Eternal Spring A Young Adult Short Story Collection (19 page)

“Hmm, why don’t you just put ‘Tim cute boyfriend’ on it?”

“Right, and on yours I’d write ‘hot chick.’” My heart seemed
to be sprinting. The common reaction I had whenever I was around her. Gabrielle
was tall with long blonde hair and gorgeous big green eyes. “I thought you were
busy tonight with your debutante meeting?”

“Huh?” her eyebrows scrunched. Then she cleared her throat.
“Oh, yes. That was cancelled. Father decided that I should decline the
invitation to join. With us being new in town, we didn’t want to come on too
strong. Maybe next year. Unless, of course, we move to our chalet in France.”
She ran a long finger along the glass display case. Her eyes were wide as she
gazed inside.

“Can I get you something?” She looked thinner than when I
first met her a few weeks ago. She said she'd transferred here from some
private boarding school in Maine.

“Our chef is off tonight, and I am such a mess in the
kitchen. You know having had servants, it’s so hard to even figure out how to
make something as simple as a sandwich.
I
’m
all thumbs
.” She gave me a weak smile.

“Hey, I’ve got a sandwich in the fridge. Why don’t you just
take it?” I said.

“Oh, no. You don’t have to give my anything. I can pay for
it.” She dug into her purse. “Rats. I must have left my wallet at home.”

I reached into the fridge, took out my bagged dinner, and
handed it to her. “Please take this, I insist. Are you okay?”

“Huh?”

“You are just getting so thin.”

“Yes.” She twisted a piece of her hair. “You can’t be too
skinny or too rich.”

“I think you look perfect the way you are. You don’t have to
go on a diet.”

“I’m not on a diet.” She clutched the white paper bag.
“Thank you. I’ll get you the money as soon as I can.”

“No, I won’t take it. Plus, it’s my free meal.” I decided it
was now or never. “Listen, I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been meaning to ask you,
what are you doing this weekend?”

“Not sure.”

“Are you busy Saturday night?” I asked. My words felt thick
and stuck like peanut butter in my throat.

She cocked her head to the side. Her eyes slit. “Why?”

“This is super short notice and all, and I would have asked
sooner, but I’ve been saving up and…well… what I’m trying to say is, would you
like to go to prom with me?”

Her eyebrows raised and her mouth opened.

Shoot. That was not the response I wanted. She did not look
happy. Was she mad that I dared ask? Or was she just surprised? “I mean, I know
I’ve only known you a few weeks, but this is senior prom. And I would love to
take you.”

“No. I mean, I can’t go. I have to go now. Really, I am so
sorry.” With that, Gabrielle turned on her heels and went out the front door.

What happened? Did I push too hard? Maybe she was breaking
up with me. I wished I could call her, but she didn’t have a cell phone. She
said her dad was getting her a new smart phone, but it was on order.

I let out a big sigh, my feet feeling like lead. Maybe, if I
kept myself busy cleaning, I could forget about being shot down by my
girlfriend. I wiped the white Formica tables and turned the black wrought iron
chairs upside down on them, then got the mop out of the cleaning closet. All
the while, I thought about Gabrielle.

By the time I finished mopping, it was time to lock up.

My girlfriend turned me down for prom and I was broke and
hungry.

And I had to wear a stupid paper cap. Life sucked.

As I walked toward the door, my eye caught a patch of red on
the poster wall. Red wall paint I shouldn’t be able to see.

Something was missing.

Then I knew what was gone.

 
A twelve by
twelve inch shadowbox, which held an original signed script from a famous
motion picture, as well as a five by six inch black and white picture of
Leonardo’s great grandfather with the two original founders.

By the time the police completed taking my statement, it was
almost midnight. Stanley Leonardo, the owner, had been called to the store as
well. The police wanted to see if they could get videotape from the surveillance
camera.

“The security camera broke down last week.” Stanley
scratched his head. His glasses slipped down his long skinny nose as his salt
and pepper hair fell on his face.

“I’m so sorry about all of this,” I said to Mr. Leonardo as
the police walked around the store.

“That was an original signed move script,” Stanley said as
he looked at the empty spot on the wall. “Last week on eBay, something similar
went for over twenty thousand.”

Twenty thousand? Holy smokes. My head spun. Guilt strangled
me, I’d left the store, and someone took it.

“Mr. Leonardo, we think that it could be a snatch and grab.
We’ve had a few reports this week of other local business having the same type
of theft.” The
officer flipped open
his notepad.

“Oh?” Mr. Leonardo looked around the store.

“Yes, the store owners on either side of you had their tips
jars stolen when a perpetrator ran in, grabbed it and then escaped,” the
officer said. “Usually, it’s just petty theft. Well, except for your
shadowbox.”

Mr. Leonardo shrugged his shoulders and turned his palms up.
“Why would they take that instead of the tip jar?”

“These types of criminals know what they are after. They do
their research. More than likely, they were in your store earlier and cased the
place. They knew exactly what they would grab if they had had the opportunity.”

“But my employee was here the whole time. Weren’t you?”
Stanley furrowed his eyebrows.

“Sir, I’m just telling you what I know.” The officer clicked
his pen.

“There was a lady in here looking at it this evening,” I
said to the officer and Mr. Leonardo. “Maybe she took it?”

“Did you see her take it?” Mr. Leonardo asked.

“No. But she seemed really interested in it,” I said.

“But you must have seen her take it down from the wall, you
where right here the whole time she was in the store, right?” Mr. Leonardo
pointed behind the counter.

“No sir. I left for a minute to go to the back door.” I
looked down at my feet. I studied the scuffs crisscrossing along the tops of my
brown loafers.

“You left a customer in the store alone?” His face scrunched
like a crumpled paper hat.

“Yes, sir. I did.” I felt a rush of heat go from my chest to
my head. I wanted to tell him that I had locked the register, and hid the tip
jar, but decided against it.

“Then you are fully responsible for the cost of that
picture. You were in charge, and you know better. Rule number 23 is to never
leave the store unless it’s on fire.”

“Yes, sir. I am sorry,” I said. Rule number 1, the owner is
always right.

“You leaving the store unattended made the store an easy
target for the crime.” The officer strolled to the front door. “Someone could
have been sitting right there across the street. Saw you go in the back and
then made their move.”

I nodded. This night skidded downhill fast.

Mr. Leonardo sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. “The
contents of that shadowbox are irreplaceable. I hate that this happened on your
watch, son.”

Again, I nodded. What could I say?

“If you weren’t such a great employee, I’d fire you right
now.” Mr. Leonardo cleared his throat.

“I’ll work overtime. All weekend even. Whatever I need to
do,” I added.

“Son, don’t worry, I have insurance. But I have a five
hundred dollar deductible.”

“I’ll pay the five hundred, it’s the least I can do.” It was
also better than getting fired.

The irony. Had Gabrielle said she could go to prom, now I
wouldn’t be able to afford to take her. In a weird twist of fate, it was lucky
that she turned me down. Then again, if I didn’t go to the back door to lend
Theodore twenty bucks, then the picture wouldn’t have been stolen and I
wouldn’t be out a gazillion dollars now.

The universe sure had it in for me that day.

Mr. Leonardo paced the floor. “I have to get it back. Maybe,
if I offer a big reward, someone will come forward and return it.”

“I sure hope so,” I said under my breath. Mr. Leonardo
talked with the police officer for a while as I locked the doors and finished
cleaning the store.

Maybe I could try to find that lady from Pennsylvania. Maybe
she saw the person who stole the picture while I was outside.

I had to take a chance. I had nothing to lose. It looked
like I’d be without pay for a long time. There goes any chance of upgrading
from my bicycle to a car.

 
Or ever
affording to take Gabrielle out anywhere.

The next morning I slunk into the kitchen, my whole body
slumped. “Morning, Mom. How are you?”

“Okay, honey. And you?”

“Don’t even ask. I’m in debt for a million years,” I said.
Last night, my mom waited up for me and I had told her what happened.

“Sweetie, forget about what happened. It really wasn’t your
fault.” My mom hugged me. She had that same sad look in her eyes she always got
when something bad happened to me, like when my frog died.

“It was stolen on my watch. So I can’t forget about it.” I
kissed her forehead as she handed me a brown bag lunch. “Can I just live with
you and Dad forever?”

“Of course you can, but trust me. You’re a good egg. Things
will turn around for you.” She reached up and brushed her hand along my cheek.

“I sure hope so,” I said.

“Theodore the bus will be here soon!” Mom screamed up the
stairs. She took a five-dollar bill from her purse, and pushed it into my hand.
“Here, just to hold you over a little. But you know the rules of our house, no
money unless you earn it. I expect that five back.”

“Thanks mom, I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”

“After prom, then pay me back.”

“There is no prom.”

“Did they cancel it?” My mom asked.

My Dad walked in and gave my mom a kiss.

“No. I can’t afford to go, plus Gabrielle said no,” I said.

“Bad luck, hey champ?” My dad poured himself a cup of coffee
into a to go cup that said ‘World’s Greatest Dad.’

“Yeah bad luck.”

“You’ll figure it out.” He snapped the lid on the cup shut.

“I guess.” I stuck my lunch in my book bag and zippered it up.

“Prom is tomorrow, and I know that you want to go and you’re
broke. But you know the rules around here---” My dad gave me the ‘you’re shit
out of luck' look.

“No free money,” I recited to him.

“You shouldn’t have left the store, you know.” Dad grabbed the
newspaper and his car keys.

Turning my hands over, I shrugged my shoulders.

“I love you son. I know it’s a tough lesson to learn, but
you’ll be stronger for it,” Dad said before he walked out the door.

Stronger for it, yeah right. If that were correct, I’d have
Herculean strength afterward.

A yellow school bus for Savannah Arts Academy pulled up in
front of my house. The bus driver honked and pulled to a stop in front.

Theodore stomped down the stairs and grabbed his lunch. We
both ran out the front door into the bright morning sun and boarded the bus.
The air hung heavy with humidity and smelled like fresh cut grass.

On the bus ride to school, I told Theodore about what
happened at Leonardo’s.

Fifteen minutes later, we were at school. Theodore ran ahead
of me to meet his girlfriend.

I went to my locker. That was when I remembered that I had a
calculus test I hadn’t studied for. Damn. By the time I gotten home from work
I’d just enough energy left to take a quick shower, talk to Mom, and crash. As
usual, I hadn’t had a second to spare in the morning.

Eighties-themed posters and streamers announcing the prom
lined the hallways. I bumped into a table as I left my locker.

“Get them while you can, only forty dollars for a pair of
tickets,” said a smiling chubby girl with short curly black hair.

A sign hung from her table that read, “Get your prom tickets
here.”

“Did you get yours already?” she asked.

“No. But it sounds like fun,” I said.

“You’re a senior, right?”

“Yes.”

“This is your last chance to go to prom. Can I count on you
for two tickets?”

“Well, I’d like to but …”

“You have a date right? That new girl, Giselle?”

“Gabrielle.”

“Yeah, Gabrielle. So, you’re taking her?” she asked as she
opened her cash box and got two tickets out.

The bell sounded. I shook my head, and then ran down the
hall to class.

Fortunately, the calculus test was easy. Maybe my luck was
turning around. After class, I went to the entrance lobby where Gabrielle and I
always met before AP literature class.

“Hey, how are you?” Gabrielle stood alongside me as I leaned
against the wall.

Horrible, awful and rotten. “Fine and you?” I asked.

“I’m sorry,” She said as she brushed my hair from my eyes.

Just her touch made my heart ache. It’s like she was my girlfriend,
but yet a complete stranger at the same time. “About what?” Breaking my heart?
I tried playing it cool.

“Prom. I want you to know that I can’t go, not because I
don’t like you, but well, it’s complicated.” She looked out the glass front
door.

“No biggie. I mean I really didn’t want to go anyway. It’s a
huge waste of money. Plus, you’ve probably been to fancy balls and all that, so
this rinky-dink little prom would be a joke to you,” I said.

Her eyes welled up. “Yes, you’re right. Prom would bore me.”
She closed her eyes and a tear ran down her cheek.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. Fine.” She straightened her back and smoothed out her
shirt. “Let’s go. One more tardy and I’ll have detention.” She grabbed my hand
and we walked to class.