"

"Can we talk in my office?"

Arnold felt fear but his face didn't show it. "Sure."

"Alright." The owner opened the door for the two and Helga went back to work.

Andrew lead Arnold to the back. Something felt like he was being lead to his death and he had realized it too early. Andrew held open the door and Arnold took his seat across from the desk. Andrew took a seat. There was silence for a moment. Arnold was desperately uncomfortable. "I overheard you two talking before you went on lunch break."

"Yeah?"

Andrew seemed to struggle for the words. "I know what it's like to face discrimination. I'm uh... queer myself."

"You mean like gay?"

"Yes. And I want to let you know. If any employee or a customer ever gives you a problem. Let me know. It's my job to make sure my employees feel safe in their workplace."

Arnold was blushing slightly. "OK. Well, thanks. The topic has always been... a little strange for me."

"No problem. Not a problem at all." Andrew stood. Arnold stood. Arnold turned around and left the office. Andrew closed the door behind him.

Arnold felt a weight lift off his shoulders. It wasn't death. The guy was just trying to be kind. It was still awkward but it meant something. There was someone he could go to if he was having a problem. He went back to the produce aisle. Helga was marveling at their work. Arnold looked too. Most stuff looked pretty fine. Maybe they needed an apple or two but they had done a lot of work. "Y'know what the boss man had to say?"

"What?"

Arnold wasn't really sure how to phrase so he just said what happened. "He overheard us earlier and he said I had nothing to fear. That he's uh..." Arnold looked over his shoulder a moment. "Queer too."

"That's good."

"I'm just surprised that's all."

"Seems like a good guy."

"Yeah, seems so. I really had no idea about the dude until today."

Helga looked at Arnold. "Anything you see we need?"

"Apples."

"Apples." Helga was holding onto something. She had wanted to ask something over lunch but she didn't. A few seconds passed of silence. She sighed. "Are you gay or are you bi?"

"Bi."

She smiled small. "Oh, OK."

It was later now and Arnold was home from work. Arnold looked through the panels on his roof at the night sky. It was dark but he couldn't see the stars. Just the night. He had his headphones on. Iron & Wine was playing. Soft earthy tunes. He was feeling strange that night. Not good or bad. He thought of Helga for a moment. She was nice. She seemed to be good at the job too. He had desperately needed her company and he hadn't known it. It made the job tolerable. He stopped thinking about her and then there was nothing. He took out his phone again and looked through the messages. Riley's name was there. The last message he sent. OMW TOO. It was a very specific message. The feelings were still there. It was like he walked back into a burning house. It made him sweat. He closed his phone and took off his headphones. He pressed stop on the player and put it on the shelf. He had Helga's number now. He wanted to call her but it was late. He tried to resist. Resist the urge. He really needed to talk to someone. He pressed the button and the phone rang. It rang twice and she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Helga."

"Hi, Arnold."

"Did I wake you up?"

"No. I was watching a movie by myself."

"What movie?"

"Lost in Translation."

"What's that movie?"

"It's uh... hard to explain. It's kinda like a romance movie, but not really. It's got Bill Murray in it. It's not funny at all though. I like it. What are you calling about though Arnold?"

"I just wanted to talk."

"About something in particular?"

"Well..." He thought about what to say. "I wanted to talk about something. Something that happened with Riley, my ex."

"I've got nothing better to do so spill."

"Well..." He wasn't sure where to start. So he just began.