Jamie's Story (standard:drama, 1780 words)
Author: The man in the lead codpiece	Added: Sep 25 2000	Views/Reads: 4078/2213	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
It was an ordinary day for a young, promising girl when the store where she works is robbed. She ends up paying the ultimate price when a gunman mistakingly shoots her putting her into a coma. This is a story of what goes through her mind the split se

"Morning Jamie.  Everything going alright today?" "Just great, Mr. D."
Jamie Parker was a favorite student employee at the auto parts store.  
She was what Mr. Donaldson called "a real go-getter with great business 
savvy." She was a real asset there. Mr. Donaldson was sixty-one years 
of age.  He was one who always seemed to have a kindly smile ironed 
permanently on to his face.  Despite the fact that in that year he had 
lost his wife to cancer and his sister to a man who was driving while 
under the influence of alcohol and methamphetamines, he always treated 
his employees with respect and seldom raised his voice.  Most of the 
younger employees considered him more of a favorite grandfather than a 
boss, and Jamie was no exception.  She genuinely liked the man.  She 
was grateful for the generosity he had shown her over the past year.  
Mr. Donaldson came from a poor family too, so he knew what it was like. 
 If it weren't for him, Jamie doubted she ever would have been able to 
go to college.  Her family needed all the money they could her their 
hands on, and Jamie didn't want to take any more from them than she 
already had. Jamie considered all of these things as she walked briskly 
to her employer to find out which "post" she would have today.  She was 
on a rotating shift, alternating between checking and sales.  
Preferring the latter, Jamie felt of better use working her charms on 
potential customers rather than a cash register, but Mr. Donaldson was 
the one who signed her paycheck.  She would have to hope that her work 
would be noticed and pay off. "Where would you like me to go today, 
sir?" "Well Jamie, you're one of the best salespeople I have here. You 
know how to make a sale, and I know you feel that your talents are 
being wasted at the cash register, so..." Mr. Donaldson started. "So 
how about you start in sales today?""That would be great sir!" "Well 
don't forget, I'm giving you this opportunity because you're good, not 
because you're good at flirting with the guys.  Do a good job, and you 
can stay there, otherwise you get to play on the cash register again." 
Jamie shifted uneasily and was glad when her boss continued, "Don't 
worry, you'll do great. Now get to work." "Yes, thanks, sir," she 
managed on her way towards the employee washroom. She had brought her 
uniform from home, rather than facing gawking strangers on the bus to 
work. She emerged from the change room several minutes later, 
transformed. Her normally disheveled hair was neatly combed. The black 
rayon shirt, black slacks, and red tie were all neatly ironed, and the 
nametag pinned over her left breast pocket displayed her name, Jamie 
Parker, employee. She smiled into a conveniently located mirror mounted 
on the door, and gave herself one more quick check. Perfect.  She was 
ready for action, and there was no doubt that she was good at what she 
did. Several hours later, Jamie relaxed on her second coffee break of 
the afternoon. It had been a busy day. An older woman had come into the 
store looking for "a nice gift for her grandson." After pricing various 
items for forty minutes, she finally decided to look elsewhere. Jamie, 
rather surprised, almost pitched her a "cheapest price in town" line, 
but thought better of it. This innocent-looking granny could well be 
sophisticated and be offended if she pushed for the sale.  She thanked 
her and turned away. No sooner had she left her than another possible 
customer walked in. The young man was only a few years older than she 
was.  He knew what he wanted right away and walked directly towards a 
compact disk player with a removable face. He made his purchase and 
left, not bothering with small talk. The rest of Jamie's day was pretty 
much the same, with a steady stream of customers entering the store, 
making purchases, and leaving. Just as she finished the God-awful 
coffee that one of the employees-in-training must have made, the same 
granny that she had waited on earlier came back in. However, this time 
she had a friend, a rather nasty-looking friend with quite a piece of 
hardware in his hands.  It was not the electronic kind, either.  Jamie 
was no gun expert, but she did live in Chicago. This looked like a 
Glock 17, a nasty gun, especially in the hands of a young, obviously 
experienced crook. Of course, all guns are nasty, anyway. The analysis 
raced through Jamie's mind. The giant pointed the gun at the cashier 
and demanded all the money. The cashier, a new employee, immediately 
complied. As he was doing this, the "granny" spoke to Jamie. "Kid, I 
don't want to hurt anybody, but I will if I have to. Now start loading 
some of those goodies into the shopping cart. And move it!" "Right 
away!" Jamie made her way toward the electronics. It was at that moment 
that Mr. Donaldson chose to return from the bathroom. As he surveyed 
the scene, a tired, annoyed expression crossed his face. "Hello." he 
said to the one with the gun. "Nice to meet you, Pops." the thief 
replied. "How are you on this fine day?" "Great," replied the man who 
had been robbed many times before, but always when he was behind the 
counter. "Just great." The robber continued grabbing money and greedily 
stuffing it into a large plastic bag. When he finished, he yelled at 


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