Speedy Rewards

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Doreen

“JEREMY, WHERE’VE you been?” Doreen moved from behind her register around the corner to greet her tall, handsome friend. Oh, the things she’d like to do to that boy given the chance. Sure, he was less than half her age, but that’d never stopped her before.

With outstretched arms he approached her, bending to sweep her into a firm bear hug. “b***h, what’re you talkin’ ’bout? I been right here, every day. Where you been?”

As she pressed her cheek against his and inhaled, she knew immediately what he’d been up to. Her sensitive, Wiccan nostrils told her unequivocally he’d recently smoked some weed. She also detected the faint bleachy smell of s*x. “You just bang some chick in the parking lot?” she whispered.

“You know me so well.” He laughed while releasing her. “No, I didn’t bang some chick. I gently penetrated.”

“Baby, meet me at my dungeon.”

“f**k that s**t,” he said, raising both hands in the air as if being held up. “I know all about that dungeon of yours.”

“Doreen, stop scaring off the customers.” Phil’s voice behind her reminded her where she was. b**m fantasies of Jeremy had a way of distracting her, causing her to momentarily lose perspective. But hey, those fantasies were one of the very few perks of her job at Speedy Mart.

“She don’t scare me,” Jeremy said with the shake of his head. “But her dungeon does.”

“Trust me.” Doreen wagged her finger. “I’ll have you begging for more.”

“More pain medication?” Phil said.

Obviously, Phil was jealous of the flirting. Not that he’d be interested in doing anything with her in the dungeon. But it was kind of obvious he found Jeremy attractive. Well, everyone pretty much found Jeremy attractive with his big, broad shoulders and manly physique.

“Speaking of pain,” Doreen said. “My back’s killing me, and I need you to c***k it.”

“Oh, don’t worry about the line of customers at your register,” Phil said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’ll get it.”

She waved her hand dismissively. She already knew he’d take her register to allow her a couple minutes with her friend. Phil, overall, was a pretty decent guy, in spite of him being the boss.

She’d never been one to cozy up to management. Any sort of “boss” automatically rubbed her the wrong way. Her nature was to resist authority of all kinds. She was authority. Her diminutive five-foot-even stature belied her lust for dominance, and few people truly understood the pleasure she got from bringing a big strong man like Jeremy to his knees.

She stood upright in front of him, willing her body to relax. Arms held out limply at her sides, she closed her eyes. She inhaled and nodded her head. “Okay, go ahead.” She felt his strong arms wrap around her, gently squeezing her midsection. He made a fist and positioned it against her spine then grasped his wrist with his other hand. She became a rag doll in his arms, and then quickly, with no warning, he pulled his arms in while simultaneously raising her from the ground. She felt the glorious c***k and moaned. Ahh, heaven!

As he lowered her and her feet reconnected with the floor, she felt a tremor. The floor beneath her quaked—vibrated, just a little. The high-pitched screech of brakes, presumably from a very large vehicle, accompanied the rumbling, and her eyes shot open.

“Gracious Goddess! What the hell?” She freed herself from Jeremy’s embrace and dashed toward the front entrance. “Holy s**t. Looks like Coke’s making a very special delivery.”

Phil now stood beside her, peering through the glass of the entrance door. “What the hell? Stop the pumps now!” he shouted to Justin then shoved the door open and rushed outside.

“He just about took out our sign,” Doreen said to Jeremy. “Actually, I think he did take it out. He’s stuck between the two poles.”

Jeremy rushed around her and headed across the parking lot behind Phil. Just as he reached the edge of the canopy he stopped, turning his head to look toward the highway. He was looking at a black Pontiac that had apparently stalled in the road. Oh crap, Doreen recognized the car. It was Ezra’s.

“Oh my God!” she screamed. “I think that truck just hit Ezra.”

The other employees and the customers all rushed over to look out the windows. The c*****e was beyond belief. The huge semi had crashed into the shrubbery, tearing it out by the roots. Dirt, branches, and sod had sprayed everywhere, and the burnt rubber from the truck’s tires left a thick black streak all the way across the tarmac, almost as if it’d been painted on.

She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Ezra push his door open. He collapsed into Jeremy’s arms, trembling. Jeremy hugged him, pulling him tight. Hmm. That’s interesting. She didn’t even realize Ezra knew Jeremy. They didn’t exactly seem like the types to hang out with each other.

She continued to watch as Phil first rushed over to the cab of the truck. The young driver who climbed out and walked around the vehicle wasn’t their regular deliveryman. But dayum! He was hotter than a pistol. Lean and muscular, but much prettier than Jeremy. He waved his arms animatedly as he spoke to Phil, who nodded his head and then turned to focus his attention on Ezra out in the highway. Phil pointed to Ezra’s disabled car; then the truck driver and Phil headed over.

When Ezra crawled back into the driver’s seat of his vehicle and the three men lined up in front of the car, positioned with their hands against the hood as if ready to push, several other people from inside the store rushed out to help. Within seconds they had the car back in the parking lot, out of the way of oncoming traffic. Phil walked with Ezra back toward the building while the sexy young Coke driver made a call on his cell phone. Jeremy stayed with the car and already had the hood open, inspecting the engine.

“What happened?” Doreen said as Phil followed Ezra through the front door.

“My car died,” Ezra said, his voice trembling almost as much as his body. “Right after I pulled out, and the Coke truck almost hit me. The driver didn’t have time to stop, so he whipped into the parking lot to avoid hitting me and... well, you can see....”

“Holy shit.” Doreen placed her hand on Ezra’s shoulder. “Come sit down. You’re a mess.”

“I know! But wouldn’t you be, too? It’s like... oh my God! It’s like my life passed before my eyes. I thought I was gonna die!”

“It’s okay, honey.” She led him into the back room and then to Phil’s office. “I’m going to get you some water.”

“You got anything stronger?” he said.

Phil had already returned to the parking lot to begin clearing debris while the other cashiers returned to their registers to ring customers. “I just might,” she said, winking. “Don’t tell Phil... or anyone.”

“I won’t,” he said. “I swear.”

She slipped out of the office to the corner of the backroom where employee lockers were located. Opening her own locker, she removed her purse and reached inside to dig out a prescription vial. She opened the bottle and tapped a small yellow pill into her palm, then fisted it before shoving the purse back into her locker. On a shelf beside the lockers sat her thirty-two ounce refillable beverage mug, the same cup she brought with her to work every morning. Right before leaving her house, she’d filled the mug three-quarters full with straight vodka and then splashed a smidgen of cranberry juice, mainly for color.

She grabbed the mug by the handle and shuffled back to the office, holding out her hand to offer Ezra the pill. “What is....” he began.

“Just take it, dear. Wash it down with this. It’ll calm your nerves.”

People trusted Doreen, partially because she spoke with such authority. She seemed to possess a home remedy for every ailment, and much of this was authentic. She grew her own garden and knew a great deal about herbal remedies. She also prided herself as an authentic, “gourmet” cook. And she passionately loved animals, often far more than people.

But during a crisis, she didn’t shy away from chemical solutions. Drastic times called for drastic measures. “What you really need right now is....” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Some good weed.”

Ezra, still seated in the chair she’d placed him in, looked up at her and grinned. He reached inside his jacket pocket and slowly removed a baggie, showing it to her for the briefest moment before stuffing it back in its cozy hiding place.

“Oh... nice. Well, still take the valium. It’ll calm your nerves. Then when you get home....”

“I can’t believe you smoke,” Ezra whispered.

“Oh honey, I’m sure I do a lot of things that’ll surprise you. But speaking of surprises, I didn’t know you knew my friend Jeremy.”

“Yeah, he comes in on my shift sometimes. He works as a bouncer at that one bar, so he stops in after closing and we talk. He’s the one who, ya know, hooked me up.”

Doreen tilted her head back, the corners of her mouth rising ever so slightly. “Oh yes. Jeremy’s so naughty sometimes. Did he just give you that?” She pointed to his pocket.

Ezra nodded. “Yeah. He met me behind the building.”

“Ah.” It all now made sense. “Well, you better be careful. You just about got yourself killed, pulling out in front of that big truck.”

“I’d have been fine if the f*****g b***h hadn’t stalled. My car’s a piece of shit.”

The way he squinted his eyes and scowled when angry seemed so cute, Doreen almost betrayed herself with a chuckle. Instead she placed her hand on his shoulder. “Well, Jeremy’s looking at the car now. I’m sure he’ll figure out what’s wrong. He’s good at that sort of thing. If not, I can recommended a good mechanic. Cheap.”

“That’d be great ’cause I, like, have no money.”

“Singing to the choir,” she said. “We both work for Speedy Mart, right? Of course you don’t have no money.”

She turned to see Phil standing in the doorway of the office. Behind him stood an officer of the law, and not just any average man in uniform. The cop was young and hunky in a tall-dark-and-handsome sort of way. His short-cropped black hair, crested in the front, complemented his boyish face. But one look at his body and there was no question this officer was one hundred percent M.A.N.

“Ezra,” Phil said. “This is Officer Delaney. He’s completing a report on the accident and needs to get your statement.”

“Uh... sure,” Ezra said. His eyes lit up as he smiled at the policeman.

Phil turned to Doreen. “Thanks for taking care of things,” he said. “I think they might need help out front, though.”

“Sure,” Doreen said, nodding. She picked up her travel mug from the counter. “I just wanted to make sure Ezra was okay. He was kinda shaken, ya know.”

“Of course,” Phil said.

Doreen looked at Ezra, smiling. “But he’s going to be just fine now. Aren’t ya?”

“Oh yeah. It’s just, well, like I said. I thought I was about to die. When I looked up and the headlights on that huge truck were coming straight toward me, I swear my life passed before my eyes.” He shifted in his chair, leaning a bit in Doreen’s direction.

She happened to glance down toward his jacket pocket just as the baggie he’d pulled out earlier began to poke out. She all but gasped, but she knew she hadn’t dare do or say anything to warn him, not with a cop standing two feet away. She tried to roll her eyes downward to signal him, but he was oblivious to her silent gesture. He placed his arm against the counter beside him and repositioned himself slightly in the chair. That was it, the baggie slipped out onto the floor at his feet.

Doreen quickly glanced over to Officer Delaney, who fortunately hadn’t seen the bag of pot. But when she caught sight of the expression on Phil’s face, she knew that he had. His eyes grew wide, and he quickly spun around.

“Um, sir, did you get a statement yet from the other driver? The Coca-Cola man?”

“Oh, I’ll talk to him next.”

Phil looked past the officer, craning his neck to peer around the corner. The officer turned his head to follow Phil’s gaze, which is when Doreen frantically pointed to the baggie on the floor.

FUCK! Ezra silently mouthed and quickly scooped up the bag of Mary Jane, stuffing it back into his pocket.

“Oh, I thought for a second he was motioning for us,” Phil said. “My mistake.”

When he turned back around he shot Ezra a glare that said he was in deep s**t. Oh man, Doreen hoped the kid didn’t lose his job over this. Thank God, Phil was decent enough to give the boy a chance to hide the evidence before the officer saw it.

“Okay, then. I better get back to my register,” Doreen said. “If you’ll excuse me.” Phil and the officer stepped into the small office, making way for her to exit.

“Thanks again, Doreen,” Phil said.

“Any time.”

When she stepped back into the storage room with her mug, as soon as the door closed behind her, she tilted her head back and gulped a huge swig of liquor. “Gracious Goddess!” she whispered. “My heart can’t take it.”