Seeing Off the Johns by Rene S Perez II Read Free Book Online

the same however many square feet of town, they have to share their sadness over two boys most of them didn’t even know.”
    Chon nodded, holding the door open for Ana. He went behind the counter and opened the register.
    â€œYou left me two tens,” he looked at Ana.
    â€œJust drop some from the safe,” she said on her way to the back.
    â€œAna,” Chon said when she came back with her purse on her shoulder, “they come once a week to fill the safe. We’ll run out of tens if we drop them so many times.”
    It was Sunday. Rocha was off, so Ana had worked the first shift.
    â€œSorry, Chon-Chon, I promise I’ll be a good girl from now on and be real careful with the register,” she said, walking out.
    â€œAna,” he called to her, “have you even closed your till?”
    She stood in the doorway and stared at him. “No. Will you count it for me?”
    â€œYou know, you’re a cashier. You have to count every now and then,” he said, opening the drawer and counting the money in it.
    â€œNot to close my till, not when you’re here to do it for me,” she said with a smile.
    He looked up at her and rolled his eyes. A girl no older than thirteen walked into the store. She wasn’t from Greenton, but Chon thought he recognized her. Ana walked to the counter, putting her purse down to wait for Chon to run her numbers in the register.
    The girl interrupted Chon’s counting. “Do you guys sell the stars?” she asked. “The John stars?”
    â€œYeah,” Chon said, starting over on the dimes.
    â€œHow much are they?” the girl asked.
    â€œ$2.70…$2.80…$2.90…” He raised his index finger to indicate to the girl that he needed one minute. He wrote down the total.
    â€œ$5 a pop,” he told the girl.
    â€œOkay,” she said. “I’ll take five.”
    â€œAlright,” he said. “That’ll be $25. Just hang on a second. I have to open this register.”
    There were only seven nickels in the register. Chon looked at Ana and at the nickel slot in the register. She shrugged.
    â€œIsn’t it open right now?” the girl asked. “My brother drove me over from Premont because you guys are the only store selling the real stars. We’re getting one for his car, one for my parents’ and some for our neighbors.”
    â€œWell—” Chon began. Ana turned toward the girl.
    â€œListen, little girl,” she said, “he has to count the money in the drawer and put the total in the machine to close the last shift’s totals. It’ll take five minutes tops. But if you keep interrupting him, he won’t be able to finish, and we won’t sell you any damn stars. Understand?” Ana took the pack of Best Values from her purse and pulled out a smoke and her lighter.
    Chon counted the pennies quickly, added the drawer total, and ran the numbers. The printout he put in an envelope with her credit card receipts said Ana’s drawer was forty cents over. He input the total as his starting balance and rang up five John stars.
    â€œAlright, sweetie,” he said to the girl, who was staring at her feet, “$25.”
    The girl gave him two twenties. He gave her back three fives.
    â€œYou didn’t have to—” he began to tell Ana.
    â€œI know,” she said.
    â€œShe was just trying to—”
    â€œI know. It’s just I see a little girl like that, all happy and shit, and I want to shake her. I want to fucking strangle her, it just hurts so fucking much.”
    Chon didn’t say anything. He walked to the back room, slid the envelope under the office door to be counted along with the rest of the week’s receipts by Sammy Alba, Art’s cousin, tomorrow, like on every Monday.
    Ana was standing at the front of the store, watching the girl from Premont tell her brother what had happened in the store.
    â€œHa,” she said,