Chapter sixteen

I heard the sound of the doorbell pierce through the silence in the kitchen. Laura was in the kitchen busy wrestling with the lump of dough the size , so it was my turn to wait on the customer I washed my hands and tried to brush away some of the flour that'd caked all over my apron before I walked by the lobby .
It was the ginger sasquatch again with two of his equally furry buddies in two ."welcome back" I said leaning on the door to ease the weight out of my feet.
"How can I help you?"
"Three dozen ginger please." Big foot grunted . He and his friends were crowding around the counter with ravenous looks on their face. One was eyeing the muffins in the display case
"Anything else " I said looking at the one eyeing the muffins on the display case. He was staring at the bunch of the apple nut muffins I had made the day before.
"I'll get one of those ." He said pointing at the muffins.
"Sure, I'll have that right up." I said as I turned back to pull three cookie boxes out from under the corner. When I turned back around to place the cookies back in place . Mr Bettle had his hand cupped around his eyes so he could see inside the front window . He had a streak of dirt on his cheek. I ignored him and went back to pulling the cookies out of the display case. "Here you are" I set the three boxes on the counter together with big foots friend's muffin.
"Thanks." The ginger handed me two bills. A one hundred dollar one and a twenty dollar one. "Keep the change, the cookies are worth it."
"Really, the order was a little over one hundred dollars." This too , the guy who was ordered the muffin pulled out a wad of bills and stuffed it in the tip jar.
''You guys rock. Send every single person you know in here.''
''Oh , we will .'' the ginger said before he left.
Mr Beetle turned around when they left and watched them walk across the parking lot toward their cares. Big foot stopped when he opened his door and looked at hm.
Mr Beetle gave him finger and ran off.
''Again?''Laura waled out of th kitchen .''Does he come every day you'r here alone?''
''Not every day but sometimes .''
''Look .''Laura pointed out the window .Mr Beetle walked back into the lot and bent over to pick up a cigarrette butt.He bit the end, pulled out the filter with his teeth and lit it.
''Oooh , that's wrong .''We both laughed.
''See ?Youre gonna have to get rid of him.''
''So long as he doesn't start licking all of our food, I'm sure it'll be okay.''
''Why does he keep running after the guys who come in here? it's like he's trying to guard you or something Maya , this man is dangerous .He's creeping me out , and I dont feel comfortable coming in here when he's around .And I know you don't want to hear it, but youre doing quite well without him.I thing it's time to get rid of him''
''I dont want a scene , and I don't thing it's that big of a deal.Plenty of businesses have homeless people who walk around the lot. This is downtown, after all.''
''Fine .''She gave up and walked back into the kitchen.
I stayed and waited through the lunch rush .Mr Bettle stayed throughout the entire thing, watching each customer as they passed the shop.I paid close attention to their reactions .Many didn't seem to care. It was like I told Laura .This was downtown .A certain element was expected , but there were some who seemed pertubed .One lady took a glance at him and started running out to her car.
''See?'' Laura came out of the kitchen when she left .''He's scaring people away.''
I sighed , and let my head fall back.''All right.....''
Laura cocked her head and looked at me.''All right, what?''
''Go lock the door and turn the sign around.''
''Really?''Her eyes went wide , and she ran out to go lock the door,.
The second she got close,Mr Beetle ran at the door. She lunged forward and locked it.He grabbed a handful of rocks and threw it straight at the front window.My heart stopped. If that thing shattered , it would cost me thousands of dollars to replace it .Thankfully, the rocks were small, bounced off and fell down to the ground.
''What are you going to do about that ?''Laura asked .
''Watch him carefully .if he does that again , call the police.''
''How come it took this long for you to come around.?''
I've been around the entire time. I've just never had a good reason to call the police on him.Coming in every day isn't a crime.'
''Property damage is''
Laura was mad at me for the rest of the night, stomping around, giving me the cold shoulde , I tried explaining to her why I'd waited so long to take action against Mr. Beetle-it would caused a scene-but she didn't want to hear it, and the more I thought about it, the more i understood why. She felt vulnereable .He cpuld walk in whenever he wanted to and do whatever he wanted to her, and here'd be nothing she cold do to stop him.
That night, I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing .I reached around blindly and grabed it.''Hello?''
''Maya...''
It was Laura .''What's going on?
What time is it?''
''Three-thirty .''
''What are you doing calling me this late?You've got to work in the morning .''
''I can't .I've been up all night puking.''Her voice was quiet, meek. she was afraid .I never let her get away with faking sick.
''Laura...''
''No.I mea it.I've been puking up ice chips for the past hour .''
''Tell me what's wrong ?''I knew what was wrong .She was supposed to work at the shope alone tommorrow .Mr Beetle had freaked her out more that I realised.
Still,I didn't like the idea of her staying up all night not worrying about it.
''I can't come in tomorrow ,''She said again.''You're not gonna fire me, are you?''
''No''I sat up .''I'm not .''I couldn't blame her .I wasn't even sure I liked the idea of going to work alone.
''Thank you.''
''Ofcourse .Get some sleep and don't worry .I know you're not sick. But I understand.''
''I'm sorry.''
''it's okay .''
The next morning ,I parked behind the bakery and got out of the car ,My feet crunching against the pavement .The building was pretty starightfoward , a square , red brick shop wih a glass froont.It was built in the back of the lot , next to a wooden fence that was hanging sideways almost to the ground.
I walked into the alleyway behind it, ignoring the smell of dirty diapers and rotting food ,It wasn't very long , just a block , but it offered alot of cover , so I took my time looking through , watching for anything that a homeless personwould sleep on-blankets , pillows , jackets - any sign of Mr Beetle's camp. He was always around , and he didn't smel like he had anywhere else to call home.
There wasn't much in the alley .Just some old newspapers flying around in the wind and a pile of old books sitting next to a dumpster .I walked back ,a little disappointmen.I thought that maybe if I could find his camp ,I could tell the police where it was if he caused me any more trouble. Wherever the hell he lived, it wasn't behind the aley, and I didn't have time to go traipsing around downtown hunting for him.
I opened the bakery and walked into the kitchen .My phone vibrated , and I pulled it out,Laura sent me a message saying .
''How's it going?''
''You're worried ,''I typed .''I'm not ignoring this anymore.''
''Good .''She added a smiley face.
The day was slow .It was saturday , which meant that the mechanics were still sleeping off their hangovers or getting ready for a secon round. All the downtown office buildings were still safe at home , nestled under their covers .It was probably better that way.I wasn't sure I wanted to deal with anyone , and I already had enough money to get through the mouth.
I decided to take it slow and do some baking now taht I had a chance.After the lunch rush , and the ensuing clean up ,I took a muffing in back so I could eat and read to clear my head .Things were quiet and I was tense .Mr Beetle usually came in around that time.
The doorbell rang .My back went stiff ,and I found myself sniffing the air for the stench of rolled cigarettes and cogulated urine. I didn't smell anything , but that didn't mean I was in the clear .I got up slowly and inched my way closer to the kitchen door, trying to see who was in the loppy , but they were standing behind one of cake displays.
''Yeah , Laura.I think we can probably add a little more cocoa powder to that batch,''I called out,
loud enough for whoever was in the lobby to hear .It was a desperate attempt t keep Mr Beetle from thinking that I was alone .it was stupid .I was freaking out over a handful of rocks , and I was making myself look like an idiot ,It didnt matter what I did .I'd still have to walk out there , and Mr, Beetle was there ,'d have to deal with him .I got up and walked out into the lobby.
''Hi, how can I help you?''I stopped halfway to the register.
''Oh
''Oh ''Archer was standing in front of the register ,subdued and a little sheepish with his hands in his pockets.
''How are you?''I tried to deispel the initial shock ,but I could see right away that that wasn't going to happen, si I trew caution to the wind .''I thought I'd never see youagain.''
''I didn't think you would either ,I just- I'm sorry , May.''
''What is it? One second ,you want it .The next you don't ''
''My life isn't easy .You must know that ,Ive got thirty things going on at anytime-weapons development , defense contarcts .It's not the kind of world you just let somebody into, and yeah ,it's been hard .I wasn't sure what to do , but I'm here , aren't I?''
''Yeah , you are .''I was glad that we could talk directly about it.He had this way of smilling without even lifting without even lifting his mouth .It was his eyes .I couldn't undertsand how he did it, but it gave me chills.
''Is somebody here with you?''
He looked around me.
''No.''I said laughing awkwardly.''I thought you wre this guy .The one you saw at the club.''
''Is he giving you trouble ?''I watched the muscles flex in his arms when his hands balled up into fists .
''He stood outside yesterday and scared some of the customers,So the girl that works with me,Laura , she ran over to lock the door so he couldn't come in .He rushed at her , almost got inside before she cold lock it.Then, he picked up a handful of rocks and thew them at the door.''
Archer turned back .''Did he breal the window ?''
''No , and I don't know what I would've done if he did.I have insurance , but the premiums are already too hugh.''
''Maya . this isn't the first time he's done this.Are you sure you're okay here alone?''
''I think he's homeless .He's probably begging for money just to eat.He can't affford a gun or a knife, and he's not that big.laura and I could probably overpower him.
''But you don't know that.''
Archer was clearly disturbed by what I'd told him like he needed some reassurance.