The Part Time People (2 page)

David looked up and bit his lip.

“I can't tell you any more about it.” he said, “Except it's true. You probably think I'm crazy, everybody does.”

Joe started fidgeting and wondered what else he could say.

“How come you didn't fill this out?” Joe asked, while pointing at the “notify in case of emergency” space on the form.

“I don't have any names to put in there.” David said.

“It's very strange,” Joe muttered, and then David suddenly stood up and shouted,

“I'm sorry, I can't help it, that's just the way it is with me right now, okay?”

Joe had stiffened in his chair and now spoke uneasily,

“Okay, I'm sorry.” Joe said. He clenched his hands again.

Joe said, “Can you work the cash register?”

“Yes.” David replied, “I've done a lot of that.”

“The job is only twenty hours a week.” Joe said, “Saturday and Monday from nine to six, and Thursday four to ten. The pay is ten an hour. Is that okay with you?”

“That's all right.” David said. He had really wanted full time and more money but he didn't have much choice. The change he got panhandling was barely enough for a quick meal. The shelter was threatening to kick him out. He had no place else to go. But David didn't believe this man was giving him a job. He’s probably just leading me along. He'll kick me out of here at any minute and then have a nice laugh later, tell everyone how stupid and pathetic I am.

Joe couldn’t see the panic in David’s expression, because his own eyes were darting around the room, and he kept running his hands through his hair. He had no control over his actions now. The same old pattern, the same old helplessness had taken over. He couldn’t help himself, and DeBarrie's was going to be stuck with David Melenik.

“Can you start tomorrow?” Joe asked.

“Yes, I can.” David replied, but he was still waiting to be fooled.

“Well then, come in at four and Gwen will show you around, okay?”

“I'll be here.” David said. Both of them just sat there, still and quiet, neither one looking at the other, and then Joe said,

“Do you have a place to stay?”

“I'm okay. You don't have to worry about me. I'll do my best. ” David extended his hand slightly then pulled it back.

“That's all anyone could ask.” Joe said, and then he smiled. He felt relieved. He had made it through another interview. David flashed a weak smile, and then Joe stood up and David followed. They stood at the office door silently for a minute. “Just leave” ran through both of their thoughts. David nodded and then walked out. Joe was still shaking, but he knew that it was over. He could relax. Soon everything would be all right again.

CHAPTER TWO

David was wary of a trick. Too many times in recent years he'd been set up, let down. And if it wasn't a trap, if they didn't intend to greet him with, “What are you doing here? Get lost!”, it would happen anyway, in an hour or two, a week, a month at most, and he'd be right back here again, sitting on this bench in this little square of city park, with no idea of when it was all going to end for good, if indeed it ever would. There was no rational explanation for what was happening to him, and that left only the irrational to consider. He knew that he was not imagining things. I don't even have an imagination, he thought. Even as a child he'd shown no creativity at all. He could copy a square from a book, but he could never draw one on his own. He'd have no idea what size to make it, or where to put it on the page.

But he didn’t need an imagination to survive. He'd always known that he could simply plod along like millions of others seemed to do. He needed no talent, no special training to do what he intended to do, get a simple job, earn a basic living, go for long walks in the sun on sunny days, stay at home and read adventure novels when it rained. He had never asked for much, had never asked for anything at all, except, perhaps, to just be left alone. And when he'd finally realized who he was and what he wanted out of life, he'd looked around and found the right position, in the shoe store, fitting people's feet. It was suitably obscure, exactly what he wanted.

If there had been signs or indications of what was soon to happen, he hadn't noticed them. The occasional nuts who came into the shoe store were harmless and forgettable. The weirdoes on the streets and on the nightly news were not a part of his life either. He had, like everybody else, taken these things for granted. Smart people go insane, he'd always thought, and then they bother no one but themselves, except every now and then they tended to go berserk and assassinate their mother or the pope and then they're put away for life, but that was none of his concern. David had never been a particularly violent man.

It didn't occur to him at first that all his problems stemmed from some psycho who had picked him out of all the people in the world to pester and to persecute. No, it was only after many months, after much consideration of the facts, that he had come to this conclusion. He still wasn't completely sure, but it was the only theory that seemed to fit. He had no personal enemies. It was impossible that anyone he ever knew or anyone he'd ever met could be doing all these things to him. He had run down the list, and eliminated everybody on it. He couldn't think of anything he'd ever done to anyone that might have led to this.

He put down only the truth on the application forms. He thought that it was something his employers ought to know about right from the start. They were bound to find out sooner or later in any case, so he might as well tell them about it up front. He considered himself an honest sort. Why did they laugh behind his back as soon as they had read it? Why did they look away? Even this man who'd offered, or pretended to have offered him this job had acted strangely. If I were in his place, he thought, I would have said okay and thanks for letting me know, and nothing else besides. It didn't seem so weird. He'd put on his best clothes and even shined his shoes and brushed his teeth. And then he had gone out to the city park to wait.

I'm just too sensitive, he thought. I let things get to me. I shouldn't have let him push me around like this. If I never ran away, if I didn't react, he would have given up by now. This time I won't run, no matter how badly I want to, no matter how bad it gets. He had made this resolution many times before, always determined to stick to it. He never did. As soon as the signs appeared, he'd start to lose his nerve. And then the whole routine would follow as it always did, every step of the way the same every time.

“But this time I won't let it get to me.” he said, loudly. A few passersby stared at him for a moment then walked on. He'd been in the park since six am, he watched the early joggers run by in the dark. The great mass flowed through around eight and then nothing until noon, when everyone suddenly appeared again, drawn out into the open by their stomachs. It was half past three by the time he left. During that time he'd run through the litany a hundred times, explaining and preparing himself. I'm ready now, he told himself repeatedly, time to go to work.

David got up and looked carefully in every direction. Everything's okay, he thought, it's going to be all right. He walked slowly towards the stationery store, breathing deeply, trying not to think too much. All I have to do is be alert and act normal. He felt he could pull it off, if they weren't planning to trick him like the others had done before. Before he knew it he was there, inside the door and standing by the counter where Gwen was taking money from a customer.

She glanced up and recognized him, “Hi David, Joe is in the back.” Gwen waved a few bills in the direction of Joe’s office. David didn't know if he should go back there or if Gwen was expecting him to do something else. He didn't have a comfortable feeling about her at first. She seemed brusque and cold, but he knew he shouldn't make these rash judgments, they could ruin everything. So he stood there for a moment.

Gwen looked up again and said “Well? aren't you going to check in?”

“Oh, right,” he said. “I have to let him know I'm here.” David walked towards the back. Joe was peeking out his door and had witnessed the exchange. When Joe saw David turn he went out to meet him.

“Hello.” Joe said. And offered his hand.

“Hi.” David responded and they shook hands slightly.

There was a moment of silence. Joe didn't want to be out there, didn't know why he was, and suddenly he just wanted to go back to his desk and do something back there, do anything, so he said,

“Why don't you go up front and ask Gwen to show you around up there, where the prices are, the keys, all that.”

“Okay” David said. He already felt like he was being bounced around. They don't want me here, he thought. And despite his earlier resolutions in the park, he started getting nervous.

Joe walked back into his office and shut the door. David felt abandoned on the sales floor, and the thought of asking Gwen for help made him even more nervous. They're playing games with me, he thought. He should've gone up there with me and told her what he wanted her to do with me. A customer bumped into him and said “Excuse me sir.” But David couldn’t respond. He felt like he was already in the way. The day wasn't starting out too well.

David took a deep breath and went back up to Gwen.

“Joe said you can show me around the register first thing.” He didn't like the way he sounded, was he too forceful? He wondered if she'd even understood a word he said.

“Oh?” She replied, “Well, okay, if that's what he wants. Why don't you come back here and just watch how I do it for awhile.”

For the next half an hour or so David just stood behind her and concentrated on the register keys. Each key could correspond to three items, depending on the key you pressed before, either no key, shift, or double shift. This was a little confusing at first, but Gwen told him he’d get it eventually. Whenever Gwen rung up a sale the register chimed pleasantly. David was beginning to relax again, and even started getting used to the blunt and scrambled way Gwen spoke.

“It's pretty clear you know, you don't have to be no genius or something, okay?” She laughed. “I mean like you have done this stuff before right? Joe said that you did so you won't have any trouble with it I'm sure. Mostly the part time people stay up here so I can get the other stuff done so once you got it down it won't be any problem.”

David simply nodded and occasionally said “okay,” “right,” and “it was fine.” Gwen even let him ring up a few sales by himself. He was pretty nervous and gave out the wrong change a couple of times which made him frustrated, but Gwen told him he was doing fine. The customers were pleasant, more so than at the shoe store. He even smiled at a few of them, said thank you every time and on the advice of Gwen, carefully placed their change in their outstretched palms, and counted it back, piece by piece.

Mike came over and said hello, David had no idea who he was but he liked him right away. It seemed to him that Mike was how a normal guy should be. David wanted to watch him more and learn, but he was pretty busy all day at the register, and didn't have much time to watch Mike. He didn't see Joe either until six o'clock, when he came out of the office, ready to go home.

Joe made a beeline towards the front door, he nodded and said goodbye to no one in particular as he left the store. Mike started going through his nightly routine, checking over his numbers, straightening up. He chatted with Gwen about the weather and traffic. It seemed to David that they all thought of themselves as family. David hoped they would soon think of him in this way, but he also knew he had to be careful. And be positive that they weren’t playing tricks on him. Things weren't always how they seemed, and he had to give it some time so he could be sure. Mike finished up and left, and soon there was only Gwen and himself alone in the store. David told himself that everything was going to be okay. It was only two more hours until closing.

He didn't really want to talk, and hoped she didn't either. It was good enough to be there, working. There would be money coming in again and he could afford a room at a hotel, hopefully where no one would bother him.

“It's a good place here.” Gwen said.

“Yes, I'm sure it is.” If she has to talk, he thought, I'm going to say as little as I can. Talking can be dangerous. It gets weird, especially when you don't know who they are and what they think of things.

Gwen didn't know about him either. She thought, well, so far he’s okay, I guess. Quiet, not too bright, a little bit nervous but that's okay. She had been that way herself, on her first day at the store. Before then, she’d done her share of drifting, of feeling out of place, of things never being quite right. Those were times she wasn’t proud of. She was not the same person now, no, not at all, and she didn’t like to think about those days. Her mind had happily fuzzed all of those memories into oblivion. It's his first day after all, she told herself. She wasn’t too curious about him, but when you have to work with someone, you want to get to know them just a little bit, at least.

“So, you new in town or something?” She asked him.

He said, “Yeah, I've been here for awhile.” He didn't want to give out any details, not just yet. You should tell the boss, he thought, but no one else really has to know about you if you don't want them to, and he didn't want her to. He didn't really want to know about her either.