I decided to just go ahead and put the remainder of the story up. I figured those of you reading this just want to have it finished already and don't mind how long it is! So, I present parts 5,6, and 7 (in order--just keep reading the next post till the story ends). Make sure you chime in at the end too :) !
Part I: http://theboysquad.blogspot.com/2009/12/that-second-sunday-in-october.html
Part II: http://theboysquad.blogspot.com/2009/12/that-second-sunday-in-october-part-2.html
Part III: http://theboysquad.blogspot.com/2009/12/that-second-sunday-in-october-part-3.html
Part IV: http://theboysquad.blogspot.com/2009/12/that-second-sunday-in-october-part-4.html
I finished straightening the display of inserts. They always reminded me of blue fish on hooks, a very aquatic look to the gel they were filled with. I noticed we were running low on women's size 8's and bent down beneath the counter to check the stock. Somewhere nearby, I could make out the syllables of Anupam's words bouncing along in a rhythmic high-low pattern. He must have been talking to Charley as I heard her distinct laugh answer back each time his voice stopped. When I stood up, my hands full of the extra size 8's, Anupam was there--leaning over the counter as if he'd just been trying to look beneath it. His face was inches from mine.
My mouth opened as if to say "hello", but a breathy "huuuuu" was all that escaped.
"You are Jillian Bayne?" he asked.
I nodded my head, my mouth still hanging half open.
"Charley tells me your name" he said, waving two fingers in the direction of the avocado stand. "I am Anupam. I will be working here on the weekends for a time." I let my eyes follow the invisible path he had traced over his shoulder and met Charley's gaze. She smiled and blew me a kiss, clearly mouthing the words 'you're welcome.'
Anupam smiled, surveying the display of squishy inserts hanging behind me. "I might need some of these soon. I am not used to standing for so long. Do they work?"
I nodded again, struggling to find something--anything--to say. Whatever was going on in my head wasn't producing any words.
"Do you use them in your own shoes?" More nodding from me.
He stayed silent a few seconds longer, waiting--I'm sure--for me to speak. "Well, I best go make the popcorn" he said, pushing away from the counter and smiling again, "It was nice to meet you Jillian Bayne."
"It was nice to meet you Anupam," I finally managed, my voice sounding hoarse.
"Maybe we will talk more later?" he said. He turned and walked the few feet to the kettle korn booth, disappearing inside. I heard the heater beneath the big copper kettle click on and roar to life.
I finished straightening the display of inserts. They always reminded me of blue fish on hooks, a very aquatic look to the gel they were filled with. I noticed we were running low on women's size 8's and bent down beneath the counter to check the stock. Somewhere nearby, I could make out the syllables of Anupam's words bouncing along in a rhythmic high-low pattern. He must have been talking to Charley as I heard her distinct laugh answer back each time his voice stopped. When I stood up, my hands full of the extra size 8's, Anupam was there--leaning over the counter as if he'd just been trying to look beneath it. His face was inches from mine.
My mouth opened as if to say "hello", but a breathy "huuuuu" was all that escaped.
"You are Jillian Bayne?" he asked.
I nodded my head, my mouth still hanging half open.
"Charley tells me your name" he said, waving two fingers in the direction of the avocado stand. "I am Anupam. I will be working here on the weekends for a time." I let my eyes follow the invisible path he had traced over his shoulder and met Charley's gaze. She smiled and blew me a kiss, clearly mouthing the words 'you're welcome.'
Anupam smiled, surveying the display of squishy inserts hanging behind me. "I might need some of these soon. I am not used to standing for so long. Do they work?"
I nodded again, struggling to find something--anything--to say. Whatever was going on in my head wasn't producing any words.
"Do you use them in your own shoes?" More nodding from me.
He stayed silent a few seconds longer, waiting--I'm sure--for me to speak. "Well, I best go make the popcorn" he said, pushing away from the counter and smiling again, "It was nice to meet you Jillian Bayne."
"It was nice to meet you Anupam," I finally managed, my voice sounding hoarse.
"Maybe we will talk more later?" he said. He turned and walked the few feet to the kettle korn booth, disappearing inside. I heard the heater beneath the big copper kettle click on and roar to life.
---
It was a busier than usual Sunday. The pumpkin vendors had joined the market, and I wondered if they had anything left. Everyone that day, it seemed, was hugging a fat, orange orb as they made their way around, or were dragging several behind them in Radio Flyer wagons. I saw the camouflage lady again, the one with the big back. She was wearing the same clothes, but this time riding a motorized scooter with a red Dauschund in the basket on front. I watched her feed it a bite of corndog then take a bite of the same corndog herself.
Even being extra busy, things went along smoothly until just before lunchtime. That's when I noticed the crowd thicken, all moving in one direction. Two security guards were acting as herdsmen behind them, waving their arms as they went and calling loudly, "There is a fire. We need everyone to evacuate the premises. Please don't panic." Don't Panic? That is a phrase you should never let loose in a crowd of people because they will usually do just the opposite.
One alarmed man screamed "Fire! Fiiiiiiiire!", and the rate and chaos of the evacuation kicked up a notch, increasing again as the shrill sound of fire engine sirens crescendoed in the parking lot.
I was in the middle of helping an extremely old woman select the right shoe inserts.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, throwing one hand over her wrinkle-chasmed cheek while the other steadied her against the countertop. "Oh!" she repeated, "oooooh! fire!" Her eyes searched the air for smoke and she started into a story about a fire that had occurred at the summer came she attended as a child. Something about it killing a counselor. I'm not sure. It was hard to hear over the half-frantic crowd. I could tell she was terrified though and was going to need some help.
I reached over the counter, placing my hand on her arm, "What's your name?"
"Eunice" she answered. I could feel her trembling.
"Eunice" I said, "are you here alone?"
"Yes. My granddaughter brought me and was going to pick me up in an hour."
"Well Eunice, let me grab my purse and I will get you out of here. You can use my phone to call your granddaughter when we get to the parking lot. Okay?"
She nodded.
"Just a minute" I said. I retrieved my purse from the corner and exited through the side door. Just as I stepped out, a teenage boy whizzed by on a long board. I felt the thick wheels roll over the top of my left foot, the the heavy impact of his body slamming into mine. My shoulder smashed against the door frame as the boy tumbled off his board and fell against my shins. I looked down at his face, a mixture of shock and disgust spread across it. "Sorry lady" he said, "There's a fire!" He stood up immediately and chased after the board which had crashed into a corner of the heirloom tomato seed stand. Hopping back on it, he joined the southward moving throng, leaving me rubbing at my throbbing shoulder. I remembered Eunice and limped my way around to the front of the kiosk. I wondered if my foot wasn't broken.
"Come on sweetie" I said, offering her my arm, "let's get you out of here." At that moment, Anumpam came jogging toward us.
"Are you alright Jillian?" he asked, "I saw that boy hit you."
I smiled weakly, wanting to say that it felt like I'd just been beat with a bat, but answered "I"m fine" instead. Anupam took Eunice's other arm, and the three of us made our way out of the chain link perimeter and into the parking lot. Vendors and customers stood milling about wondering what to do next. Eunice pointed out her granddaughter who was picking her way through the crowd toward us.
"Nana!" she called, running over and throwing her arms around her grandmother, "I was so worried! I heard about the fire on the radio and came right back." She nodded at Anupam, then me. "Thank you for taking care of her. Thank you very much." Eunice was led away, leaving Anupam and standing an old woman's distance apart.
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