The Store Clerk by Michael Meza

It is a quiet night, thought the store clerk. I have only had two customers since midnight. I should take advantage of the peacefulness and do so much needed cleaning. He then started to clean the cigarette case behind the counter. He removed the cigarette cartons from the racks and wiped the dust from the shelving. He became so engrossed with his cleaning that he did not realize that a customer had entered the store until he heard a rattling noise behind him. Cling! Clang!

The clerk quickly turned around and nodded at the adolescent customer. He was wearing a black leather jacket and faded jeans. In his back pocket, the clerk noticed the source of the rattling sound. The teen had a chain hanging from his leather wallet. The clerk greeted the young boy. “Hello, how are you this early morning?” asked the clerk.

The teen glared at the clerk and coolly disregarded the salutation. He then shuffled down the snack aisle. The store clerk recognized the customer as one of the troublemakers who regularly came in during the daytime hours with another group of punks. These boys were hoodlums. They were loud, disrespectful, and crude. They antagonized his customers with their rowdy behavior. They enjoyed running in the store and bumping into the customers. They would purposely overfill their cups and spill their drinks. They threw ice at one another. Yet, even worse, they were also thieves. Merchandise always seemed to disappear when these thugs entered the store, but the clerk could never prove it. The police were little help, because they told him that he needed proof. The clerk could only bite his lip and simmer.

“Can I help you find anything?” asked the clerk.

The young punk ignored the remark. The clerk continued to watch the boy closely as he strolled up and down the store aisles aimlessly. He is up to no good, thought the clerk. The teen then started heading for the exit.

“Thank you for your patronage, and please come again,” said the clerk.

Then it happened, the thug extended his right middle finger at the clerk. Along with the obscene gesture, he made a hateful face. The store clerk became angry! How disrespectful!, he thought. Someone needs to teach this hood a lesson! Suddenly, the clerk bolted from behind the counter.

The brash teen had already stepped out of the door and was slowly strolling on the walkway in front of the store. The clerk never thought about what he was going to do, he simply reacted. He was tired of these punks! He simply allowed his instincts to take over. He ran up behind the boy and firmly grasped his neck. He pinched the nerves in the neck so hard that he stopped the boy dead in his tracks. The thug was astonished! He couldn’t move! The clerk didn’t worry about onlookers. People simply didn’t walk around in this part of town after midnight. If any customers drove up he simply would explain the circumstances. They would understand.

The clerk tightly squeezed the gangster’s neck with his right hand. His left hand held the hood’s left arm. The young boy was alarmed. In his misdirected mind he had never expected this type of response from a lowly store clerk. He couldn’t move, the clerk’s hands were strong and he was paralyzed on the spot.

Calmly, the store clerk asked the boy, “Have I ever mistreated you in any shape or fashion?”

The frightened boy meekly replied, “No.”

“Then why did you flip me off?” asked the clerk. The boy had no answer, he simply gasped.

“Someone needs to teach you a lesson,” said the clerk. The boy was terrified, but then the clerk’s voice softened.

He whispered to the boy, “This is your lucky day, but that will not always be the case. If you do not change your ways, one day your stupidity will cost you your life.”

The store clerk told the boy to remember these words and to learn from this incident. He then told him that he was going to let him go, but that he better not try anything foolish or else he would rip his arm off and beat him with it! The frightened boy fled when the clerk let him go. As he watched the teenager run away, the clerk chuckled and thought to himself, The boy might actually make it to adulthood.