Chapter 6

"Mr. Jacobs?" He said with a derrogatory tone.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Would you care to explain why you an hour and a half late, this afternoon?" Kevin asked me.

The time was now 7:30 p.m., and as the man said, I'd slept in. As the closing manager of the store, he obviously wasn't very pleased with me showing up at 4 o'clock, when I was due in at 2:30. He was a slightly overweight man, with a receding hairline and a thick beard. He was the kind of guy that if you met him in a bar, you'd expect him to be dog-drunk, picking fights, and talking about going home to beat his wife.

"Honestly, I doubt I could give an explanaition that you would consider suitable, sir." I answered to the best of my ability. This seemed to catch him off guard.

"You're damn right you couldn't." Kevin hissed. "Look at you, James. You're unshaven, in desperate need of a shower, and you're not concentrating on your work. I've gotten several customer complaints on you, tonight, and a complaint from your Department Manager."

"May I ask what the complaints were regarding, sir?"

"Your serious lack in customer service!" He yelled.

My eyes left his, and scanned across the managerial office of the Wal-Mart store, as I sighed. My hand rubbed my chin, feeling the stubble that was growing, along it.

"The only thing I can do, Kevin, is to apologize for my actions and not to let them happen again. Other than that, what do you want?" I finally said to him, now getting seriously frustrated, both by his tone and my painful hangover.

"I'll tell you what I want, James. I want you out of here. I don't think faggots should be working for this store." He told me, in a low, quiet voice, so as not to be heard by any party outside the office.

"Excuse me?" was the only thing I could say. I was in complete shock with what had just been said.

"You heard me, Mr. Jacobs. If you were straight, you wouldn't be working in the goddamn fabric department. Now, if I had my way, I'd fire your stupid ass and have you out of here. But since I don't have the authority to fire you, all I can do is give you a write-up, and hope to build enough against you to have the Store Manager fire you."

My mind was racing. I wanted to get up and knock the shit out of the guy. It took me a moment to regain my composure, before taking a deep breath. Of course, since Kevin liked hearing himself speak, he had to continue talking.

"Oh, and Mr. Jacobs? Feel free to tell anyone you want about what was said in this office, tonight. Because when you do, you will be fired for instigating workplace gossip. Not like anyone'd believe you, anyway. No witnesses, your word against mine." He grinned.

Beautiful. Now he'd pissed me off. I rose from my chair and straightened my blue vest. Kevin stared at me as I cleared my throat and walked towards the door.

"So you can't fire me, huh? That's too bad. Because since the rumor's obviously out that I'm gay, I guess you look like my butt-buddy, sitting in the office alone with me, with the door closed." I said back to him, smiling politely.

"Do what? Oh, you're in for it now, Mr. Jacobs!" He said, rising from his chair.

"In for what? A beating? Or are you going to report this? Just keep in mind that it's your word against mine." I growled to him, as I reached for the doorknob. "You know... no witnesses." I finished, before walking out.

My late night with the girls had gotten me into trouble with one of my bosses, who apparently already had a stick shoved up his ass. Silently, I walked down the back hall, before heading back to my department. God, that guy pissed me off. Oh well, if nothing else, I got over my hangover when I told him off.

Now, I just had three hours left to work, and I was out of there. I looked at my watch, and it read 7:45. Time for a break.

I walked into the smoker's lounge, lighting a cigarette, when I noticed someone sitting at my table. He was a slightly well-built guy, a little bigger than me, with a goatee. I looked at his nametag.

"BRIAN -- Associate In Training!"

I took a seat across from him. "New guy, huh?" I asked, taking a deep drag from my cigarette.

"Yeah. First day on the job." He answered, as he nursed an odd-looking black cigarette. It caught my attention, as I'd never seen one before.

"What're you smoking?" I inquired, trying to break the ice. Before he answered, he took a deep drag off of it, and blew a cloud of smoke into the air. It smelt more fragrant than a swisher cigar, but not as sweet as a black & mild.

"Clove cigarette. Want one?" He asked, smiling. I raised an eyebrow.

"Sure." I answered, as he pulled one from his pack. I took it and put it into my pack of cigarettes, saving it for later.

"I started smoking these about a year ago. They're real cheap and pretty good. Only problem is, they kill your sense of taste and smell for about an hour after smoking one." He said, before taking another drag. "So what department do you work in?" He asked.

"Don't ask." I answered, as I heard footsteps enter the non-smoking side of the breakroom. It was Kevin. "Oh shit." I thought, aloud.

"What?" Brian asked, looking to see what I was looking at.

Kevin glared at me through the plexi-glass that divided our section from theirs. If looks could kill, I'd be as dead as a door nail. To be a smart ass, I smiled and waved at him. He took his seat and picked up a newspaper, using it to help him ignore me.

"Oh, shit. He looks pissed at you." Brian chuckled. "What did you do?"

"Put him in his place. What time is it?" I answered, before realizing that my break was probably up.

"7:59."

I was right.

Later that night, as I clocked out and headed for the door, Kevin never stopped glaring at me, even when there were dozens of other associates walking past him, out the front door. It didn't help matters that I blew him a kiss as I passed him.

As I got outside, several car engines began starting, as the associates who'd walked out the door before me, were all leaving. I turned and began walking home, before noticing a car in the parking lot that I didn't recognize. It was a small black car, that looked a little bit like a Mazda. It was hard to tell, in the dark. It's windows were tinted black.

I started to worry, as the engine on the car started. No one had walked near that car. I continued down my path, as it started creeping toward me.

It's headlights came on, as it pulled up alongside me, and stopped. I didn't know what to expect, and prepared myself to fight, if I had to. Slowly, the passenger-side window rolled down. Before I knew it, I was looking at Lisa's beautiful face, smiling back at me.

"Get in, cutie." She said, seductively.