Benoni (Section 2)

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My next shift was two days later and this time I was working with Erica. She had a slight build and was a little taller than me. She had long black hair, an unfortunate nose, and a bad case of acne. She also suffered from a bit of a chip on her shoulder since Kim had been promoted to manager from a different store in the city. Erica was assistant manager and she and Kim hadn't liked each other since they'd first set eyes on one another at a regional gathering a few years back. Since they were both technically my boss, I'd done my best to be Switzerland. If I'd had to choose, I'd go with Kim, since Erica had a bit of a vindictive streak that was easy to set off. Kim was also a little more straightforward when you displeased her. I'd learned my first week that Erica would only give a slight eyebrow twitch as the gears in her mind started cranking. And a month later, I found out that I really shouldn't have left that last stack of books for her to put away.

I was really not looking forward to having a conversation with her about Ben. I was pretty sure that she'd made up her mind a half second before Kim mentioned that she'd be hiring her cousin.

"Oh. My. Goddess." It was a strain, but I managed not to give a visible sign that that particular imprecation bugged me. "Did you see that little pig nose clown she hired?" There was no pause for me to respond as she really started to get going. "What a fawning little priss. He thinks he's so funny. He tried some book humor on me. Please. Like I haven't heard every book joke out there. I've worked in this industry my entire adult life." Yep, all five years since she'd turned sixteen. "Ugh. And Kim just about humped him on the spot she was so happy he's working here. I'm pretty sure they're kissin' cousins, if you know what I mean. What a little whore. I don't know what the regional manager sees in her. Maybe Kim's treating him to a little afternoon special too. I can't see any other reason for him to give our store away to the brain dead runt."

I winced. Maybe if I faked sick or something. . .no, I'd still get to hear the ranting, but she'd have had those extra days to really work herself into a froth about it. Better to just take my lumps and hope it was a high traffic day so Erica'd be busy doing her job instead of thinking up new insults for her nemesis. She continued a steady stream of unprofessional critiques for forty-five minutes before we had a customer brave enough to approach the counter. I almost hugged the guy but thought that might result in the "conversation" taking a turn for the very much worse. I tried to keep him there as long as possible. I asked him about every special we had going and every customer loyalty program he might or might not be eligible for. I asked him about each of his three books and tried to convince him to look at some similar titles but as he got increasingly uncomfortable with the suddenly aggressive sales staff, I finished scanning in his books and took his payment. Joy. Cash. Couldn't the guy at least pay with a card. That extra ten seconds of time for the sale to be approved were ten seconds I wouldn't have to deal with. . . .

"Sun and moon, Rhys. Finish the man's purchase already." She grabbed the bag of books from me and handed them to our lucky friend. "Could you take any longer? I'm surprised he didn't have a knee-length beard by the time you finished. Did you really have to tell him about the teacher discount? I mean, no teacher's going to be here on a school day until after three or four. Sometimes I really wonder about you Rhys. Anyway, so could you believe the shirt widdle Benoni was wearing? I couldn't. I bet he got it at a thrift store and still hasn't washed it. It smelled like a Fallout Boy concert. Not that I would know, but you know what I mean. Couldn't Kim at least use her massive undeserved salary to get her little boyfriend a new shirt. . . ."

And so it went for four hours. I almost cried when it was time for my lunch break. I considered leaving a note for Kim to never let Erica work with Ben. I wasn't sure that Erica would actually do anything to physically harm him, but she wouldn't exactly treat him professionally (like an assistant manager should) either. Thankfully business picked up markedly after lunch and we had a steady stream of customers to the end of my shift. I almost sprinted to my car I was so happy to leave that black cloud of misery behind me. Shifts with Erica always ran the risk of going badly, but sheesh. I went home and took a long, hot bath. The water couldn't get hot enough to make me feel clean. Part of me felt like I should have defended Ben, but I barely knew him. I thought about calling Kim and warning her that Erica was out for blood, but I was enjoying soaking there so much I decided to just let it go. Surely Kim would think that one through on her own.