Hold for Miss

Posted on Sun 28th Jun, 2020 @ 6:44am by Yuliette Marayan Dr.
Edited on on Fri 24th Jul, 2020 @ 6:44am

723 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Resolution
Location: Brown Sector: Zodiac
Timeline: MD11

Evening in the Zodiac was lit with a lot of neon and lamp light, Yuliette discovered. The sounds of nightlife in the Rotunda dominated, though the street vendors had closed up and the kids had gone to bed along the now quieter arms of the Drift. Yuliette had to put away her shades and rely on rewrapping her scarf over her head as a hood and tried to avoid looking too directly at anyone. On approach back to Findley’s shop, she saw him and Oritz at the door. Findley was pulling a set of keys from his pocket.

“Pardon me! Wait!” Yuliette called out.

Findley looked up. “Hey Miss!”

“Don’t lock up yet, please.” She ran up to him. “I met with Granddame Elery. And got my seeds certified.”

Oritz looked confused by her headscarf. So she was widowed? Since this morning? “Did somebody die?”

Sighing, Yuliette didn’t answer.

Findley pushed the door open and motioned for her to go inside. The place was dim, only lit by the neon shining in through the display window.

Findley went around to the stockroom. “I’ll get her filter. You ring her up.”

Oritz switched the lights back on and went to the counter. “Are you buying, or renting?”

“Buying.” Renting would mean needing an ID and an account, of which she could produce neither.

“Right. 75 slips.”

Yuliette counted out a fistfull of seed money. Oritz recounted it as Findley returned with the box.

“Need 20 more.” Oritz said.

Yuliette looked confused. “You said 75. That’s 75.”

“Waive the seed money fee,” Findley told him. “Just for Miss.”

Oritz did and collected the seed cards. He shook his head and looked between the lady and his boss.

Findley put the box in a store bag and extended her purchase over the counter to her. “Anything else we can help you with?”

“Yes.” She opened up her arms wide and demonstrated that she wanted something sizable. “Do you happen to maybe have a big sheet of plastic? Maybe from packaging or something?”

“Sure, out in back. Go on home, Oritz. Say hi to your uncle for me.”
Oritz shrugged, content to be let off for the day. “See you tomorrow, Ian.”

“Not early, I bet.” Findley said under his breath.

Findley led Yuliette through a side door into the delivery dock where she had fist awoken in the Zodiac. He went through a pile of folded packaging and came up with a sheet of plastic that was mostly intact. “This what you're after?”

“Yes, thank you!”

Findley gave her a couple of the ends and directed her to help him fold it together like a bed sheet. They shook it out and creased the center, then walked toward one another and matched the corners. She got a close look at his hand tattoos.

“What do they mean?”

“What do what mean?” He followed her eye line. “Oh. Orion street gang. Roughly translated, Fidelity, Honor, Bravery, Freedom. This one with the switchblades was my first. This one was for a job. This one… For the time I did for that job.”

“Oh.”

Was she sorry she had asked? He shook his head like none of it much mattered. “Yeah, well, I was a street kid. My Dad drunk himself to death and I wanted validation with the guys I looked up to. That’s what happens on the Drift sometimes. I decided not to go back to fill up my other arm.” They finished folding the sheet and ended up standing right near one another again. Findley held out the folded flat between both hands. When she went to take it, he didn’t let go right away, locking eyes with her. ”I know you don’t want to give your name. That's not so uncommon as you might think. But I ain’t nobody’s snitch. If you want to talk, maybe I can help.”

“You’ve already helped a lot.”

He let go of the sheet and watched as she set about fitting it in the shopping bag with the filter.
They walked back through the store and Findley put out the lights once more and fished out the keys again.

“Maybe I’ll see you around soon.” He said, pulling the door shut and turning the key.

“Maybe.”

“Goodnight Miss.”

“Goodnight, Mr. Findley.”

 

RSS Feed

Comments (2)