Plot: Jassi is a Indian girl who wants to finally move out of her parents home. She is successful and well educated and can take care of herself, but her mom only wants her to leave if she is married to another man. The story is going to into how Jassi is going to tell her parents that she’s ready to be on her own whether they like it or not.

• Scene 1: Jassi getting ready to prepare her parents and siblings breakfast so it will show a sense of what kind of daughter she is and how the relationship is between her mother and Jassi.

• Scene 2: her life aat work and with her friends and the life she has at home to really show the difference of the way she is living.

• Scene 3: Conversations with friends and others pushing her to finally tell mom about her moving out

• Scene 4: Parents have an arranged marriage waiting at for her so when she gets home from work she is in shock.

• Scene 5: One night Jassi decides to break it down to parents about moving out and not when she’s married…to be continued.

She was standing in line at the 7-Eleven, she was picking up the usual on a Friday night.

She could smell the hot dogs being heat up in the machine, she could see them turning and roasting. She enjoyed the smell of these hot dogs. 

Her usual Friday night order. A cheese hot dogs, popcorn and an extra-large Slurpee. It was going to be a long night. 

A woman in a red sweater stood next to her, the woman had a nice round face and for some reason, she just started talking to the woman. 

I went to class and saw some I had not seen in a very long time. It brought back so many memories it was out of the ordinary for me. We met a really long time ago, we were so young and inexperienced we did not know what we wanted out of life and we were trying to just find ourselves. It hit me today when I heard his voice, I have always wonder if he still remembers me. I do not know what has happened in his life but it brought tears and laughter and feeling I thought were not there anymore. When we met we thought we wanted the same things it turned out we did not and now we are in the same place, geographically speaking, and I wonder what will be the next thing, he might be married and have a happy family. The woman in the red sweater looked at me and smile. 

Roberto was heavy eyed and yearning  for a coffee.  He had about five minutes of extra time to run into 7/11 and grab a coffee before he got on the highway headed for work.  He whipped his navy blue Subaru Outback into a parking space and noticed a long line with one cashier as he opened the brown steel and glass doors. He was instantly nauseated by the pungent scent of hot dogs; which to him, was too much to handle at 7am on a hot August morning.  He looked at the only cashier, a lanky teenage dark skinned black boy with an old school box haircut , who had to wait on a long line of straight faced, tired people that fed into the candy isle.  “Fuck it, I don’t care if I’m late.  I need coffee”, he thought to himself.  He rushed over to the coffee pots and grabbed a 16 oz gold paper coffee cup.  He welcomed the nutty aroma of the coffee as the steam crawled up his nose.  He instinctively swung his navy blue tie around his left shoulder as he poured his coffee.  He then walked to the back of the candy isle to join the line.  “OK, there are only about 6 people in front of me.  God, hurry the hell up people”, he thought to himself.

Just then, he heard a young woman’s voice pleading, ” Ma’m, sir, excuse me… Ma’m…” .  Roberto turned around and noticed a middle-aged light skinned (“Or was she maybe Puerto Rican?”, Robert wondered to himself) black woman directly behind him turning back to look at a teenage Asian girl.  The young Asian girl, who was a petite girl dressed in a McDonald’s uniform, was holding a bottle of anti-freeze in her hands and addressed both the woman directly in front of her and Roberto with an urgent tone, “Can I please cut in front of you if you are not in a hurry? I am going to be late for work!”  She raised her eyebrows and rocked her  hips back and forth as she spoke.  The middle aged woman in front of her put her hand on her hip, scowled her eyebrows and shouted “Like we all don’t have someplace to go!” She then looked at Roberto and said, “I guess some of us have all day to stand in this damn line because we have nothing better to do!”  Roberto noticed the panic on the young girl’s face.  She was flushed and holding the heavy anti-freeze bottle in one hand and and wiping the long bangs from her eyes that fell out of her pony tail with the other.  “I really don’t mind”, said Robert, shrugging his shoulders while looking at the woman behind him.  “Well I do mind! I am not letting people jump in line! Maybe I am running late.  Did you think about that? Probably not because you are only concerned with miss little cute thing here!”, exclaimed the middle aged woman.  “Relax”, said Robert as he waved his flat palm up and down.  “I was just trying to help her out”. “Well, why don’t you help me out.  Where she has to be is more important that where I have to be?’, asked the woman, with her brown eyes wide open, searing Roberto’s face.  “if I’m late I will get fired!”, commanded the girl.  “Well maybe your ass should get up and leave earlier in the morning! How about that?”  snarled the woman, before she sucked her straight white teeth.  “My God, what will it take, a minute for her to pay for that bottle?”, asked Robert, as he squinted his eyes, speaking to the woman.  “No, it will probably take about an extra hour!  This damn cashier they have working here is so damn stupid! He probably can’t even count to ten and they have him working here by himself!”

At that moment, another cashier appeared behind the counter.  “Next in line!” shouted the cashier.  Robert noticed that he was next.  He turned to the girl and pointed to the cashier and said “Go ahead, you go”.  The girl frantically ran up to the counter and slammed the anti-freeze on the counter.  “That ain’t fair!”, yelled the woman.  “No worries, this fine young man that has been efficiently handling the register since we got here will have us out in no time”, said Roberto, as he smirked and winked at the young black man.  As Roberto was inserting his debit card into the register, the young girl nudged his sleeve as she was scurrying out and said “Thank you!”  She then looked at the woman who was standing behind Roberto and said, “Karma is going to be good to everyone today!”  Roberto smiled at the young black man, as he took his receipt and said, “Well, some of us will have a great day!”  “Yea”, said the young man, smiling and nodding his head.  “Some of us!”

Jenny was standing in 7-Eleven with her hands full when she realized she had forgotten to make a cup of coffee. With no basket and unable to place her items on the counter due to the person ahead of her being checked out, she turned to look at the person behind her. She noticed they only had a bag of chips.

“I’m sorry, do you mind holding these for me,” she desperately asked. If jenny didn’t get her daily cup of coffee she would not be able to put on a kind face. “I just forgot to get coffee,” she tried explaining herself. The older woman looked at her strangely before speaking.

“I don’t even know you,” she spoke. Jenny couldn’t help but feel ashamed as the woman looked at her. For the first time Jenny noticed a little girl tugging and the shirt of the lady. She smiled at the child right before the lady softly slapped her hand of her and pushed her slightly behind her. “Why don’t you just get a cart,” the lady asked. She turned to say something to the little girl.

“There are no baskets,” Jenny stuttered, but the lady was still talking to the girl and did not say a word to her when she straightened up. “Do you mind holding my spot in line then? I’ll be super quick,” she tried addressing the lady again.

“Look just pay for the coffee when it’s your turn and go make it after your things are in a bag. I can’t hold all of this I also have to watch my,” she paused, saying this part much more quietly. “My child,” the lady looked away from Jenny and towards outside. Jenny felt bad. She felt as if the woman was praying to get away from her. She turned around and resumed her spot in the line. The woman ahead of her was taking a long time deciding between getting a Reese’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup or the White chocolate version.

“Why don’t you get both,” Jenny mumbled under her breath but the woman heard her and turned around.

“If you’re wondering, I don’t have enough for both,” she said before turning back around to continue her decision making process. Jenny let out a sigh. Of course she would find herself in this position stuck between two intolerable people. In fact, she didn’t even want these things anymore. She got off the line and threw the stuff onto a random shelf in the aisle behind her and left the store. She would get coffee elsewhere.

David had twenty minutes until his train came, so he ducked into a 7-11 to grab a coffee for his trip. As he approached the coffee counter he noticed a frail Asian girl probably on the short side of eighteen and visibly pregnant. She was eyeing the Doritos hungrily. He passed her and when he caught her eye she immediately looked down. She seemed frightened and completely out of place.
David noticed he wasn’t doing too well himself. He got the coffee in the cup with little trouble. However, when he poured the cream he couldn’t help but notice the tremor in his hand. Courage, he thought.
He capped the coffee and went to pay. His path to the cashier brought him again to the pregnant girl, who was still staring at the Doritos. David now saw she was crying.
“Excuse me,” he said, “are you okay?”
The girls eyes flashed in terror. She shook her head. “I don’t speak. Only a little.”
David stepped back from her so it didn’t seem like he was invading her space.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Do you need help?”
“No,” she said, but the tears ran faster now. “I don’t need.” She looked at David.
He smiled and raised his hands in front of him. “Are you sure?” he said. “I don’t want to bother you.”
She stared at him and then wiped her tears away. She reached into her pocket and pulled out several foreign coins. She held them in her open hand and pointed to the Doritos. “How much?”

Lien stumbled into the store, her arms crossed tightly. Her body was breathless and her thoughts were racing. She was relieved, for she knew her child would be safe under the care of the nuns, but the whole ordeal had left her in a tumultuous state of mind. She needed a place to unwind, to stroll through, to forget. The neon sign of the 7-Eleven promised at least the first two items.

Sweetness had just received some money in the mail from Lula Ann. She could spend it on a fresh deck or cards, or her face cream, but at the moment all she wanted was a Slurpee. She found pleasure in small treats, because the broad strokes of her life—her uncommunicative daughter, her bitter insistence that her parenting methods had been necessary and beneficial—weighed much too heavily on her heart.

Mayor Hanover hadn’t been to a 7-Eleven in years. She was more of a champagne person than a Big Gulp person. But the campaign trail has a way of taking people to places beyond their comfort zones. She and her staff had a half hour to spare between fundraisers, and this cluttered, bright convenience store was the only place they could stop for some refreshments that wouldn’t topple their already strained schedule.

Lucy, Lien, and Sweetness are waiting in line at 7-Eleven and strikes up a conversation.
Lucy: Such a long line at 7-Eleven today.
Lien: Yes. Very long.
Lien smiles politely and nods.
Sweetness: I only wanted to get a slurpee.
Lucy: Me too, and just some snacks for my baby. He just turned a year old. Such an adorable thing. I can never get enough of him. Do you guys have kids?
Lien and Sweetness look at the ground and don’t respond.
Lucy gets curious about why they weren’t responding.
Lucy: Is that a yes? How old are they?
Sweetness: She’s five now…
Lucy: Oh wow, not a baby anymore huh? And you?
Lucy looks at Lien.
Lien: Maybe two…
Lucy: Maybe? How do you not know how old your own child is?
Lucy laughs.
Lien: I don’t know where she is.
Lucy stops smiling.
Lucy: Oh… I’m sorry…
The line starts moving.
Lien: It’s okay.
Sweetness: Look, the line is moving now. And it’s my turn to checkout. I’ll see you guys around.
Lucy: Alright, bye!
Lien: Bye.
Sweetness goes to the cash register, checks out, and leaves.
Lucy turns to Lien.
Lucy: My turn now. Have a great day miss!
Lien: You too.
Lucy checks out and leaves.
Lien checks out right after and leaves too.

I entered a 7-Eleven because I was looking for some coffee after such a long voyage.

I remember seeing a young lady trying to grab some donuts inside the donut case. I was waiting for her to finish because since ahe was pregnant I didn’t want to rush her and she was in the way of me getting to the coffee area.

Then a lady appeared from around the donut case and approached the young lady and told her, “you still haven’t decided in which donut you are going to get, its been 15 minutes already you know?”

The young lady replied saying, I can’t only think for myself, I also have to think for my child and how she feels.”

At this point since I was waiting to get by and didn’t want to get in the way of these ladies I kindly said, “Pardon me please.”

The lady told the younger girl, “For goodness sakes please let this lady pass by Lien.”

I tried to be quick because I was drained and had to get back to my husband. As I was choosing my coffee, the conversations between the two ladies continued on.

“Lien you know what, I will choose the donut for you,  have even chosen the baby’s father as well because if it was a white man you would have not been acting like this. You young girls nowadays don’t never know ehat you want in life.”

“Don’t you agree with me ma’am?”, the lady asked me.

I didn’t even know what to say nor wanted to get inlvolved. But to not seem as I was ignoring  the lady I said, “A human has different journeys and hopefully those journerys take us to the right route.” I actually thought about what I said and connected it to my life because I actually was lost at that specific moment.

The lady told Lien, “I hope your child isn’t like you”, and took grabbed hee to the check out.

I heard Lien say, Sweetness, I hope this donut is as sweet s your name nd not like you.”

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.