Chapter 7

We grabbed our jackets and headed out into the cool evening. Thankfully, it wasn’t windy as it so often was, which meant we wouldn’t freeze our ears off.

We headed across the campus and down Folsom Street to the strip mall with the Safeway. We cut through the little walkway between buildings and emerged next to the JoAnn’s fabric store. They actually had a Help Wanted sign in the window. I paused and stared at it.

“You wanna sell fabric?” Len said. He rocked on his feet as he scanned the inside of the store.

“Not really, but it’s close.” I opened the door and he followed me in.

I didn’t see anyone that looked like a manager, but after a bit an older woman with a name badge came over to ask if we could use some help. I mentioned the help wanted sign and she said I’d have to come back at ten the next morning.

I grimaced. I had a class then. I thanked her and then Len and I headed back outside.

We wandered down the strip mall carefully looking at the windows. None of the others had help wanted signs. Len pointed to the movie theater across the street where we’d seen Aliens.

“You should apply there,” he said.

I shrugged. “Let’s see if they’re hiring.”

We crossed the street. They didn’t have a sign up and Len nudged me to ask to talk to the manager.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I can’t just say ‘hire me’ if they don’t have an opening.”

“Why not? They could make one.”

I snorted. “I doubt it.”

“Won’t know until you ask.”

He was so chipper, I was actually annoyed. Yeah, he could ask for all sorts of things and get them. But I wasn’t him.

“C’mon,” he said. “You should at least ask.”

“Fine.”

I asked the ticket booth guy for the manager, who was actually there. They weren’t hiring, though. I didn’t try to argue about that even though Len was silently urging me with his eyes to do exactly that.

“Okay,” I said. “Thanks.”

“You should hire him,” Len blurted. “He knows a lot about movies.”

The manager chuckled. “We sell popcorn, kid. Not movies.”

“Can’t hurt,” Len said.

“That’s okay,” I said. “If you don’t have an opening, you don’t have one.

“Yeah. Well, check back next semester,” the manager said. “I’ve always got a kid or two who quit because of their schedule.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Len and I headed back across the street, where Len gestured at the Barnes & Noble. “You should check there.”

“Yeah, well, this time let me talk to the manager by myself, okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. I was just trying to help.”

“I can do it without help.”

He nodded and then held the door as we headed into the bookstore.

Len drifted into the magazine section while I waited by the checkout counter. I only saw one guy working there, but there could’ve been a manager somewhere in the back. When the clerk finished with the customer, I asked him about a job application.

“Sorry, dude,” he said. “I know we’re not hiring.”

I shrugged. “Thanks.” Then I went looking for Len.

Len was camped in front of the small section with the adult magazines. He slid the plastic-wrapped Playboy back onto the shelf and pulled out a smaller, almost paperback-sized magazine, though it was much thinner than a book.

“Hey,” he said when he saw me. “Can you believe they have Variations here?” He held up the magazine.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Penthouse Variations. It’s just letters and stories.” He smirked. “So you can’t read it for the articles.”

“Okay...” I glanced around. There wasn’t anyone nearby and the clerk couldn’t see us. Still, my nerves started to jangle.

To my relief, he put it back. But then he grabbed the Penthouse. I looked around again as he scanned the cover.

“You got a magazine here a couple of weeks ago, right?”

“Uh...” I had, and he knew it since he’d caught me carrying it in.

“It’s okay. I might get this one.” He flipped it around and looked at the back before looking at the plastic-encased cover again.

“Okay...,” I said. It felt a little brazen to be looking at it like it was Newsweek or Time.

“Yeah, I will.” Len grinned. “You can read it later if you want.”

I nodded. My gut still twisted, but I had to admit I was impressed by his nonchalance.

We headed to the counter where I hung back while he paid for the magazine. The clerk didn’t blink and neither did Len. Once we were outside, he checked his watch.

“We better hurry,” he said, “or the cafeteria’s gonna close.”

“Then let’s go.”

We made it to dinner just before the cafeteria closed. That left the dregs of what they were serving, but I didn’t complain. We missed out on bad cherry pie but the pasta was decent. At least it wasn’t full of leftover vegetables. We ate alone and debated the merits of Citizen Kane until we’d finished.

Back in the room, we studied for a while, and then at 8:55, Len packed up his books. I looked at him with a silent question.

“Your girlfriend’s calling at nine, right?”

I blinked. While we’d talked at nine the past couple of Tuesdays, we hadn’t explicitly made any plans for this week. But then, Len and Lori talked a lot. so maybe he knew something I didn’t.