He looked down as he walked back into the gas station. Three pairs of feet. How had a line built up that quickly? Once he was safely past their bored gazes, he commenced the search for a meal to get him through the next few hours. All energy drinks taste like piss. Focus Water would be a safer choice. Peanuts to snack on. Brain food. Still not the healthiest combo off the Exxon menu, but a much more natural approach to energy than the typical American grab-n-go mentality.
This was Cameron's job as twenty year old liberal arts student. He regularly convinced himself that he was on a higher parallel than preceding generations because he put into practice something he saw on syndicated self-help shows. In actuality, he just used a different means to the same end of self-righteous wastefulness. No number of indie albums or foreign films was going to change that.
The cashier was just old enough for her cheeks to start caving in on themselves. Her hair showed no signs of gray, but perhaps a hint of Clairol. Her name tag read Nancy. She was smiling wider than Cameron had ever seen a gas station employee smile at eleven at night.
"How are you doing tonight?" she asked enthusiastically.
"I'm... good. How are you?"
"Very well. It's crowded tonight."
"A concert just let out. I guess everyone's refueling." Cameron's uneasiness about the perky old lady was diminishing rapidly. Her tone was soothing and her cheer genuine.
"Seems late for a concert. How far a drive do you have in front of you?"
"Two hours."
"Oh my. Must be quite a band."
Cameron replied by listing an obscure artist the old lady obviously would not have heard of. She continued to beam her radiant smile and blinked innocently.
"They're my favorite," he continued.
"And making that drive alone?"
"I met people up here tonight for the show, but I was alone driving from Wofford."
This was a lie. Cameron had not only travelled alone, but attended the show alone. He had pretended to be in a drunken stupor so that it would be socially acceptable how much he was talking to the strangers around him. That, however, was unknown to Nancy. She had picked up on something entirely different from the sentence.
"You were travelling alone? Do you mean to imply you're not now?" She was now smirking the way a mother smiles about her fourteen-year-old's new girlfriend. Cameron chuckled.
"Didn't pick anyone up. No, no..." he trailed off.
"Would you like to?" Nancy did not break eye contact. The peanuts and Focus Water were still in her hands. She had not even scanned them yet. Cameron gave his first uneasy chuckle.
"I'm... I'm good." he stuttered.
"You've already said that." Nancy murmured. There was another moment of silence.
"How much do I owe you?" Cameron was back to looking at the floor.
"Did you not think it was weird that there were women waiting in line to use your restroom?"
Cameron looked back up, eyes squinted. Had he used the women's bathroom? He didn't remember any faces from the line that had so quickly built up behind him. Nancy had not changed her posture.
"You sort of walked in on a scene we were filming."
With that, the time to sacrifice water and peanuts had finally come. Cameron bounded with every bit of confidence he could muster to the sliding doors at the front of the convenience store. They did not slide open. He took two steps back, looked at Nancy, and back outside. His was the only car visible. He pulled out his cell phone. No service.
"How many people were in line behind you for the bathroom? It's been all over two minutes? Maybe? How many are in line now?"
Cameron looked back to the bathroom. No one was in line. Yet the store contained only himself and the cashier.
"They started as customers, too," Nancy explained. "Always with the same midnight munchies. For a quick buck, they had no problem hooking up in a bathroom. Now all their snacks are free. Would you like your nuts for free?"
Cameron gritted his teeth. "You need to let me out of here."
"Listen, you're already going to end up on some quirky website. Every porn needs a little humor. You pretending to wash your hands was priceless. You're very concerned about others' opinions of you, aren't you?"
"You can't put a damn thing on the internet without some sort of consent or something!"
"Of course your face will be cropped out, maybe replaced with one of my actors. There will be no foundation for a lawsuit, if that's what you're thinking."
"There's plenty of foundation."
"I'm just trying to offer you a chance to get your little food her for free. Consider it our rewards program."
"Ma'am I don't live in the area. I don't think giving up my dignity is worth one free snack."
"Perhaps a check? This is a very profitable business. Name your price." Nancy's unnaturally white teeth were still stuck in a wide grin. Cameron stared at her for what seemed like an eternity. He walked back up to the desk and opened the pack of peanuts. He poured them in his moth and swallowed them without chewing. He proceeded to open the water bottle and took a swig of that, as well. He leaned over the counter and for the first time, Nancy's smile shook a little bit. Her beady eyes darted around frantically. Cameron reached for the cash register and punched six numbers with unnecessary force.
"That's my price," he growled angrily. And he walked back to the bathroom.
A few hours later he was speeding through the darkness, a crisp check sitting on the passenger seat. Suddenly his head was being bashed into the plastic steering wheel. And airbag immediately pushed back with vigor. He opened his eyes to find himself in a ditch. A bag of empty peanuts and an empty water bottle on the passenger seat. No check.
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