ditched his cart and came over, picking a bag of baby carrots I hoped he had a plan for so that they wouldn’t go bad.
I waited until he stood beside me, picking up avocados and testing how hard they were, to gently ask, “So… can I ask you about…” I turned to make sure no one was standing close. There wasn’t. “How things went in San Diego, or would you rather not talk about it?”
I could feel the surprise coming off him. It only lasted about a second, but it was there, and then it was gone. “You can ask, darlin’. Nobody else ever checks.” He lowered his voice. “It went all right. Another guy was there too, but I didn’t get a good feelin’ about it. I’m not expectin’ a thing.”
Those motherfuckers. I hoped they lost every game this season. I peeked at his face, but he caught me, and I forced a smile. “That stinks. San Diego is expensive to live in anyway.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” I didn’t really like the way he ticked his head to the side. “I still got some time.”
Not much, I’m sure we both knew, but neither one of us admitted it. The season was going to start in no time.
I wasn’t surprised he went straight into changing the subject back in my direction. “You have a good day at work?”
“I only thought about quitting twice. That’s about as good as it gets for me now,” I admitted, setting four avocados into the cotton bags I used for my produce.
He leaned over and plucked the bag from my hand, taking out two and setting them bare into his cart. “What’s goin’ on with your boss again?”
I stared at him, leaned over just like he had, grabbed one back, and said, “Let me show you how to pick them.”
So I showed him how to pick them, pointing at the nipple and telling him all about my paper bag trick to get them to ripen. Once he’d gotten three of his own that were just as good as the ones I’d found, I answered his question about my bosses.
“They’re new, three of them. They bought the gym I work at, but two of them are basically silent partners. The other one is just an asshole, but he’s like that with everyone, so it makes me feel a little better that it isn’t just me. I still pretty much hate his guts.”
“Don’t you make enough money off your WatchTube channel?”
I glanced at him as we pushed our carts toward the onions, but I was the only one who grabbed one. “I do. Now. I have for the last two years, but before, it fluctuated too much, and I didn’t want to quit until I knew for sure I could keep making a living off my sponsors and ad money,” I explained. There was still so much other stuff I hadn’t told him about that my gut knew was going to come up eventually. “Some other stuff happened right around then, but it’s complicated and a long story. I’ll tell you about it some other time. Anyway, I want to quit now, but my friend Deepa that you met—”
“The young one?”
I nodded. “I feel bad leaving her there, so I’m just waiting for her to find another job so I can leave too. She works for me too, helping me out with things when I film my videos, but it’s not enough to pay her full-time. I do all my own editing.” I’d had to teach myself two years ago, but that was more than he needed to know then.
He raised an eyebrow. “You have an assistant?”
“Sort of.” I nudged him. “Just for little things. I do almost everything myself.” Because I didn’t trust other people anymore to help, but that was part of the story that was too complicated to explain at the grocery store. “So, I’ll get out of there sooner than later. I’m not too worried about it. I think I’m just too excited about my trip I have coming up in a couple months to worry about the gym too much.”
“What trip?”
“I’m going to Disney World in October.”
“With Connie?”
“No, by myself,” I answered him. “It’s my redemption trip twelve years late. I’m so excited.”
“I remember you always talked about goin’ someday.” He slid me a warm smile before he seemed to think about something that made him go thoughtful. “Kiddo, where are your parents now?”
I wasn’t really surprised it had taken him this long