The Favor: Part II

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The Favor

Part II

An R.L. Mathewson Chronicle

“This isn’t going to work,” Cole said, sighing heavily as he rubbed his hands down his face.

“Yes, it will,” Jonathan said, licking his lips nervously as he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the windows and out of sight of the store manager that had been watching them for the past ten minutes.

“You’re making a big deal out of nothing,” Mikey said with a sigh as she plucked the money out of Cole’s hand, turned around and-

“It’s not too late,” Sebastian said even as he gave her a pitying look that had her eyes narrowing on her best friend as a thought occurred to her.

They were screwing with her.

Again.

She wasn’t sure if it was because she was a girl or what, but since the moment that she’d met them they’d been going out of their way to screw with her for their own entertainment. Over the last year they’d managed to lock her in the attic five times, the basement six times, switched out the tuna fish in her sandwich for cat food, and convinced her that her house was haunted, and all because they were bored.

Kind of like now.

Shaking her head in disgust, she said, “Whatever,” and headed for the front doors, because she wasn’t falling for this again. It might have taken her a while to catch on, but she once she had, she’d stood her ground, letting them know that they couldn’t push her around.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he drawled, which only reaffirmed her opinion that they were screwing with her.

At least she was getting twenty bucks out of the deal, she told herself as she walked in the store, grabbed a shopping basket and headed for the bins filled to the brim with Halloween candy marked half-off. They were definitely losing their touch if they thought this was going to scare her off, she thought as she focused on filling the basket up with discounted bags of chocolate. Once she filled the basket, she headed to the register and-

“Oh, god…” someone said, drawing her attention to find the cashier and manager backing up nervously as they stared in horror at something behind her.

Frowning, she glanced up and-

Couldn’t help but wonder why her father and most of her uncles were standing outside the store, waiting. That is until she spotted Sebastian mouthing, “Run!” as Jonathan and Cole tried to drag him away.

“D-Did you find everything that you n-needed?” the clerk asked nervously as he quickly scanned all the candy while he continued to throw nervous glances at the large storefront window where her father and uncles stood, watching her every move.

“I think so,” she murmured weakly as she shifted her attention back to Sebastian only to find him gone.

Nodding, he finished scanning her order and began shoving the bags of chocolate into grocery bags as he mumbled, “Oh, god, oh, god, oh, god,” over and over again, which she had to be honest, was starting to freak her out a little bit.

“That’ll be forty-five dollars.”

Swallowing hard, she pulled the money out of her pocket and handed it over as she watched as one by one, her father and uncles smiled. Licking her lips nervously, she absently thanked the clerk who’d already made his escape as she grabbed her bags and-

“Go out the back. You’ll never make it otherwise,” the store manager said, already ushering her towards the back of the store.

“Okay,” she said, noting the calculating expression on her father’s face and decided that perhaps now was a good time to put the emergency exit to good use.

Decision made, she shifted the heavy bags in her arms, power walked her way through the adult diaper section and headed for the glowing Exit sign in the back. In seconds, she was stepping through the door and-

Realized too late that Uncle Jason hadn’t been out front with the others.

“Aw, is that for me?” Uncle Jason asked with a lazy grin as he pushed away from his truck and headed for her.

Not really sure what else she should do, she took a step back towards the safety of the store just as the manager mumbled, “I’m sorry,” and closed the heavy door shut with another, “I’m so sorry,” before throwing the lock and leaving her standing there holding five large bags of discounted Halloween candy that were probably going to get her killed.

Or maimed.

Definitely maimed, she thought when she spotted her father and uncles coming around the corner.  She dropped the bags to the ground and stepped back against the wall where she promptly curled up into the fetal position, closed her eyes, and hoped for the best.

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