Exodus of the Greenman

Page 3

“Hey little girl, ya got any spare change?” She heard a half-mocking voice behind her. She looked over her shoulder and found her best friend Jenny. Jenny was Jerry Garcia meets the Sex Pistols, leather and tie-die. She was a punk hippie, all the love and twice the attitude.

“Only if you got a spare cigarette.”

“Sure, for an extra quarter I’ll even light if for ya.” They laughed the warm laughter of old friends sharing an old joke. Jenny fished a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her pocket and offered them to Carrie. She put a cigarette in the corner of her mouth, lit it, and inhaled deeply.

“So, how’d the first day on the job go?” Jenny asked sounding hopeful

Carrie made a face that she hoped would be taken as disappointment. Then she let a sly smile sneak out of the corner of her mouth. It was hard to smile with a cigarette in her mouth; it was hard to smile period. With Jenny somehow it was possible.

“It was awesome! Do you have any idea how many fine guys go into that shop.”

“That’s so great. Pretty soon I’ll be able to bum cigs off you.”

“Yeah, well I don’t get my first check for two weeks. Then I’ll buy ya all the smokes ya want.”

“Hey, maybe you could get me a job there too, and we could move in together.”

“That would be beyond cool. But, I thought you liked living with your brother?”

“I do. He takes good care of his baby sis. It’s his weirdo friends I can live without. So, did you tell Allen about the job yet?”

Carrie looked down at her feet, licked her lips and said, “No.”

“Oh, shit! Is he gonna freak on you? Do you want me to be there when you tell him?"
“That’s OK. I can handle it.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“How have you stood living with that bastard? You could come stay with me and Jimmy, he wouldn’t mind you’re like his second kid sister.”

“No, I couldn’t. Allen might come around and get into it with Jimmy and I don’t want to get him involved. Besides Allen wasn’t always a bastard. He did a lot for me when I ran away from home, if it hadn’t been for him I’d be sell’n’ my ass. I feel like I owe him.”

“Carrie, you don’t owe him nuthin’. He did something really nice for you once, but nothing that would make it OK to beat the crap out of you. I don’t care if he gave you one of his God damn kidneys he has no right to treat you like he does.”

“I know. But I love Allen, or at least the guy he used to be. I feel like I should help him, ya know clean himself up. It’s only fair.”

“Life ain’t fair. Besides you’ve tried to help him. You had a counselor stop by, all that got you was the crap kicked out of you. He’s too far gone, you can’t help him. He has to help himself.”

“I know, I guess. I just don’t get why he doesn’t want me to get a job.”

“He’s afraid you’ll leave him if you get a way to support yourself, and he’s right. You’re going to stick to your plan, save a little money, and get the hell out of there.”

They sat through an awkward silence, each filled with the knowledge of what Carrie would face when she told Allen about her job.

Jenny asked “What time is it?”

“I’m to poor to own a watch, why ask me?”

“It must be lunch time, I’m getting hungry.”

“I have an apple, I’ll share it with you if you want.” Carrie put her hands in both her jacket pockets, and to her surprise she found an apple in each pocket.

“What the hell? That old bastard must have been some sort of magician.” She said, as she produced both apples and handed one to Jenny.

“What are you talking about, silly girl?”

“You’d think I was nuts if I told you.”

“I already know you’re crazy, so talk.”

“At the bus stop this morning some old guy gave me an apple, and I ate it right then and there. When I got on the bus I found another one in my pocket, I thought he must have slipped it in there somehow. Now there’s two apples, the dude must be a magician or a pickpocket.”

“That’s pretty weird if you ask me. Are you sure these apples are safe to eat? What if he’s some kind of sick-O?”

“He seemed OK, and the first apple didn’t kill me.” Carrie said and then took a big bite out of her apple.

Jenny followed suit, and took a bite out of the apple Carrie had handed her.

“This is a damn good apple. Where do you think he got ’em?”

“Probably stole ’em off somebody’s tree.”