by Alex Blue

A man, he looks about twenty-three, walks into a convenience store early on a Tuesday afternoon. His hair is short and brown, and he wears glasses with silver round frames. He's got on a wine- colored hooded sweatshirt with a zipper. The zipper is mostly unzipped, and underneath is a T-shirt with the word "MARYLAND" printed on it in red, all capitals. He has on jeans, and he strolls the aisles of the store, giving the shelves and the other customers a quick scan.

The store is a stark white with fluorescent lights overhead. The aisles are wide, the shelves shallow. It's very clean. There are a couple of kids in torn heavy metal concert T-shirts playing an arcade game, in the corner near the door, and eating ice cream sandwiches. Their hair is long and dirty, and they shout at the blips and blinking lights on the screen. A short old woman, rather heavy, with bad posture and her white thick hair in a bun with a pencil stuck through it, mutters to herself and to her grey shapeless dress as she wobbles through the aisles. She carries a can of cream of mushroom soup. There's a boy who looks about seventeen, he's wearing shorts and his legs are well-muscled, but not overly so.

The Maryland man approaches the seventeen-year-old, who holds two Hershey bars without almonds and is walking toward the register. "Hey, man, listen," says the Maryland man. The boy turns. "Listen, man, can I, I mean, can I, like, bum a dollar off ya?"

The old woman turns to look at the two of them, she looks them up and down, and she says, "Humph." She's eyeing the label on a can of cream of broccoli soup sitting on the shelf.

The boy looks at the Maryland man, squinting. Then he looks to the store's window. The entire front wall of the convenience store is a window, with large stickers announcing prices and sales stuck on it. The stickers weren't put on perfectly, there are a few air bubbles here and there. There are only a few cars parked in the parking lot. He looks back at the Maryland man, and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a crisp dollar.

The Maryland man says, "Hey, listen, thanks, man. Listen, I really appreciate this."

"Ain't no thing," says the boy, and he pays the woman behind the counter for his chocolate, and leaves the store.

The Maryland man quickly buys from the woman a pack of Camels with more money from his pocket and rushes out of the store after the boy.

"Wait," he calls, as the boy gets into the passenger seat of a compact Volkswagen. Behind the wheel is a girl, about the same age as the boy, with similar features. Her hair is a light brown and long, and curly. It hangs past her shoulders in its curls. Her brother's hair is cut short. Both are wearing T-shirts. They both look to the Maryland man, whose fingertips press against the passenger side door. He says, "Wait."

The boy says, "What do you want?" The Maryland man pauses, looks around the lot for a minute. He's still leaning against the door. The window is rolled down, it's a hot summer day, so part of his arm is actually inside the car. There are four other cars parked in this lot: a Saab, a Subaru, another Volkswagen compact, and a Volvo. They are spaced fairly evenly across the parking lot. This convenience store is on its own here, just off the beltway. The Maryland man squints at the glare from the asphalt.

"Look," he says. "Could you, like, give me a lift? You see, I'm kind of stuck here. In a bit of a jam, really."

The boy looks at his sister, who looks at him. The man looks at one and then the other. Finally the girl shrugs. "Where do you want to go?" she says to the Maryland man.

He moves quickly, opening the back door behind the passenger seat, and slips into the car. Both the girl and the boy give him surprised looks. "If you're going towards a Metro station," the Maryland man says.

Brother and sister look at each other and shrug. She turns the key in the ignition, and the car starts. Before leaving the parking lot, she pauses to look right and left, waiting for a break in traffic. Beltway traffic is thick.

"I'm Charlotte," she says, breaking the silence, "and this is my brother, Simon." She gives the Maryland man a smile through the rear view mirror.

The Maryland man is settling into his seat, strapping on the seat belt. The back seat is completely devoid of litter. It doesn't look like a new car, but it is spotless. "I'm Johnny," he says, looking back into the mirror at her, and then directly at the boy, at Simon, who has turned around. Johnny pulls out his new cigarettes. "Hey listen guys," he says, "do you mind if I smoke one? Do either of you want one?" He's rapping the pack against the palm of his hand.

"No, thanks," says Simon, still facing him. "And, actually, we'd rather if you didn't smoke in the car."

"Oh, shit man, hey, that's cool." He puts the pack into the pocket of his sweatshirt and smiles. "Sorry." Simon turns around in his seat again.

Charlotte finds an opening and drives into it, turning left into traffic. They are silent for a few minutes. Johnny looks at her hair, the way it curls against her shoulders. The neck of her T-shirt is stretched out. She is tugging on it with one hand now, pulling it toward her slender shoulder, while the other hand is on the wheel. The back of Simon's neck is tan, and his shoulders are broad. They are several miles from the Grosvenor Metro station. The car moves quickly, along the left hand lane, passing cars. John's tapping two fingers against his thigh.

"So, how old are you kids?" he says suddenly.

Simon says, with a start, "We're nineteen. Why? How old are you?" He turns around to look at him.

"Me? I'm twenty-four. You twins or something?"

"Yeah," says Simon. Charlotte just drives, looking straight ahead.

"No kidding," says Johnny. "Twins."

Simon and Johnny look at each other for a few seconds before Simon speaks again. "So, do you go to Maryland?"

"What?" Johnny looks down at his shirt, as if reminding himself of what he's wearing. "Oh. This. No. Friend of mine did. The shirt is hers. I didn't go. Not for me, you know? Why? Are you two in college? What would you be -- freshmen?"

"No. Neither of us are in school. We just graduated from high school last year. We're just seeing what's around first, what's available."

"Yeah well," says Johnny. "It's not as if you have to know exactly what you want to do with your life when you're only nineteen years old."

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Simon turns around and faces front.

". . . Or when you're only twenty-four," the Maryland man says, almost to himself.

"Hey," Charlotte says abruptly, looking from the traffic to Johnny for a moment.

"What?"

Charlotte looks to Simon discreetly, conspiratorially. She smiles at Johnny through the mirror. "Umm," she says slyly, "I just had a thought. We're gonna be passing a liquor store in a few minutes."

Johnny laughs to himself. "So, you want me to buy for you?" He laughs again, and makes the slightest of pauses. "Okay, sure, I guess so. I don't mind." He smiles at her.

Charlotte smiles at Simon quickly, and she pulls into another parking lot, where a liquor store and a video shop are. She parks, and turns around in her seat to face Johnny.

Johnny looks at them for a few seconds. He says, "Okay, so, what do you want?"

"Hmm," Charlotte says. She asks Simon, "What do you want?" Simon looks at her and shrugs. He doesn't look at Johnny. Charlotte's eyes also avoid Johnny's.

Johnny looks at them. He says, "You guys don't drink much, do you? What is up with you guys, asking me to buy for you when you don't even drink?" He laughs again, but not really in a mean way. "Look, I've got an idea. Tell you what. I'll go in and get something for us, okay? I'll get us something good. Forget the Metro. I don't have to be anywhere for a few hours. I know a place we can go, okay? I mean, if you want."

Charlotte and Simon are still looking at each other. Simon looks apprehensive, Charlotte seems more interested. But neither of them are looking at Johnny. Charlotte, after a drawn-out silence, quietly says, "Okay." Then, more firmly, she looks at Johnny and says, "Yes."

Johnny smiles. "Okay, good. Excellent. We'll have ourselves a good time. But, hey, hang on, have you any money? I have some, but, you know, not enough."

Charlotte's purse is at her feet. Simon reaches for his wallet again. They hand over a few dollars apiece.

"Excellent, thanks," Johnny says, counting it. "Look, I'll be right back. Don't go away, okay?" He closes the car door behind him. Simon and Charlotte watch him through the window, watch him walk away, and disappear into the store.

"What are you doing?" says Simon. "Are we going drinking with this guy?"

Charlotte has a wicked smile on her face now. "Why not?"

Simon says, "Why not?! He could be anybody."

"Yeah. I know. And so could we."

"Charlotte!"

"Simon!" She mocks him. She laughs the way Johnny had.

"What are you thinking? "

"That's just it," says Charlotte, glowing. "That's just it. I'm not thinking. I'm doing something new, that's all. What else were we going to do today? Let's have some fun. Come on Simon, loosen up. Let's have some fun today."

"I don't know about this," says Simon. "I don't think this is a good idea."

"Come on, Simon," Charlotte says. "We'll be fine. What could happen? Relax. I want to do this. We've never done anything like this before. Let's do it."

"I know, I know. But, Charlotte, we just came out for Hershey bars! Look at what we're doing now!"

"Yeah," says Charlotte. She is looking at the mom and pop liquor store. Her eyes shine. "Look at what we're doing now."

"You know, we could just drive away. It's not too late. We could just leave him here."

"No."

"Come on."

"No, Simon. Besides, we gave him our money."

Simon sulks. "I know. And I already gave him a dollar, before."

"You did?"

"Yeah. In the convenience store. He asked me."

"Oh. Well, oh well. No, of course we can't just leave him here, Simon. Come on. It'll be fun. Just relax. You've got to let yourself relax. Shhh -- here he comes."

Johnny slides into the car again, with a case of Rolling Rock in cans in his hands. A small paper bag rests on top of the green cardboard box. He has a smile on his face. He places the box carefully on the seat next to his, the seat behind Charlotte. He closes the car door.

"Okay," he says. "I'm back. Everything still cool?"

Charlotte and Simon are both turned around to him. Charlotte is almost beaming. "Where are we going to go?"

"Nor far from here, actually," Johnny says. "Some friends of mine are construction workers, and they're building up a new development not far from here. I know they're not working there today, I was with them last night. It's okay. There'll be no one around. We'll have the place to ourselves."

"I don't know," says Simon. "I don't know if this is such a good idea."

Johnny stops a moment. He says, "Well listen. I don't want to force you into anything. Really. If you really don't want to do this, we don't have to."

"Come on, Simon, sure it is," Charlotte breaks in. "What do I have to do to convince you?" To Johnny she says, "He's nervous. He's never done anything like this before."

"And you have?" says Johnny.

Charlotte looks at her lap. "No." Her face goes a little pink.

"Listen. To be honest, I've never done anything like this before either. I mean, I don't know you guys from Adam and Eve either. But hey, it's a nice day. Everything's going to be fine. We're just going to have a few drinks, relax a little, have a good time. We'll sit with the afternoon. It's such a nice day, isn't it? Isn't it?"

"Yeah," says Simon. He still sounds reluctany

"Nothing's going to happen. Don't worry. Besides," he says, "I've already got the alcohol here!"

Charlotte says, "What did you get?"

"I got a case of Rolling Rock, as you can see, and a fifth of JD. There's nothing to worry about. Is there any place either of you need to be today?"

"We have to be home for dinner," Simon says. "Six o'clock."

Johnny looks at his watch. "Well, it's only two-thirty now. We have plenty of time. We'll get you home for dinner all right. Unless you really don't want to do this. If you don't want to, that's cool, that's okay. Really. I understand. Like I said, I don't want to force you into anything. I mean, sincerely."

Simon looks at him. Charlotte looks at Simon.

Simon sighs. "Okay," he says. "Let's go."

"Good," Charlotte and Johnny say together, and Charlotte starts the car again.

"You'll direct me to where we're going, right?"

"Of course," says Johnny, and they're on the beltway again. In ten minutes the car pulls into a development of large nearly-finished houses. The three of them get out of the car slowly, everything seems to be moving slowly, the air is still, hushed, and Johnny's carrying the case and the paper bag. He leads them into one of the houses, the second one in the row; he walks straight through the front doorway as if he lived there himself. Charlotte walks in second, and Simon comes third, looking behind him as if to see if anyone's watching.

On the ground floor of the house, there's a room to the left with a large bay window, and the room is bright with sunlight. That room is where Johnny goes. The room is completely empty, bare, but it is filled with light.

"We'll be in here," Johnny says, putting down the beer. "It's kinda hot, though, isn't it?" He unzips his sweatshirt and pulls it off, revealing thin arms, not much muscle tone. His Maryland T-shirt is tight across his bony chest. Simon is bigger than he is; Charlotte is almost bigger. "That's better," Johnny says, and sits with his back against the wall opposite the large windows. He lets out a sigh. Charlotte and Simon are just standing there. "Come on," Johnny says. "Come on and have a seat, while the beer's still cold." He opens three cans and passes them around. "Have a seat," he says.

Charlotte and Simon sit down against the same wall. Charlotte is next to him, some two feet away, and Simon is close to his sister's other side. They each take a sip of beer, and wince.

"It doesn't taste very good," Charlotte says. "Does it?"

Johnny says, "You get used to it. I like the taste now, though I didn't my first time drinking it. Do you like the taste, Simon?"

"It's not bad."

"That's a good man. Yes," Johnny says, "that's better, isn't it? Comfortable. You don't mind if I smoke now, do you?" He reaches for his sweatshirt and finishes packing the cigarettes before he pulls one out. "You say you don't want one?"

"No thanks," says Charlotte, taking another sip of beer. She has a pretty face and brown eyes that are complimented by her brown curls. She is tall, as tall as Simon, and she looks slender in her light ankle-length skirt and oversized T-shirt. Her long legs stretch out before her. Simon is good looking as well, also with high, strong cheekbones and dark eyes. Both twins are evenly tanned; next to them, Johnny is quite fair in his shirtsleeves. Simon sips his beer again as well, as Johnny takes a gulp. His cigarette is lit, and he takes a drag from time to time.

"I don't imagine you want to try the whiskey, but if you do, you're welcome to it. Your money went towards the case; I chipped in some for the case too, but I bought the fifth on my own."

Simon's face grows a pursed look, then he speaks. "If you had the money to buy that on your own, how come you asked me for a dollar in the convenience store?"

Johnny taps ashes from the tip of his cigarette onto the floor. "Oh yeah, that. Well. Since you asked, the truth is," he says, catching Charlotte's eyes as well as Simon's, "I just wanted to meet you. It was the only way I could think of at the time. Not too clever, I guess. I guess I'm not too quick on my feet; like I said, I couldn't handle college." He drains the can into his mouth and crushes it. He starts to reach for his wallet. "You can have the dollar back if you want."

"No," Simon says slowly, "that's okay. That's not what I meant."

Johnny's holding out a dollar bill. "No, go on, take it. I don't need it. It was just a gimmick."

Simon takes it absently, puts it in his pocket. "I don't want to make an issue of it, but thanks. You say you . . . you wanted to meet me?" His eyes drift forward, out the window, into the light and the trees. When it's finished, this looks like it will be a nice neighborhood. There are plenty of trees and a lot of space. One can almost hear children playing outside, though of course no one is living here yet.

Johnny pops open another can. "Are you surprised?"

Simon holds the can in front of his mouth, as if hesitant to take another sip. "Well, yeah . . ." He is silent again.

Johnny watches Charlotte take a healthy slug, and he takes a slug himself. "You shouldn't be. Really. Either of you."

They both look at him silently. Not at each other.

"You're an attractive young man," Johnny says sincerely, looking right at him, across his sister. Looking then at Charlotte, he says, "You're very beautiful, too."

". . . Thank you," Charlotte says, quietly.

The room is quiet. The house is quiet. There is nobody around but the three of them. There is a peace in the room. Johnny drags on his cigarette and blows smoke. The light in the room is beautiful. The trees outside are oaks and maples, with large leaves that catch the sunlight and make wonderful shadows on the walls and floor of the bare room. The room is bright and large.

Charlotte finishes her beer, and Johnny gets her another one. Simon finishes his, and is also given a second. Johnny starts his third beer. They sit quietly.

An hour or so passes like this. Johnny doesn't check his watch. They sit and drink in silence. They gaze out the window.

"This is good," Charlotte says, breaking the silence. Simon nods in agreement.

"Yes," says Johnny. "It's good to take an afternoon, once in a while, and just sit with it. I think that's important. It's good, also, to share an afternoon quietly with friends."

He looks from the window, where all three had been looking, to the twins next to him. He slides closer to Charlotte and kisses her on the cheek. She lets him. He kisses her on the mouth, and she kisses him back. He touches her shoulder lightly with the tips of his fingers. She leans into the kiss.

Simon watches them kiss. His breathing gets a little heavy, and he takes a sip of his beer. There are now several empty cans on the wooden floor of the large room. Johnny stops kissing Charlotte after a few minutes, and he gets up and moves to sit between the twins. No one says a word. Charlotte reaches for another beer, as Johnny's fingers start to caress Simon's shoulder, then his chest. Simon leans toward Johnny, and kisses him. Simon and Johnny kiss as Charlotte watches. Her hands move to Johnny, they stroke his back, as he is kissing her brother with his back to her. She lifts the back of his T-shirt and touches his skin.

Another hour passes, almost as silently as the first, the only sounds are those of the quiet movement of the three people on the bare floor of the large bright room. The shadows of tree branches stretch, the empty cans outnumber the full ones. The full cans are warm.

Johnny breaks away from Charlotte and stands up again. Simon's hands reach for him, but Johnny walks to the window and looks out. "I should bring you back," he says to the glass and the leaves and the shadows. He turns around to speak to Simon and Charlotte. "I should bring you back." Standing by the window as he is, his face is in shadow; he is almost completely silhouetted, but the slowly dying sunlight touches his outline, making his features just distinguishable.

Charlotte and Simon are just sitting there. They do not get up. Johnny walks back over to them. "Yes," he says, "I should bring you two back." He lends his hands, they take them, and he pulls them both to their feet. "Come on," he says. He picks up the empty cans and puts them in the cardboard box with the full cans, and he takes his still unopened fifth. Simon and Charlotte stand there. They are holding hands. He leads them outside, out to their car.

"Can you drive?" Johnny says. "Are you drunk?"

"I'm all right," Charlotte says, and gets behind the wheel. Her hands are steady. Her knees are shaking but her hands are steady. Simon gets into the car, next to her, and Johnny gets into the back seat again, behind Simon.

Charlotte drives Johnny to the nearest Metro station without a word. He gets out of the car at the Kiss and Ride, leaving behind the case of beer, and says, before closing the door again, "Thanks, guys, for the lift." He walks into the station, puts change into the machine, gets his card. He takes an escalator to the platform and steps onto the first train that comes. He sits down next to a dark-haired woman in a light blue business suit.

"Hi," he says to her.

"Hello there," she says. Her slim attache case is in her lap.

Charlotte and Simon, out in the parking lot, are silent. The motor is running. "Johnny," says Charlotte softly. They look straight ahead, through the windshield. Simon's hand rests on his sister's thigh, and her hand is on top of his. After a few minutes, she pulls away, and she drives herself and her twin brother home.