The Weird and The Wacky Meet

Where YouBetIAm comes to write….

Pink Kitty Cats

                 Miranda did not glance up from her perch behind the counter when the door opened and the tiny attached bell rang.  Even though she blinked when the sunlight hit her eyes, she thought, “Pavlov has nothing on me.”  Besides, most customers of the Pink Kitty Kat Boutique didn’t really want to be acknowledged.

                 Miranda continued with her unimpressed demeanor while she read the want ads.  She used to think it was cool to work in a porn store, but the novelty wore off rather quickly.  Miranda had started off with a neo-feminist attitude, thinking that sex empowered.  After a year, she wasn’t so sure anymore, but she tried to keep an open mind.

                 In the back room, Leo, the store owner, was strutting around, pleased as any peacock to be showing off his fine collection of various fetishes and perversions.   Miranda let out an uncharacteristic cringe as he bellowed, “Of course we have bukkake!”

                 It wasn’t that Miranda considered bukkake the worst thing in the store, it just always made her think, “Eww.”  She looked back at the pudgy customer asking for the weird porn.  He seemed relieved to find someone as excited about his particular fetish as he got.  “Good, I’m looking for something new,” he panted.

                 The bell above the door rang again.  Miranda saw the navy colored uniform and immediately stiffened.  She squinted and read the words “Officer Connor” on a slim plastic plate right above his badge.

                 “Is someone named George in here?” asked Officer Connor.

                 Miranda, prompted by her past experiences and by Leo’s strict orders when it came to cops, shot back, “Do you have a warrant?”

                 “Come on.  Is there a customer here named George?”

                 “How should I know?  I don’t card people at the door.”

                 Leo walked forward.  “Is there a problem, Officer?” he said in his sweetest voice.

                 Miranda thought this was hilarious because Leo was anything but sweet.  She kept her giggles to herself though, because she hadn’t seen any jobs worth checking out in the paper this morning.

                 The officer let out an exasperated sigh.  “I am looking for a man named George.  His parked car was in accident, and his family told me that he was in here.  For Christ’s sake, where is he?”

                 Miranda watched the face of the pudgy customer twist into an expression of horror.  “My family, are they okay?  I have to get out there!”  He ran towards the door, and everyone followed him.

                 Miranda could see a minivan across the street that had been mangled from behind.  It was being loaded onto a tow truck as a very pregnant woman in a yellow sundress watched helplessly.  She was holding two over-stuffed shopping bags in one hand, and the other hand rested on top of a tow-headed little girl clinging to her leg.  The little girl was holding a stuffed pink cat and sniffling into her mother’s dress.  George dashed over to them and took the shopping bags, while at the same time giving his wife a comforting hug.  She leaned on him as if he was the only thing keeping her from collapsing in the street.

                 Leo looked over at Miranda.  “Come on,” he said, “We’ve got to get back inside.  We have customers waiting.”  He swaggered back into the store, holding the door impatiently for Miranda.

                 Miranda went back and sat down behind the counter.  She wasn’t quite sure where should go from here.  “What kind of man leaves his family waiting in the car while he buys porn?” she thought.  She didn’t know the answer after working at the Pink Kitty Kat for over a year.  She didn’t think about it much as she started ringing up the purchases of yet another customer.

 

Copyright 2004

by Amanda Evans

Date: 05/10/04