Day Shift

20

Fiji was crying. It made something inside Manfred twist and cringe. For a second he stood, shocked, and then he said, “That Travis! Last night! Did he hurt you?”

Fiji looked as surprised as a weeping woman could. “No! Are you kidding? I would have killed him if he had.”

Manfred felt a relief so intense that he had to sit down in one of the wicker chairs. “Then what?” he said. “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t have a good time,” she said. She was making a desperate attempt to stop crying, and it wasn’t doing her voice any favors. Her words kind of hiccupped out.

“Lots of dates are like that,” he said, having to suppress an impulse to laugh.

“How the hell would I know?”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“Oh, Manfred,” she said disgustedly.

He was bewildered.

“Seriously,” he said. “I don’t see why you wouldn’t know that. Did you just date one guy all through high school or something?”

“I’m fat,” she said, as one stated the obvious.

“Not so,” Manfred said instantly. “You have a woman’s body, a butt and boobs.” He started to say, “And even if you were, you’re still pretty,” but he had enough sense to shut up while he was ahead.

She looked both embarrassed and flattered. “Nice of you to say so.”

“I speak the truth, grasshopper,” he said seriously. He had no idea what that reference was, but his grandmother had always thought it was funny. Fiji seemed to find it so, too. “So anyway, what was wrong about your date with Travis, since we’re agreeing that nothing’s wrong with the way you look?”

She sighed heavily. “We just don’t seem to have anything in common.” She propped herself on her elbows and swabbed her face with a tissue. “We always talk about the Cartoon Saloon and the crazy people who come in there. He asks me how things are with the shop, and I say okay. Last night, he asked me who actually comes to my shop.”

“And you told him?”

“I told him I sold alternative-lifestyle things for women, mostly, and led classes in how to find your inner strength, and that I was a witch and sold some stuff pertaining to witchcraft. So my clientele is mostly women. And I’m a practitioner as well.”

“And he said?”

“And I quote, ‘Oooooh, spooky lady!’ He didn’t really seem to know how to react aside from that. He asked me if I had any tattoos.”

“You told him you were a witch, and that’s all he could think of to say?” Manfred smiled, just a little, and in a second he and Fiji were laughing out loud.

“I know,” she said. “I know! But at the moment, it wasn’t funny at all, it felt like the kiss of death!”

“How’d it go after that?” Manfred was trying not to laugh any more. He was a bit surprised the bouncer hadn’t had a chance to find out about Fiji’s tattoos firsthand.

“Pretty dire. I didn’t know how to talk about the price beef was fetching and calf roping or bull riding — he loves the rodeo — and he didn’t know what to make of Midnight. He told me about his last shift with the ambulance, when a guy had a heart attack and then he’d had to pull a baby out of a wreck. Finally we got down to what television shows we watched, and I kind of feel like it’s all over if that’s the main topic you can come up with. Not that you can’t find out a lot about people from that,” she added, in case that was Manfred’s fallback position when he was on a date.

“I’ve talked about television, I admit it freely,” he said, trying to keep a straight face, but they started laughing again.

“It was awful,” Fiji said. “Assuming he ever calls again, I think I’ll give it a pass. That’s what I get for going out with someone who had nothing but hotness going for him.”

“Hey, it could have turned out good.”

“Yeah, but… it didn’t. I lost a few hours of time. And a little of my self-respect. And I never discovered if the hotness was all attitude.”

“I ran into Bobo the other evening, and he knew you were going out with Travis McNamara.”

“Yes, I told him,” she said, in a voice so even you could have put a level on it. She shrugged. “He seemed pleased.” She was trying as hard as she could to look neutral about that, but in fact the feelings chased across her face. Defiant, angry, sad.

“He was pretty worried about it. He thought Travis was too rough for you.”

Looking much more cheerful, she sat up straight, took a deep breath, and said, “Thanks for coming over and listening to my crap. I’ll bet there was something you wanted to talk about?”

“That confidence you gave me. It was great.”

Fiji brightened even more. “I’m so glad! It was something new I was trying out. How long before it wore off?”

“That’s the only problem. I’m still getting, like, flashbacks,” he said, trying not to sound uneasy. “I can’t tell if some plan I have is actually a good idea, or if I just think so because I’m under the spell. Kind of like Olivia thinking she’s had a good idea if she has it in the chapel.”

Fiji looked thoughtful. “Okay… what you’re saying is it’s working too well? That you feel you might have lost your judgment?”

He nodded vigorously. “Exactly.”

“So I need to temper it somehow.” Fiji pulled out the old notebook she kept in a drawer under the counter and got a pen from the caddy on her desk. “And you’re having flashbacks. So I need to cut down on the…” Her voice trailed off as she wrote a few more words. “Thanks, Manfred. I appreciate the feedback.”

“Have you met the new guy yet?”

“What new guy?”

“He may tell you his name is Rick, but he also says it’s Barry. Horowitz. He came in the middle of the night two nights ago. He’s the grandson of one of the residents.”

“And he’s staying?” She was still waiting for the pertinence of the new guy to manifest itself.

“For a while, at least,” Manfred said. “He’s unusual, Fiji. Even for here.”

Diederik came in, looking hopeful. Fiji immediately put a plate up on the counter, piled with homemade biscuits covered with plastic wrap. “Oh, thank you,” the boy said. He was even more appreciative when Fiji put a knife, a dish of butter, and some jam beside the biscuits.

They were both giving him a careful once-over. “I don’t think you grew as much,” Manfred said. “It’s slowing down.”

“I did get some bigger clothes, just in case, but I believe you’re right,” Fiji said, pushing the plate closer to Diederik, who unwrapped the biscuits with speed. He remembered to offer them to Manfred, but when Manfred shook his head, the boy looked relieved and dug in. Fiji put a glass of juice beside the plate, and Diederik drained it at a gulp.

“What does the Rev feed you?” Manfred asked.

“Oatmeal every morning. But some bacon also, this morning.” Diederik’s answer was not very clear.

“I don’t know where you put it,” Manfred said.

Fiji looked a little forlorn, as if she well understood the compulsion to eat, but Diederik said, “I’m always hungry. Always. I hope it won’t be like this forever!”

“I’m just guessing, but I don’t think it will be,” Fiji said. “Do you expect your father will come back soon?” She glanced at the calendar on her desk anxiously.

“Yes, after he completes his job,” Diederik said. He pushed the plate away from him, abruptly uninterested. “My aunt couldn’t keep me anymore. My mother died.”

Manfred could tell Fiji was as unnerved as he was. He picked up a wisp of a picture from the boy’s head. “Did you have a brother or sister?” he asked.

“I had an older sister. But she died before she was born, my mother told me.” Diederik looked suddenly forlorn.

“I’m so sorry,” Manfred said. It was definitely time to change the subject. “Listen, Diederik, when you finish doing whatever Fiji has lined up for you to do, can you come over to my place? I have a computer game you might enjoy.”

“Oh, yes,” the boy said, his smile back in place.

Manfred gave a wave of his hand and turned to leave. As he went through the door, he saw Bobo walking across the street to Fiji’s. “Leaving the store without a master?” he called, thinking with pleasure of how glad Fiji would be to see Bobo.

“I got a sign on the door with my phone number on it,” Bobo said. “I’m going nuts waiting for Lemuel to come back and Teacher to be relieved from convenience store duty. I hope he’s making good money.”

“No one seems to know who actually owns the convenience store. Except Teacher.”

“I never asked,” Bobo said with a shrug.

Manfred sat down at his computer and got back to work. He thought about taking the time to research who owned the store. But he would miss a day of work, going to Bonnet Park on his mission. With a sigh, he returned to solving the problems of people he didn’t know and might never meet. His own concerns would have to wait.