kitchen like a top, not stopping for a minute. Watching her from the outside, there would hardly be anyone who would believe that this woman was a teacher who taught children the fine arts. In terms of her activity, Deborah was more suitable for the work of an athlete or a courier who, even on her own two feet, would never be late with a delivery. She was almost finishing stuffing the chicken with vegetables when she suddenly decided to check the top shelf on the refrigerator door. Deborah discovered that she had no yeast and called her daughter:
– Ursula.
A twelve-year-old golden-blond girl in a blue long-sleeved T-shirt and garnet breeches came running at her mother’s voice. Ursula had dozens of thin braids on her head. She had been begging for such a hairstyle for a long time, although the parents did not understand where their child saw such a style, because Ursula herself had no idea why it was suddenly happening. Since Deborah was very late at work those days and did not have time to braid her daughter’s hair, she asked Ursula to wait until the end of the week. But the husband, running his hand over his hair, said that it was time for him to get a haircut and it would be better for him to take his daughter with him, so that while he was getting his hair cut, someone would do the girl’s braids at the same time. John Minton owned a local bakery, so he never spared money for his daughter. He told Ursula that her hair should be done by a professional stylist, although he knew that three of the four hairdressers who worked in the salon were self-taught. But it was more important for him to present his daughter with information that would make her feel like a princess.
Ursula ran up to her mother and said, looking at her with a questioning glance:
– What?
Without lowering her head, Deborah took out a few coins from the box, gave them to her daughter and said:
– Bunny, go to the supermarket for yeast.
– I’m already flying – the girl barely said before she immediately rushed off.
– Ursula – Deborah slowed her down. – You don’t fly, you walk. And look both ways when you cross the street.
– Okay – the girl answered on autopilot.
Deborah said the same words every time she sent Ursula to the store. Despite the fact that the supermarket was located directly opposite the house, and there were almost no cars on the street, Deborah blindly followed her habit.
Ursula entered the sales area and said, waving to the cashier:
– Hello.
– Hello sweetie – nineteen-year-old Cassandra Bello answered with sleepy eyes, yawning at the end of the phrase.
– How are you? – Ursula asked, approaching the cash register.
Cassandra rested her head on her palm, leaning on a relaxed elbow, and answered, almost closing her eyes:
– I am sleepy.
– Well, what about the rest?
– The rest is fine.
– Well, make sure that no one robs the cash register.
Cassandra smiled and replied:
– Yes, it will be a Greek tragedy.
Each trip, even for the smallest purchase, kept Ursula in the supermarket for at least half an hour. All the employees here knew her, with whom she chatted out of habit, without knowing the brakes.
Ursula began to walk between the aisles, where along the way she came across the owner of the store, Yann Leblanc, who, standing on a stepladder and leafing through documents in his hands, checked the purchase prices with the prices on the shelves.
– Hello Mr. Leblanc.
– Hi.
– How are you doing?
– Basically, nothing good. But without a fire and without a robbery, this is also good.
They both laughed and Ursula added:
– I don’t know about the fire, but without a robbery it’s great.
These words caused even more laughter from the supermarket owner.
Ursula walked a little deeper into the trading floor. There she met Raymond Rafferty, who, like Cassandra, sometimes worked at the checkout, but most often either laid out goods in the hall or worked in the warehouse. At that moment, Raymond was arranging goods on shelves with dairy products.
– Oh! Socialite – Raymond almost exclaimed when he noticed the approaching girl.
When Ursula had just started school, one day Raymond asked her, arranging goods in the next row: “What do you want to become when you grow up and finish studying?”, – to which Ursula replied: “A socialite”. Since then, Raymond has called Ursula a socialite.
Raymond was twenty-six. After school, he got a job at Leblanc’s supermarket and since then he has only known one job in his life. This is largely why Raymond knew all the visitors by sight. But for Yann Leblanc, what was more important was that this guy knew every corner of the store, every rack, every product item. He could place goods on a shelf without taking his eyes off the box, and the goods would be placed with precision down to the last millimeter. The speed of servicing the trading floor at Raymond’s was perfected to the point of automaticity. He alone, in a couple of hours, could complete the amount of work that three other people could do in half a day. For this reason, Yann rarely put Raymond at the checkout, knowing how much productivity he would lose on the sales floor.
– How are you? – Raymond asked, continuing to arrange packets of cookies.
– Tolerable. And you?
– The same bullshit. Socialite, where have you gone? I haven’t seen you for a couple of weeks?
– Weeks. But not years.
Raymond smiled as he put the empty box in his cart and pulled out a new one.
– So do not worry. I can’t live without you – Ursula said. – In the end who will get me fresh yogurt, and not the two-week old trash that is on the shelf?
After these words, Raymond laughed louder, answering:
– So that’s why you’re friends with me: just for the sake of fresh yogurt and chocolate.
– What else is it for? If friends cannot bring you benefits, then they are no longer friends.
Raymond was struck by the thought that if he had seen this girl for the first time, he would have decided that she was the daughter of some Jew. But Ursula had a sense of humor that was not without sarcastic language.
The girl chatted with Raymond for some more time, after which she took the yeast and went to the checkout, where she paid and advised Cassandra to drink coffee instead of nodding off.
Ursula went out into the street and, out of habit, began to cross the sidewalk, approaching the curb. She never looked around at night because it seemed to her that she would definitely notice car headlights if they appeared. But that evening an unusual car was approaching from the right. Its headlights were too dim to be noticeable from afar. But Ursula felt the car approaching even before her eyes noticed the dim glow of the headlights. The car drove slowly along the adjacent lane. Ursula froze, as if her legs were covered with a thick layer of ice, which could not be said about her heart. It was filled with blood, pounding like crazy and was ready to explode.
Passing in front of the supermarket building, the car turned around, moving from the far lane to the near one and stopped in front of the curb opposite the supermarket, where Ursula was standing.
On any other day this would not have been strange. But that evening was unusual. Because it was the Dodge.
11. Gambler
On the day of bread and shamelessness, Carter Beckran decided, if not to indulge in sin, then at least to stop one step away