Chapter 17:
Carter pushed his shoulder blades together, trying to loosen the tension in his muscles from being stiffly glued to his bike seat for so long. The sound of the tires against the open road was still ringing in his ears.
He racked his brain, trying to remember what the date was. But he couldn't.
Judging by the eerie darkness that draped itself over the trees, it was the beginnings of the evening. A dark quiet evening that he could spend nursing his heartache and headache with a bottle. The gas station sign, flashing a sharp and painful bright green and red, burned itself into his retinas. Although he was cursing its fluorescence, it was what drew him in. He felt like a moth controlled by bursts of light. His stomach was too hungry and numb to even make a sound. His ribs were beginning to poke through his black T-shirts. He didn't know where he was and he didn't care. If he hadn't decided to stop and eat, for the first time in days, he might have found himself, a lone wolf lying cold and still on the side of the road.
What a pretty picture. They'd find him with only a red sweater and a promise in his bag. The only earthly possessions that mattered to him.
Carter flung open the door of the small convenience store. From the way the girl leaning against the cash register jumped at the sound, he could tell this place hardly welcomed late night visitors.
She screeched and flew half a foot in the air, throwing the book she had been engrossed in, to the floor. The sound made Carter's mouth curl in distaste.
She apologized nervously, but did not resume her leisurely activities. She hunched over the counter and shamelessly stared at him in caution as he squeezed through the minuscule spaces in the isles.
With his broad shoulders and the luggage-sized circles under his eyes, he must have looked dishevelled and rough...but surely not rough enough to trigger such a suspicious response. This shop in all its fluorescent, musty smelling glory, must be a hotbed for all sorts of weird and wonderful characters. He being the least strange of its usual customers.
He could sense her unease. She didn't know that he was as harmless as a roll of toilet paper.
He moved around the small store, praying not to knock anything over. It was difficult to be a big man hoping to move through a small space. He had to push himself into a thin sheet, his body and his presence felt confined. The shelves were all stocked to the brim, an almost random assortment of products teetering dangerously from every inch of them. They were stacked like dominoes, one false touch from toppling.
Tired from his journey and feeling too scrutinized under the distrustful gaze of this hoodie-clad girl, he grabbed a can of coke, a bag of chips and a box of Raspberry pop tarts giving in to his impulsive need for saturated fat and sugar.
When he reached the front desk he could only muster up a half smile to give to the curly haired stranger who looked like she was about to whip out an extra-large and extra spicy can of pepper spray and fire it directly at him...At least he wouldn't have to look at the neon sign anymore. At least that would make him feel something.
He fished out a few notes from his wallet and threw them in the direction of the register. The register itself was a quintessential example of the time warp he felt he was in. It was black with thick, metal typewriter like buttons. Every inch of its base collaged with human boyband stickers, which had stood the test of time. That, coupled with the tray of glitter lip-glosses and rack of ancient movies, made him feel like he had stepped into a different world.
As his items were being scanned the girl looked at him with absolute confusion.
"What." He said in a deadpan voice.
He could tell she was holding back laughter. She raised her hands in mock defence. "Nothing, nothing. I'm not judging."
Carter was about to question further when he saw what she was holding in her hands.
For the first time in weeks, he laughed. He actually laughed. It was a deep, full body belly laugh that reminded him of happier times. He had almost forgotten the feeling. It felt strange to be laughing. A sound that was an integral part of his being had become so foreign. How had he let that happen?
"I meant to grab pop-tarts." He said, answering the hidden question in her eyes. Now he knew he was in need of sleep.
The girl smiled and shook her head. "I was wondering why a grown man would need a jumbo box of extra absorbent tampons."
The rule was with Carter, that if you shared a laugh with him, you were immediately friends. It was inevitable and instantaneous. Usually, he was the one making someone else laugh, but the reverse worked too. Being with people was how he recharged and for the past few weeks, his personal battery had been running on negative numbers.
He felt some of his old self- bubble to the surface, like a glimmer of something that had been waiting to break free. "Hey, I might have just been on my man period."
The girl walked to the pop-tart shelf and retrieved the correct box. She held it up in the air and shook it in his direction for approval. Her laughter that echoed through the store brought some warmth to the place. She cackled like an animal and it made Carter grin.
"You definitely aren't the weirdest nine o' clock purchase I've ever gotten, so don't feel too embarrassed."
"C'mon, you gotta tell me the weirdest ones?" The loose promise of a laugh and a good conversation made him want to stay a little longer. The girls' reservation towards him had disappeared the second he handed her the box of tampons.
She returned to the counter and tapped a finger to her chin. "Let me think..."
Her whole face brightened as a memory came to her.
"This guy came in a few weeks ago and bought one spoon, a pack of rubber bands and anti-dandruff shampoo....even though he was bald"
Carter covered his hands with his face in laughter.
"Omg, and once there was this lady. She was old, like way past her expiry date old. She came in and bought a chainsaw and two scented candles."
Her human expressions and hand gestures reminded him of Cassidy. A sad feeling pricked his heart.
Carter looked at her in disbelief as he registered what she said. "Why do you sell chainsaws in here?"
She looked into the distance and pressed her lips into a thin line. She shook her head, "We don't anymore...but that's another story."
Carter looked around the store and outside. His motorbike was the only sign of life that he could see. That and an evil looking crow that was getting way too close to his shiny metal baby.
He carefully considered his words before speaking. Something he wasn't used to doing.
"I don't think you're getting any more customers tonight and I got time." Being in this store, albeit dingy and claustrophobic was better than being outside, spending the night directionless, with the cold wind biting his face.
And so that was how Carter found himself an hour later, sitting against a box of bouncy balls, absentmindedly bouncing a green glittery one, on the glass of the frozen food section, while Alina sat opposite him, cross-legged and halfway through the story of the chainsaw massacre of 2003. It involved blood and a lot of squirrels.
"..So anyway that's the story."
Carter took a swig of his coke and gulped it down. "Yup, thanks for all those beautiful details." He grimaced, "I'll sleep easy tonight."
A moment of comfortable silence settled over the shop. The creak of the old, rusted heating system was their background music.
Alina laughed to herself.
"What?" Carter questioned.
She uncrossed her legs and pulled her knees close to her chest, looking like she needed to comfort and protect herself.
"I'm usually super shy around strangers. My customer services skills have never been the best. That's why I like working nights. I can read...but here I am spilling my guts."
"I usually have that effect on women," Carter smirked, never passing up on an opportunity to arrogant.
Alina rolled her eyes, unaffected by his boldness. "I don't think it was you. I think it was the tampon box."
"Ahh yes, obviously." Carter laughed again. For the first time in a long time, he hadn' thought about what he had left behind in the dust of his motorcycle tires. It was nice to be enjoying a conversation with someone else. Someone who didn't ask him if he was okay every minute. Someone who saw him for who he was now and had no expectations or pity for him.
"What about you Carter? What's your story?" On a normal day, he would launch into the legendary tale that was his life, with ease, not skipping over a single detail, making sure to saturate it with anecdotes...but apart from the fact that this was a human...now it was different. He was different. Some of his sparkle was gone. He didn't know if he would ever get it back.
He almost had to restrain himself from keeping his answers to less than ten words. "Nothing much to tell." He shrugged and tried to be nonchalant.
Alina nodded before commenting, "you look like you've seen better days." There was a curious tone to her voice, but her bright eyes and open face didn't make her seem evasive to him. This girl's candid innocence made his resolve weaken.
"Are you saying I look like shit?" He quipped.
She snorted loudly. Looking embarrassed as the sound left her. "Yes. Yes, that's exactly what I meant.
"I'm just doing some soul searching."
Alina laughed. "Okay, hippie, the tie-dye shirts are over there."
Carter didn't know if this store was just in its own strange bubble or if it was humans that were the weird ones. "What don't you have in this store?"
She chuckled, "Wi-Fi."
"Do you have a place you're going to at least?" She further questioned.
He shook his head, 'no' with a smile.
"I'm just seeing where the road takes me. I have some stuff to work through."
She was perceptive enough to sense that he wasn't willing to say more.
The door of the shop creaked open and Alina jumped up in surprise. She made her way to the counter and Carter followed suit.
An older woman stepped into the store and glanced around nervously. Her eye twitched like a tattoo needle and her stuttering voice could barely be understood. Carter glanced outside and saw that she had pulled up in a weather-beaten red pickup truck. She was double parked. Not that it mattered in an empty night like this.
Alina shot a panicked glance at Carter. Seeing that she was lost for words, Carter took the lead.
"How can we help you, ma'am?"
As if only just noticing their presence the woman shifted to them. Her twitching eye and fumbling words momentarily stopping. She didn't look haggard or crazy, just stressed and a little frazzled.
"I need diapers and some formula. Do you have any?" Alina mumbled something about going to the back of the store to get them. Carter could not comprehend that there was a storeroom filled with more things.
Carter could see that despite trying to put on a brave front, this lady was close to tears. The distress was seeping out from under her jacket.
"Are you alright ma'am?"
She coughed to try and mask the tremble on her voice. "My son, he's sick. He just won 't stop crying and I've tried everything... I just don't know what to do anymore."
Carter wasn't good at being a comforter. Humour was his default.
"Maybe you just need to put some beer in his bottle? That always worked on me as a kid and I turned out fine for the most part."
The women paused and looked at him wide-eyed. Her jaw literally dropped. Before he could mentally cringe and profusely apologize for his despicable suggestion she slapped her hand over her mouth and her shoulders began to shake uncontrollably.
'Shit, he thought. I just made a grown lady cry.'
Of course, Alina chose that exact moment to re-enter the scene. She looked at Carter in horror before trying to tap the lady awkwardly on the shoulder.
"Um...lady? I have your things..."
The distraught women didn't actually turn out to be that distraught. She looked up and Carter and Alina both realised in surprise that her hysterical crying was actually hysterical laughter.
Carter felt an unbelievable sense of relief and confidence. So he was a funny wolf and a funny guy. It seemed that a joke could transcend any species.
The woman wiped her eyes and took the items from Alina's outstretched hands. "Oh, I'm sorry, that was just too funny."
Carter smiled at the woman. She already looked five years younger and more radiant. That was the power of a good laugh.
As she paid for her things Carter kept making hilarious comments. Earning laughter from both Alina and the woman. He had even convinced her to buy a few extra toys for her son.
As she left the store she tipped Carter and asked jokingly, "Ever thought about babysitting? I already know the name of your first customer."
Carter opened the door for her and walked her to her car. He wrinkled his nose and frowned. "I've heard being with a baby is the best form of birth control but, no thank you, I think there are cheaper ways to torture myself."
He shut the door for her, still hearing her laughter through the car door.
He walked back into the store and found Alina looking at him with a bemused expression on her face.
"How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"How the hell did you make her laugh like that. She gave us a huge ass tip too!"
Carter laughed and shrugged, "I just like talking to people."
She looked pensive for a moment, fiddling with her fingernails. This human girl was much nicer and easier to talk to than Candice was. He shuddered at the memory of whipped cream in his airways.
"Look, I don't know you, but you seem cool."
"Okay..." Carter couldn't see where this was going.
"And so normally I wouldn't make this offer, but my dad owns this store and the auto repair garage next door and his last guy just got fired and he could really use the extra help...You're so good at talking to people..."
The moment of silence that followed made Alina nervous. "I mean I'm sorry if that was too forward, it's just if you wanted a place to stick around for a little bit and the pay isn't bad and..."
Carter's smile lit up the room brighter than the harsh fluorescent light.
"I'll take it."
"Good cause no offence, but you look like you need some sleep and a warm meal."
Alina was the type of girl that liked to take care of people. Raised by a doting grandmother who loved to extend a hand to Kings and beggars alike could do that to a person. She could see something deeply broken within Carter that she felt responsible to fix. Or to at least try. She didn't believe in coincidences. Maybe it was simply meant to be that Carter had stumbled into her quiet corner of the world late on a Tuesday night.
Just the thought of a bed to sleep in sounded like heaven to Carter.
A few weeks in a sleepy town where nobody knew his story wouldn't hurt. It was a welcomed distraction that could temporarily stitch the emptiness he felt inside. He didn't expect to find happiness, but something fresh was bound to be good for his soul. Wallowing didn't suit him. The opportunity for a new start was presenting itself and he'd ride the wave to see where it went.
"But I have one condition."
"Yeah?"
"You have to let me keep the bouncy ball. And you gotta let me have a tie-dye shirt.
"Want a flower headband and assless chaps to go with that?"
"Of course!"
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I hope you guys liked seeing a little peek of what Carter is up to :) I actually was not planning on writing anything about Carter, so it was a spontaneous decision. So please let me know what you think, because if I get good feedback from this little segment then I can write a few more, in between the other chapters.
I didn't want there to be any romantic suggestion between Carter and Alina, so I hope that I didn't inadvertently create any expectations. It is the beginnings of a friendship at this point. Just thought I'd clear that up.
Thanks for reading!
-Jasmine
P.S I have final exams coming up and so it might be a little while before I upload another chapter :) So if I am missing for a bit, it's not because I'm leaving or have forgotten, I just need to buckle down put all my effort into graduating in one piece. Wish me luck!