Page 22 of The Good Char (Soul Taker)

KIMMY

As I sat here getting berated by my parents, I reminded myself as to why I was doing what I was doing.

I was a full grown woman, getting lectured about curfews. I understood that they were scared for my safety because I hadn’t been away from home most of my life. Sleepovers were rare in itself since we worked so much at the restaurant.

But wasn’t that the perfect reason why I needed to break from this cycle? Were my own children destined to forever be a part of this restaurant legacy? Sure, sleeping in my apartment alone for the first time was laced with some fear, but I kept a knife under my pillow just in case.

How was I supposed to stretch my wings like this?

“Kimmy! Are you listening? How could you scare us like that?” my mother whined before she plopped down on the kitchen chair dramatically with her head hung in her hands.

I quietly looked at my father, who was fuming in silence with his hands clasped behind him. He shook his head and turned away from me, facing the outside window.

It was always going to be this way. Maybe because I was a younger generation thrown into western assimilation harder than they were, but with my first taste of independence, I was no longer the girl they knew.

I was no longer a girl. I was a woman and they needed to understand that. I just didn’t know how to fully explain my reasoning without sounding like I was retaliating or being disrespectful for disrespect's sake.

“Mother, Father, I’m sorry. You won’t understand it, but I need to do this. For me, for us. Please, just trust me,” I tried.

The weight of their disapproval weighed heavily on my shoulders and old feelings of obligation and duty threatened to choke me, but I sat there with a soft smile, trying to keep calm.

“I need to go to work. My shift starts soon,” I whispered before getting to my feet.

“Have you been staying with him? Was that why you were gone last night?” My father finally spoke without turning around.

“You’re pregnant. I knew it. You’re farther along and you’re trying to hide your belly from us. You don’t need to live under his rule, Kimmy. You can still stay with us.” my mother sniffed.

I let out a sigh. “I’m not pregnant. There’s just a lot that’s been going on in my head and I need to figure things out on my own.

You understand that, don’t you? You guys came here and started a new life.

I’m just doing the same in my own way. It’s time.

I’m going to be in my mid twenties soon enough.

I can’t stay with my parents forever,” I explained.

My mother bawled while my father turned to look at me seriously before pacing. “Why are you trying to leave me?”

“I’m not leaving forever. I just won't be living here. I need to get out on my own. I’m sorry.” I blinked back a few of my tears as I ran up the stairs and grabbed a backpack, stuffing more clothes in it and a few pictures of my family.

Avoiding their faces, I quickly made my way to my bicycle and pedaled as fast as I could, letting the wind erase my sadness and the sun replace my happiness as I weaved through the suburbs toward Hellscape Mall.

By the time I made it to the mall’s plaza, cars were filling up and I had to carefully ride to the sidewalk, then walk the rest of the way.

“Today is going to be a good day. The sun is shining. My first night at the apartment went okay. Besides the weird argument outside my window, I thought it went pretty well,” I talked to myself as I walked through the glass doors.

The air conditioning hit me in the face and I let out a relieved sigh. Who would have thought a trip to the mall would be uplifting? It was sad that my parents home was now something I cringed about.

The food court wasn’t bustling yet as I waved at some of the other employees who were setting up.

I watched my boss’ back as he worked on the batter, never once turning when I made my way behind the counter.

“Good morning, Mr. Dzik,” I greeted him as I grabbed my apron and hat.

He grunted in response before peeking at me through the side of his eye.

I chuckled. “What?”

He grunted again, moved the batter, turned on the fryer and the grill.

I wrapped my hair in a loose bun, ignoring his grumpy attitude like usual before manning the register. Leaning over the counter, I looked out the glass doors of the front of the mall and smiled brightly.

I had a good feeling about today despite how it started.

The duality within me was caught between old fashioned cultural upbringing and new generation liberation.

Being raised to think of the collective whole will never fully leave me, but ideals of individualism were slowly starting to creep in and my parents couldn’t blame me for the influences of our lives here in Nevada.

“Mr. Dzik?—”

“Dzik,” he grumbled.

“Dzik, do you live far from here? I don’t think I’ve ever had the chance to see you come or go.

Every time I arrive and leave, you’re always just here at The Good Char.

” Turning my attention toward him, I gave him a mischievous smile.

“You don’t sleep in the back room do you?

There are no showers and you don’t stink. ”

I scrunched my nose playfully and I could have sworn I saw the corner of his lip twitch. It sparked something inside of me and suddenly I was determined to make the man smile.

“Do you have any pets?” I tried again, attempting to find a good opening to pry into his life like the nosy person I was.

Well, I wasn’t—only for him. Who was this mysterious bad boy?

I watched his tattoos flex with his arm as he began spraying the counter and wiping it down more aggressively than necessary.

“I don’t have time for that nonsense.”

I slid over and leaned in, blocking his wiping path while looking up at him.

“Is it nonsense, Mr. Dzik? Pets are great! They’re so cute and cuddly. When I see one I just want to pinch their cheeks so bad,” I explained as I pushed my face together, making my lips pout comically.

He scowled and I crossed my eyes. His only response was to glare and I bursted out laughing.

“Mr. Dzik, you are one funny man. Why are you like this?”

“What are you talking about?” he gritted. “Move, I’m trying to clean.”

“Make me,” I challenged, straightening with my hands on my hips.

His nostrils flared and my eyes widened when my body perked up. I didn’t know what it was about him that would elicit such a reaction to me but here we were, standing face to face awkwardly as my breath slowly came out in pants.

Pants.

I gulped. The other day’s incident flashed before my eyes and I whimpered, pressing my legs together. Embarrassingly, his eyes darkened as if he thought the same right before he flicked his gaze down to the exposed skin of my collar.

“Are you challenging me, Kimmy? Are you challenging your boss?” he let out huskily and my nipples perked behind my shirt.

“M-Maybe I am. Would that get me in trouble?”

I wanted it to be a rhetorical question but it slipped through my lips and now I was afraid of the answer.

He took another step forward, mindlessly wiping the counter with one hand while keeping his eyes on me.

“You, little human, have been nothing but trouble from the moment I met you.”

I didn’t know how to take his nonchalant tone. Was there an underlying message here because I wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad thing.

“I-Is that a bad thing?” I couldn’t help but ask, biting my bottom lip.

“It’s the worse thing?—”

“Um, should I, like, come back later or…” came a stranger’s voice.

I squeaked and jumped away from Mr. Dzik’s scrutiny, placing my hands on my cheeks to cool them down. “I’m sorry. I hope you weren’t standing there long. What would you like?”

The teenage boy looked between me and my boss, his own face flaming as he mumbled his order before fidgeting in place, waiting for it to arrive.

With a grunt, Mr. Dzik went to the fryer and threw a corndog in.

I let out a nervous laugh to break the tension. “You’re our first customer of the day! Lucky you. We make our corndogs fresh to order. Have you been here before? Don’t forget to tell your friends about us! We open a little before lunch until the mall closes.”

“Yeah… I know,” he replied apprehensively when Dzik stood beside me and handed him his order with a glare. The poor kid audibly swallowed and ran away to the farthest table from The Good Char.

“He was a nice boy wasn’t he? We probably should throw a few more corndogs in, you know, in preparation for the lunch rush. Boys like him always hang out in groups and they eat a lot at that age,” I rambled.

“Why do you know so much about boys, Kimmy?” he growled and I blinked a few times, taken aback by his strange question.

“I-I don’t? I mean, these are things everyone knows, right?”

He narrowed his eyes and I could see the vein on his temple pulse. Why did it look so hot?

I opened my mouth to blabber about something else when another customer called for my attention. Phew!

“Hi there! Welcome to The Good Char! How may I help you?” I let out brightly.

A warm breath caressed the nape of my neck and my eyes fluttered. “This conversation is far from over, Kimmy.”