“I’m so sorry, Jeri. He’s a tough kid, though, have faith in him,” I said. “I assume you tried to call him, or text?”
She nodded, brushing a few stray tears away from her face. “Yeah, radio silent.”
My heart went out to the teenager. I understood what it was like when the person you loved disappeared on you.
With the accident, everything had been thrown into chaos. The new business couldn’t afford to have the double loss of both the investment in the event and the money they would have brought in by being here, so I was manning one side of the display area and general purchases, while Jeri handled the intense fan discussions and locating more obscure items amongst their memorabilia.
“Excuse me,” someone said, and I jumped. I’d gotten lost in thoughtfor a moment, and had tuned everything out, but the noise of the crowd came back in a rush.
“Do you have the Green Lantern figure with the black base? I have the one with the green base already,” said a teenage boy who looked like he’d been hit hard with the puberty stick, his face an inflamed mess.
“Um, yeah, sorry. Here,” I mumbled, scrambling under the table to find the right figurine box for him, feeling sorry for the kid. I’d been fourteen once, too.
The boy inspected the box, as if seeking any random flaw that might change the price. “Would you take sixty for it?” the boy asked, pointing to the price tag of eighty dollars.
“Well, this is a consignment item, so I can’t take sixty, but if you can do seventy, we might have a deal,” I said, then the bargaining began in earnest.
The rest of the afternoon passed by in a blur. Music blared from the speakers next to the stage, and I realized my headache was growing exponentially as the day wore on. I loved taking care of the kids who loved the comics, but some of the adults were just assholes. I also couldn’t help but notice that there were a bunch of people walking up and down the aisles with gray sheets of paper clutched in their hands. They’d seem to stop, look at the name of the business, then look at the flier and turn their nose up and walk away.
I thought at first it was my imagination, but after the fourth time I’d seen it happen, I mentioned it to Jeri.
“Yeah, we’re on the ‘Do Not Buy’ list,” she said, sighing.
“What the fuck is that?” I asked, perhaps a bit too loudly.
She came over to me and dragged me away from the customers and spoke in hushed tones.
“I didn’t say anything to you because I figured it would just blow over,” she said, looking around nervously. “Tobi told me about it. His family’s church is rabidly anti-gay. I mean, like crazily so,” she said. “They threatened to send him to one of those camps where they try to ‘pray the gay away’,” she said, shuddering. I didn’t blame her. I’d heard some of the stories about those places.
“The church published a list, right before the convention with approved and ‘inappropriate’ stores for people to shop at. You see those papers they’re carrying around?” I'd noticed the gray pieces of paper but hadn’t thought much of it. Lots of stores handed out fliers at these events. She pulled a crumpled one out of her pocket.
“Look,” she said, showing it to me.
The paper started out okay, stating in large words, “Dear Business Owner: We want to spend our money with you!” but then it continued, “unfortunately, due to the disgusting, sick, and un-Godly acts performed by some of your sponsors, we are choosing not to do so. When you have decided to eject these retailers from your event, we will reconsider spending our money here.” At the bottom there were a list of stores that were a part of the event.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
“I know, right? Hit everyone right where it hurts most, the pocketbook,” she said wryly. “I’ve got a stack of these over here. I’ve been picking them up and throwing them away whenever I can, but there are just too many. The twins don’t need to know about this.”
“So, this is just against LGBTQ owners?” I asked. She shook her head.
“Nope. Some of the stores they’ve listed are owned by single parents, divorcees and even most of the minority business owners,” she said. “You know, anyone who is not a WASP that believes in the version of god they do.”
“That makes it a hate crime,” I said.
She sighed and took a sip of her drink, then said “No real crime. Just ‘choosing where to put their dollars.’ Don’t let it get to you, Lee. This kind of shit happens a lot.”
“I know,” I said, shaking my head. “But nothere. Not in Akron-fucking-Ohio.”
She sighed, and shrugged. “Well, it does now.”
A customer called her over and she went to answer their question. My thoughts continued to whirl. For the hundredth time I was grateful I'd turned down the twins offer to be a partner in thebusiness, but the protective crazy alpha male in me wanted to react to any threat to those I loved.
Just when I thought I was going to die if I didn’t get a minute of peace and quiet, the emcee for the event announced over the PA system that they would be starting the cosplay contest judging in Hall B. Fans turned and started to exit the hallen masse. Finally, a break!
I glanced at my watch and realized it was almost 1:30 p.m. The main event was supposed to start at 3 p.m., and still no Mason in sight. Surely, he wouldn’t bail on the event because of me… I caught Bill’s eye and tapped my watch. He shrugged and grinned, turning back and laughing with his buddies as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
Something was up. There’s no way he would be this calm about a no-show headliner. “You got things here for a minute, Jeri?” I asked, making my way around the tables and boxes. Jeri just nodded and waved, deep in conversation with some kids that looked about her age.
