The Day

(31) Opportunity Knocks

                “You were before!”

                “You didn’t know it was me.”

                “Well-“

                “Eh, shut it Mr. Gas station man.” Feeling rude about his nickname, I looked at his name tag. “Steve. Is that your name?”

                “Eh, no,” he replied nervously.

                “Then what is it?” I asked.

                “My real name is Hanji, miss. I was born in Iran,” he told me.

                “Why does your name tag say Steve then?” I asked.

                “It is a… how do you call it, a generic name tag. They did not have my name, so they gave me this one,” he admitted.

                “Well, Hanji,” I said, “I have not been around here lately. So it was not me.”

                “Oh, miss! But it is money! They will give me money, right?” he asked.

                I shrugged, pushing the candy towards him once again. “I don’t know. I won’t tell them not to.”

                “Please, miss? I need it. It is two thousand five hundred dollars. My daughter is going to college and I need that money,” he begged, smacking his palms together and rocking back and forth.

                “All right, all right,” I agreed, rolling my eyes and just picking up my coke and taking a sip from it. I’d have to pay anyways.

                “I knew that it was because of that man! Kevin was never really liked after the incident with his son…”

                I chocked on  my drink, my eyes bulging out. “Kevin? What?” Kevin was Ivellise’s father. They must have caught him.

                “The day of your disappearance, he went to the police station and confessed to shooting you and your friend… Brent? He has been missing too. Is he back?” he asked me, ringing up my candy and soda. “Three dollars and twenty cents,” he added.

                I reached in my back pocket, and grimaced. Damn. I’d forgotten my money. “Um…”

                “Don’t worry about it,” he told me, handing me the candy. “You will pay me back soon.”

                I nodded, and looked down to where my picture was. Just as he said, there was a picture of Brent right next to mine, reporting that he was missing as well. I’d seen these pictures littered around town everywhere before. I never paid much attention to them.