Convenience (standard:humor, 542 words)
Author: Rene Amador	Added: Jun 16 2003	Views/Reads: 3501/1	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Don't you hate customers? Especially the ones who have guns?

The store was dead.  Usually customers filed in and out all day long,
but because of the heat, everyone decided to stay in their 
air-conditioned rooms.  The hotel provided many customers for the 
convenience store just across the street.  The attendant on duty, 
Samir, sat behind the counter reading a magazine from the newspaper 
stand. 

Finally a customer walked in, a tall blond-haired man, around
thirty-five.  Samir took note of these details of all the people when 
they walked in because you never know what the next criminal is going 
to look like. 

The blond man walked up and down the aisles looking for something but
really nothing in particular.  Samir noticed that behavior pattern 
before.  They had briefed him in training for the telltale signs of a 
potential hold up.  He watched as the blond man worked his way to the 
back of the store.  Another customer walked in. 

An older woman entered.  Her hair was put up in a scarf and she lugged a
shopping cart with her, the kind that elderly people use when they shop 
for groceries by themselves.  Nothing was in the cart except for a 
brown paper bag, probably goods from another store.  A sensible black 
purse hung on her shoulder. 

Finally the blond man made his decision and approached the counter with
his purchase.  He placed two apples onto the counter.  Samir was taken 
back by this.  He didn't know why.  He rang up the blond man's order 
and reached underneath the counter for a paper bag.  When he emerged 
from under the counter, Samir stood face to face with a .38 special. 

The blond man held the gun to Samir's face, his arm fully extended. 
Samir had been trained to handle himself in this kind of situation, but 
his mind was a complete blank from the pressure of the moment.  The 
blond man demanded all the money in the register in the paper bag, 
along with the apples.  The hunger rolled off of his voice. 

Samir opened the register and transferred the paper bills and coins into
the bag.  He realized that what was in the register was more than what 
he made in a month.  As he placed the money into the paper bag, the 
older woman crept up behind the blond man. 

The blond man didn't hear her even though the wheels of the shopping
cart were in dire need of some lubrication.  She seemed to be in a 
hurry and something inside her snapped.  The sensible black purse slid 
off her shoulder into her hand.  She took hold of the handle, wound up 
and swung the purse along the side of the blond man's temple.  He fell 
down with a thud onto the linoleum tiles. 

The older woman then placed her order onto the counter.  Given the
strange circumstances, Samir was relieved that that was over.  The 
older woman opened her purse and began to count out her change to pay 
the bill.  She didn't even acknowledge the blond man sprawled on the 
floor.  She plopped her bag into her shopping cart, carefully stepped 
over the blond man and before exiting the store, the older woman knelt 
on the floor and picked up the .38.  She placed it into her purse. 


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