Great Girls(Victoria Pedretti)

C. 10🕰

"Okay, now you have a good time! And remember the puppet show starts at one o'clock." I say to the mother of two toddlers as she thanks me and walks past the ticket booth with her children.

The museum was gloomy and dark, the only light that was illuminating the place was the light bulbs from the auditorium and the suspended linear fixtures. The business was slow as it normally was on weekdays in the afternoons, and I had one hour left of work, then I got to hit the hay at my mama's house.

I was going to go back to my dorm, but I was still mad at Claudia for being so careless with my possessions. That, and I wanted to have a bite of my mom's chicken pot pie. My mother may not be a pro at her crockpot dishes, but she is a queen when it comes to baking pies. I can thank my great-grandmother Jetta for that. She's long gone, six feet under and buried next to her husband Jaris McCollough, who may have been related to Celeste McCollough (founder of the McCollough Effect).

While I waited for someone to cover my station, I reached into the back pocket of my jeans to obtain my yellow schedule.

"Excuse me, miss. Can you show me where the bathroom is?" I heard a customer say.

Without hesitation or looking up, I nodded and answered, "Yes, just give me one second." My head went up for a second and my eyes followed, but my brain didn't process the fact that there was someone familiar standing in front of me.

I nearly snapped my neck, trying to bring it back up to eye level. "Luci, hi," I broke out into a titter. I tucked my hair behind my ears and shoved my schedule back into the pocket of my dungarees. "Salinger," she said in a soft voice.

"Luci, what are you doing here?" I asked, attaching the barcode scanner to the holder after I neglected to when I scanned the woman's online ticket.

Her cheeks elevated, forming in a U-shape, and I was able to see her pink gums for the second time. "I ran into Crush today at Preston, and I asked him where you were. He said you were here. I didn't know you worked at a children's museum. You must be living the dream."

I couldn't tell if she was fibbing and being sarcastic or being serious, but then I realized that there was a bigger concern of mine. "Wait, a second. I have two questions," I say.

"Ask away," she replies. "One, how do you know Crush? Two, since when do you go to Hartley?"

She bites her lip and rests her arms on top of the ticket booth counter. "Crush and I go way back. I'm talking diapers and wiping boogers on each other, " she states, making me scrunch my nose up in contempt.

When she saw me become disgusted, she took her hands off of the counter and laid her palm on my right hand. Goosebumps sprang from my arm down to my right hand, but Luci hadn't noticed.

"Oh, my Lord. I didn't mean to gross you out. I was only saying what was affirmative, " she cackled, snorting like a little piglet. It was cute, needless to say.

I shut my eyes, giggling. I reopened them and said, "It's fine. I'm glad you're here, seeing me live out my dream stamping tickets and sprucing up piss at the Toddler Tots."

"You're a real smart ass, " she laughed, raising her brows. "My mother says the same thing. So, do you go to Hartley?" I asked, intrigued by the idea that someone I may or may not have feelings for went to the same college as me.

"Yeah, " she laughs. "no, I don't."

"But you said went to Preston Library to see Crush. How did you get in without an ID?" "I know people."

I tilted my head back in curiosity and cocked an eyebrow, "Oh, yeah. You know people?"

"Yes, Sallie. I know people, " she says, leaning in close to me while I was seated in the swivel chair.

"If you two want to make out, I suggest you take it to the stalls. The AC's always on and no one will hear a thing, " someone said behind me.

Luci's eyes fluttered in a swift motion, compelling to look behind me to see Aminah, my co-worker, hovering over me.

Aminah wore a dark blue hijab and a pink cardigan with high waisted boyfriend jeans and green converse. Her face was caked up with makeup and she made every bone in my untalented body envy her because of how well she applied the products.

She was a goddess, a pro. She was Aminah.

"Oh, my goodness. Aminah, I didn't see you." I nervously say, standing up from the chair and walking out of the booth, unaware that my shoelaces were untied, and, I fell flat on my face.

Aminah didn't rush to help, no she smirked and stepped over me. I didn't take the trouble to react to Aminah's poor response, I sat there like a clumsy elephant.

Luci hastened to my side, dropping to her knees and helping me find my place on the ground again. "Are you okay?" she asked in a solemn tone. I didn't respond. I stared at her red cheeks and thought about how much I wanted to pinch them.

I broke into laughter and nodded. 

Her solemn countenance couldn't resist my contagious laughter because she had begun to laugh with me. She caressed my cheek and said, "Sallie, you're crazy. God, what am I going to do with you?"

Then, out of the blue, I thought of the silliest thing and the words that came out of my mouth were "Take me out on a date." 

Luci stopped laughing and stood still. I was frightened that I had startled her with my ridiculous imperative demand. 

My, God. I've done it again. I've sabotaged something that hasn't even begun. I've--

"Okay, I'll wait for you to get off of work." 

Lord, have mercy. I've got a date. 

"Wait, are you serious?" 

"As a heart attack," she answered with a beaming smile. When I didn't give her an answer, she grabbed my arm and said, "Come on, let's go." 

Holy shit, she's serious. She's not shitting. Shit. Double shit. Triple shit. Quadruple shit. Mega shit. I have to take a shit.