In the Strip Mall (Pt. 2)

Part Two

There was a strip mall across the road from the Kangaroo where Warren plunged the shuddering pump into his Accord. It was pink stucco and looked as though it only had about three shops in it and a small discount supermarket. All the rest were empty glass apertures, empty museum cases lined with dirt and desert dust. In the background, there was nothing but the desert as far as the eye could see, and then mountains.

There were about twenty cars in the parking lot, and a few people loitering outside. Some pushed carts.

Bill came out of the convenience store munching on a Choco-Taco. “Here you go, Sarah.”

He handed her a Dasani. She hadn’t asked for it. “Thanks, Bill. See how a real gentleman works it, Warren?”

“Here’s the cigarettes you wanted and the burrito, Murd.”

“Groovy. Say, what do you say we go over there and see what’s in those shops.”

“Aw, jeez, whaddya want to go over there for?” Steve was incredulous. “There’s only like one shop in the whole place and a Sav-A-Lot.”

“Yeah, that place is more like an abandoned strip mall. It’s kind of creepy if you ask me.” Sarah unscrewed the bottled water and took a swallow.

“Look, on the sign, it says, ‘Ezra’s Emporium’. I left my pipe at home, so I figured maybe I could get another one and some skins.”

“Face it, you’re just a shop-a-holic,” said Warren, jiggling the pump out of the gas tank.

“Alright,” said Bill, “I’ll see if I can find something for my kid sister.”

Steve shrugged. “Whatever.”

“Well,” said Sarah, “it says there’s a gaming store. That might be kinda cool.”

“A chocolate shop,” Bill cooed.

So they drove over to the other parking lot. It was getting toward twilight and the horizon was turning a deep pink-purple, offset weirdly by the orange vapor lamps and the faded, chipping pink of the arcade, which looked kind of like a tiered adobe village. Here and there, brown, sun-scorched weeds poked up through the cracks in the concrete.

“I’m going to go look at the card shop. I’ll be upstairs,” said Sarah.

“I’m gonna go check out the chocolate shop, okay?” Bill said.

“Fine by us. Let’s just all meet back here in like twenty minutes,” said Warren.

Sarah hopped up through the stairwell to the second floor. It had an odor like cat piss and thick grime and blackened chewing gum lodged in the corners.

{Pt. 3 here} ~> https://purevillainy.medium.com/in-the-strip-mall-pt-3-2dd4a1b21720