Chapter 5<\/p>\n
June, 1979<\/p>\n
I managed to make it through my first year of high school wearing the clothes my parents provided for me, but I desperately wanted to create my own style. I needed a job. Although all of my sisters had previously spent their summers working at the community pool, I didn\u2019t want the income stream to end in August, so I sought something different. With no car available to me, I had to find employment within walking distance of my house. One of my classmates, Janet, worked at Fullmer\u2019s grocery store and had mentioned that Mrs. Fullmer was looking for more part-time help. A week before the end of the school year, I stopped by the store on my way home. My plan: Get the job first. Convince Mom and Dad to let me work there second.<\/em><\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t much of an interview. Mrs. Fullmer knew my family and since I knew Janet, she pretty much asked me when I could start, how many hours I could work and how I would get home after dark.<\/p>\n As it turned out, convincing Mom and Dad was much easier than I\u2019d anticipated. They\u2019d seemed pleased I wanted to work and that I\u2019d taken the initiative to find employment at a location other than the public pool. They said they had a lot of respect for Mrs. Fullmer. Dad even offered to pick me up on those nights when I would have to close the store, eliminating any concern for my safety.<\/p>\n I know what you\u2019re thinking. No way. Why would she do that? Why would she put herself in this situation knowing what she knows?<\/em><\/p>\n Two answers: 1. There were no other jobs within walking distance of my house. 2. I was drawn there. You decide which one you like better.<\/p>\n My first day<\/em>. I arrived at the store 15 minutes early as instructed and was greeted at the cash register by a bustling Mrs. Fullmer. \u201cGood morning Tess, come on back here, I\u2019ve got some paperwork for you to complete and a smock for you to try on.\u201d<\/p>\n I followed Mrs. Fullmer to the back of the store where we entered a cramped closet she called her office. The space, just large enough for a desk and two chairs, was so cluttered that I didn\u2019t immediately notice the framed picture of her son, Freddie, hanging above her desk. But when it did catch my eye, an involuntary gasp escaped me.<\/p>\n She noticed of course. \u201cHe was a handsome one, that boy of mine.\u201d She said matter-of-fact. \u201cDid you know my Freddie?\u201d She asked.<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d I replied awkwardly. \u201cI\u2019m sorry for your loss, Mrs. Fullmer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRule #1 around here Tess: call me June. Everyone calls me June.\u201d She instructed. \u201cAnd, thank you. My Freddie was a good boy. He\u2019s in a good place now.\u201d Then, handing me a W-4 form, she was back in business mode, \u201cYou\u2019ll have to fill this out and return it to me tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n As I reached out for the form June noticed my trembling hands. \u201cOh my, honey, don\u2019t be nervous. We have a lot of fun here. Janet\u2019s coming in this morning and she\u2019ll show you the ropes. You\u2019re a smart girl, so I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll catch on quickly.\u201d She said reassuring me \u2013 utterly unaware of the true cause of my jitters.<\/p>\n \u201cMrs. Fullmer \u2013 June, I – –\u201c I began, but was interrupted by the tinkling of bells. Janet had just come through the front door and was making her way back to June\u2019s office. What was I going to say anyway, I wondered later.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chapter 5 June, 1979 I managed to make it through my first year of high school wearing the clothes my parents provided for me, but I desperately wanted to create my own style. I needed a job. Although all of my sisters had previously spent their summers working at the community pool, I didn\u2019t want … Continue reading Cause and Effect, A Fictional Short, Part 5<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[89,3,2],"tags":[92,95,98,94],"class_list":["post-469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction","category-short-stories","category-writing","tag-cause-and-effect","tag-death-penalty","tag-decisions","tag-hard-determinism"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.trishmcgee.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/dominos.jpg?fit=5800%2C4600&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trishmcgee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trishmcgee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trishmcgee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trishmcgee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trishmcgee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=469"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.trishmcgee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":470,"href":"https:\/\/www.trishmcgee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469\/revisions\/470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trishmcgee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trishmcgee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trishmcgee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trishmcgee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}