SCENE:

It was a beautiful warm winter afternoon, as Destinee took her afternoon visits to grab a cup of coffee as she prepares for the second part of her day. She nonchalantly made her coffee for the millionth time in 7-Eleven when two girls walked into the store. 

 They went straight to the coffee section as Destinee finished making her choice of drug. She walked in line and shortly after, the two other girls followed. One of them bumped right into Destiness as she was taking to the other. 

“Ops, oh! You are gorgeous! Are you from around here?” asked the girl who bumped into Destinee. 

She took a seconds to think before answering, “I’m in the neighborhood.” I’m Sweetness, and this is my close friend Lien, I don’t think we’ve met or seen you around before.” 

Again Destinee takes a few moments to herself to consciously respond, “I do have a packed schedule that requires all my attention.” 

    Last Friday afternoon, Georgia decided to stop at 7-Eleven before she went into work; she was doing a double that day. On days like these, she needs a coffee and some snacks to keep her going. As she walks through the door of the 7-Eleven, the first thing he notices is the long line. Georgia immediately gets frustrated, especially since the normal cashier Jada isn’t there. “They’re working so slow today”, she said to herself; “Im gonna be late for work”. To her surprise, as Georgia turned around, she made eye contact with her supervisor and arch-nemesis Sweetness. She quickly turned back around hoping that Sweetness didn’t see her, but of course she did. “Hey Georgia”, said Sweetness. “Is this why you come to work late?”, she continued. “No”, replied Georgia. – “What are you even doing here anyway? I thought you don’t drink coffee.” Sweetness chuckled and responded “You do know that’s not the only thing they sell right? Well ofcourse you do, you’re always in here”. What the two of them did not realize was that while they were sophisticatedly hashing it out with eachother, everyone ahead of them in line, had already gone up. “Nextttt !! My God can yall pay attention and shutup”, said Lien the cashier. “How dare you? Watch your mouth.”, said Sweetness. “Yea, what she said”, Georgia chimed in. “Listen, are yall gonna tell me what you want or no? There’s other people behind yall”, yelled Lien. 

Kira walked stood in the middle of the chips aisle staring at a bag of Doritos. The music of Avenue Q played in the background softly and the smell of fresh coffee penetrated her nose. She walked to the magazine rack in the next aisle and stood next to a woman with long black hair. Kira noticed she was staring at a planned motherhood magazine with a smiling mother and child on the front. Kira picked up a large magazine called Vogue and began to search through the pages. The woman next to her said in a soft voice, Do you think that mother is really happy? Kira turned her head to the woman, startled that the woman would ask her a question. The woman repeated, “Do you think that mother is really happy?” Kira inspected the woman’s face, she was young with no signs of aging yet, she was thin and kept her lips tight together, her slender eyes were a sorrowful brown and told Kira a story. Kira rocked on her feet from side to side and answered cautiously, “Uhhh…I think she is.” The woman looked at the magazine cover, not looking at Kira and asked, “How can she be happy? What joy is there in the pregnancy or the birth? Its long, painful and afterwards you have a screaming human waiting for you to take care of it.” The woman said in a distant tone. “They can be a pain yes, but they’re worth the joy and happiness they bring to you.” “The young girl is right.” A voice said behind them. Kira turned and saw an elderly woman stand behind them, she continued, “They make your life a mixture of sweet and sour. You teach them the skills and protect them in life. You have good memories and know you raised your baby for a better future. You may have regret for some lessons that were tough but in the end you do it because you love them.” The elderly woman said with a smile filled with happiness and sorrow. The young woman looked at the light brown elderly lady and said, “How many moments of regret did you have?” She asked. The elderly woman looked to the ground and said nothing.

“I can’t make it tonight. I have to watch my brother and sister. I can’t believe I have to miss dance practice again.” Ysabelle rolled her eyes furiously. She was waiting in line at a 7/11 and there were 4 people ahead of her. She was talking on the phone with her best friend Adriel while waiting. “She doesn’t even ask you know? She just leaves the house without saying a word. If I was really a petty person, I’d let the kids watch themselves.” Ysabelle retorts. Looking to see how many people are still left, she spots something. In another woman’s cart was a M&M chocolate bar. It was way better than her plain Hershey’s one. She tapped the woman’s shoulder. “Yooooooo, where did you get that from? I ain’t see that in the store. It looks odee good.” Sweetness smiled a tight lipped smile. These young kids and their slang. What the heck was odee? She then remembered she had to answer this question. “I found it towards the back next to the slurpee machine. It’s my new obsession ever since I seen them in Stop&Shop.” Sweetness replied. “Oh that’s dope. They got em up in there? It’s closer to my house than this 7/11.”

 

 

not finished