Jamie pulls at my arm and I turn to stare at him. His eyeslook doubtful. My heart pulses faster; I can hear the sound of it in my ears.
“Just show him your pockets, Chi.”
I swallow, shifting to look at the shopkeeper.
He moves forward, roughly reaching into my coat pocket.
“See—” I start, but I’m silenced by a crinkling sound and a pack of licorice in his upturned hand.
“I’m calling the cops,” he says, shaking his head as he makes his way back to the other side of the counter.
My eyes water.
“I didn’t take it. I don’t know how it got there,” I say weakly, my voice breaking in a pathetic way I wish Jamie didn’t have to hear.How did it get in there?
The guy pressesnine.
“I didn’t take it,” I repeat.
One.
“I’ll pay for it all, okay?” I hear Jamie say, pushing his twenty across the counter.
The man dialsoneagain.
“Please, you can keep all the change,” Jamie persists.
The guy pauses, looking between Jamie and me, before putting the phone down and grabbing the twenty from the counter. The shop is silent now, the bystanders watching the scene unfold. My face feels hot as I watch the shopkeeper examine the bill.
“Thank you, sir,” Jamie says.
The shopkeeper looks at me and points again. “I’m tired of you people thinking you can get away with this shit. Don’t come back here, you hear me?”
I nod and rush out of the shop, followed by the sound of the twinkly nursery rhyme ringing as I open the door. Jamie pulls my shoulder as I run down the stone steps, and I turn to look at him, blinking away any tears that want to fall.What just happened?
“Let’s go home,” he tells me with a sigh. His face crumples as he shoves the candy into his pockets. “I’ll just go to Waffle Palace another day with Belle.”
I feel a blow to my chest.
“Okay,” I answer.
“Okay,” he replies.
I don’t know why I say it again after saying it so many times in the store, but I feel compelled to. I didn’t like the look on his face when the shopkeeper accused me.
“I didn’t take the licorice.”
Jamie says nothing, just nods without making eye contact, then walks ahead with his phone in his hand and his head down, typing into it.
Why is he acting like I did something wrong?
I take one look back at the candy store. The shopkeeper’s still watching me through the glass window. Shadowy figures move around in the shop, faces I don’t recognize. Someone must’ve put the licorice in my pocket. I glance at Jamie, who walks on slowly.
But who?And why?
7
DEVON
