He grabs a bag of chips and a beer and heads to the cashier where a very young girl, maybe of barely legal age, is ringing up another customer.
Once it’s John’s turn, he walks up to her and leans the top of his body on the counter.
“You’ve grown, Lucy.”
Lucy smiles politely and carefully takes the items from the counter.
“You’ve grown quite a lot. You know.” He mimics having boobs with his hands.
What the fuck?
Lucy’s face pales as she pushes the items back to him.
“What are you doing in the evening?” the leech asks.
I step up to the counter and smack my hand on it in front of him. “Probably eating dinner with her parents.”
His face turns the same level of sour from before. “You again?”
“Pay and go.” I nod shortly toward the exit.
“I’ve heard you’re trouble.” He tsks his tongue. “If you keep this up, Richard will make sure you don’t live in this town anymore.”
“I’ll deal with Dick. Now go.” I level him with a stare until he pushes his credit card into the reader, takes his purchases, and walks outside.
“Thanks,” the girl mumbles.
“Does he do that a lot?” I watch her scared face which should be answer enough on its own.
“It’s gotten worse since the diner started having plumbing problems, so he’s always around,” she says, glancing at the door as if expecting him to come back. Whenhe disappears into the diner next door, she adds, “It’s fine. I’ll deal with it.”
“Don’t.” I wait for her to lift her eyes. “Let police deal with that when he gets nasty.”
Her face shuts down. “Police won’t do anything.”
Even though I don’t know Cheryl that well, I can’t imagine her standing by while a man like that clearly rolls his balls toward this young girl. “Ask for Cheryl, she will.”
“Cheryl?”
“Yes, Cheryl Moon.”
“Moon? As in Moons’ Diner?”
“Yes, one of them. You don’t know her?” I had the impression she was from here if the perverted plumber knows how she’s grown.
“I go to a boarding school in Vermont and am just home for the holidays to help my parents in the store.”
“That’s cool.” I can’t come up with anything else since I’ve already used up all my social buffer for today.
After paying for a chocolate bar, I go outside. My truck is across the street. The pipes so conveniently sticking out from John’s truck are right here. The pipes Nora needs to fix her place. The pipes he’s planning to use at Dick’s place. Normally, I wouldn’t even think about something like this, especially considering my past. But Dick, his diner, and this asshole John’s advances toward a child are making me feel a little reckless.
I slowly walk up to my truck, trying not to make a fuss out of anything, start the engine, and make a U-turn. After parking the truck in front of the store, I keep the engine running and wait for the path to be clear.
Once no one’s around, I open my door and carefully close it without shutting it all the way. I don’t think I have much time, so I start jogging toward the plumber’s vehicle. When I’m next to it, I do a quick turnaround to check for anyone watching me. There might be a surveillance camerasomewhere, but I hope two missing pipes are too much of a hassle to report, so no one will miss them. Especially from two douchebags like that.
I grab the pipes and take off jogging back to my truck when a cop cruiser slows down next to me. The passenger window rolls down, and Cheryl’s face is peering at me from the driver’s side. She pulls her glasses down to her nose.
“Do I want to know?”
