Marylee knew she was still a mile from work having just past the
green services sign that read The Quickie-1 mile (A double
entendre no one ever failed to acknowledge with at least an embarrassed smile,
especially the New Yorkers who’d been swooping down on Sag Harbor every summer
since she could remember, COVID-19 summer or not.) when her best friend Ilene
stopped to give her a ride. The cold air blowing inside the big
pickup was a God sent.
Happy as Marylee was for the ride, (something was wrong with the starter in her
Camry yet again), she didn’t feel very sociable. Not after a family
meltdown of historic proportions that morning, a meltdown where she not only
shouted at her two-year-old Darlene but had an impulse to shake her. Something
she promised herself she would never do. Her mother, who was supposed to
babysit that day, had looked at her like she’d lost her mind. And
maybe she had. Darlene had chewed, mouthed and mangled an entire new box of
facemasks she’d gotten at a great price at Walmart. And Marylee had to have one
for work. They cost 20 dollars a box at The Quickie, 20 dollars she didn’t
have, but that’s where she knew she’d have to buy them in order to have one to
start work. So when her car wouldn't start again, she screamed
"I cannot be late again!", and ran down the driveway to
walk to work, probably scaring her mother, her neighbors and Darlene (again).
“So what are you doing walking in this heat?’ Ilene asked once Marylee got
comfortable in her seat. “You practicing to be a camel?”
You know why I’m walking, Marylee thought. Almost embarrassing,
isn’t it?
"Car trouble." Marylee's voice was shaky even to her own ears. Jesus, please don't let me cry, unload, or
explode she thought. Ilene can't help and I just don't have the time.
“Again?” When Marylee didn’t answer Ilene asked, “Hey, can you smell
me? The Clorox I mean? I tried to cover it up with
perfumed soap.” She leaned over as far as she dared while driving. “That really
hit me when you said I smelled like Clorox.” Ilene worked at the Pizza Party
just on the outskirts of town and was constantly wiping down tables."No,
you smell great." Marylee said. And
to Marylee's nose, she did. A combination of spray starch, Clorox, and lilac
soap with just a tinge of cigarette smoke.
As they pulled into the Quickie Ilene asked, “Hey, where’s your mask?” Hers was
hanging around her neck, ready to pull up at a moment’s notice.
“Don’t have one. Baby ate my last one.”
“Uh- oh You got a problem.”
“You got that right. I’ll have to buy a box at work.”
“Isn’t there a law or something where they got to give you a mask, like,
every day?”
“You got a lawyer to figure that out, Ilene?”
Marylee jumped down from
the truck and while taking a minute to tuck in her shirt she thought about Ilene.
She was a good friend, lucky too, with Gary.
Without him, Ilene would be living on the edge as much as she was. Gary
found construction work for the summer peoples' houses almost year-round. Then
she thought about her job at The Quickie. You needed two incomes to make it
these days. Or one real good one. A career job with benefits
and a saving program. Maybe daycare. She knew she was smart. Her
teachers told her so. They told her she should apply for scholarships. But Darlene
came along and no husband came along with her and life just got away from her.
The Quickie was on the far end of the one major street that ran through Sag
harbor. The real name of the street was Main Street of course but Marylee and
Ilene called it The Thin White Way. But only in the summer because that's when
the sidewalks were filled with the fit, beautiful, glowing
people. Even the men and the children had a shimmer of
beauty. Maybe money made you thin and gave your skin that
smooth shiny look.
As soon as she clocked in Marylee grabbed some disinfectant spray
and paper towels and began wiping down the coffee counter. "Morning
Frank.' She said to her boss while making sure to extend her swipe to the
counter's edge like he liked. "Hey
Frank,’ she went on without looking up, “you got any extra masks laying
around?”
Frank’s belly popped open the middle button of his shirt for the
first time in what Marylee expected would be 30 times that day. “No.
I have no extra masks laying around and where’s yours? You can’t
work without a mask.”
Marylee held her breathe while Frank buttoned his shirt. He continued. “You can
buy a box right here. I’ll even give you an employee
discount. $18.00.” He walked over to the register, box in hand, ready
to ring.
“I don’t have 18 dollars on me right now. Can you loan me a box till
payday? Or maybe I can find a scarf in the back in one of the lockers and tie
it on.”
“No scarves. The people we get here in the summer are picky about things like
that. We got to look professional. And no loans. I’ll
just dock your pay.”
"Thanks, Frank." Marylee took
the box, thankful for the moment that she could work the whole morning for
nothing.
The first couple of customers that morning were locals. A couple
of lottery tickets. The New York Post. A six-pack of coke.
Then came some summer people. The New York Times. (The older ones still seemed
to like to read the actual paper.) And sunscreen, always
sunscreen, the summer people bought tons of it there, even though everyone
knows you can get it for half the price in a Walmart; then a couple
of coffees served from behind the counter. One with soy. One with almond
milk. It was time to wipe the counter again.
Marylee grabbed a bottle filled with a homemade mix of dishwashing
liquid, Clorox, and water. She gave a big blast of what this time around was a
very strong solution. The fumes were horrible and pierced her eyes, nose and
throat. She ripped her mask off, letting
it fall into the nearby sink, and began to cough while trying to splash water
in her face.
As she was recovering from her coughing fit, a tall, nice-looking man brimming
with good food and good nights' sleep entered The Quickie. Definitely not a
local. His khaki shorts had lots of
pockets and he wore a shirt Marylee recognized as one that had built-in
sunscreen, or something expensive like that. He glanced around as if afraid of
catching something other than COV-19 and headed down the first aisle. A minute later he shouted to no one in
particular, "Where's the sunscreen?"
Marylee wasn’t surprised at the urgency; summer peoples’ needs were always
urgent. She was, however, surprised at his volume, but answered him
quickly anyway. “Last aisle in the back."
The man grabbed a bottle without looking at the price, and when he met Marylee
at the counter she had just finished drying her face, and her eyes were
red-rimmed. She was of course without a mask. The new clean one she
needed was still in a box hidden away in her locker.
“Hey, where’s your mask?” The man asked. Marylee glanced at his face and took
a step back. His anger seemed as scary to her as any virus.
When she didn’t answer right away, he went on. “You know you could be spreading
the virus.”Marylee started to explain, but before she could get a word out
Frank stepped up to the counter. "Sorry, sir. You're right. She's been told. She should be
wearing a mask. We all wear one here.
Normally." He made a point of readjusting the one on his face. After
nudging Marylee aside he finished the sale himself and watched the man leave
the store. Then he turned to Marylee."That's it, Marylee. You have to wear a mask. You can finish this shift but you're done
here."
“But I just bought a new box of masks! I had to take mine off, I couldn’t
breathe, the spray, it got...”
“Look I don’t care what happened. The lateness is one thing, then you didn’t
have a mask this morning, and now this. I can’t let it get around that The
Quickie is an anti-mask place or something. I’ve got just three months to make
money and like I said I can’t get into any of this mask stuff.”
“This mask stuff! What mask stuff? I wear a mask when I have one! I’d
love a fresh mask every day. Hell, I’d make a mask if I had time, or buy one of
the fancy cloth ones if I had the money.”
Marylee was trying to speak calmly but Frank cut her off just the same.
"Sorry, Marylee. Just clean out
your locker at the end of the shift."
But Frank knew she wouldn't stay through it and already was mentally
going through his list of part-timers who would be glad to fill in.
Marylee knew that in jobs like this, low wage, interchangeable jobs like this,
when it was over, it was over. It didn’t have to make sense. You went down the
street and found another job just like it or went on unemployment if you
could. Both options were without a future and both were humiliating.
After she’d gathered her things, and pointedly brushed past Frank on the way
out the door of the Quickie to the parking lot her tears broke through. She
dropped to the curb to take some deep calming breathes like she’d read
about, and that’s when she saw the man who had started it all by asking about
her mask. He was standing at the other side of the parking lot
talking on his cell phone at the top of his voice like an arrogant rich jerk.
But then she caught a few words. Something about an asthma attack,
COVID-19…getting an Uber. And when she followed his line of sight down the
street, she saw he was staring at an ambulance pulling up next to a small
female figure. His daughter? Yes, it had to be. The man put his phone
away and made a call. Probably for the
Uber. That done, he dropped down on the curb to wait. He glanced over at her but
didn't catch her eye. Marylee wondered
if he recognized her and could even imagine how his outburst had affected her
life. She wondered if he even realized she was struggling to survive and her
job in The Quickie may seem stupid and small to a person like him, but it had
been very, very important to her, and to her daughter.
In other times Marylee might have said something to him. Told him off.
Asked him where you have to go to school to learn to be such an ass. Any
number of things. But what was the use? And besides, she had her health
and her daughter's health and she owned no one money. Hers was a
simple directive. Survive this crisis then the next one. God only knew what
kind of complicated problems a man like that had besides a sick
daughter. He looked close to tears.
So both of them sat on the curb in front of the Quickie and cried.