chapter 1
fiction
HUFFINGTON
09.23.12
People looked away. It was either that, or stare. She was
magnetically disturbing to watch.
She stopped when she reached the mall, big and curvy.
She roamed the three floors and mingled with all the people milling about with their big paper shopping bags and
worn, drawn faces.
Inside the biggest and fanciest department store at one end
of the mall shops, she walked around the various sections of
women’s clothing, and observed all the different desks, and
all the different sets of salespeople. She watched for almost
an hour, noting how each saleswoman interacted with customers, and how she looked, until
PEOPLE LOOKED
she settled on the one she liked
AWAY. IT WAS EITHER
best. This was in the women’s
impulse department. The
THAT, OR STARE.
saleslady was about Janet’s age,
SHE WAS MAGNETIa little younger, and had a red
CALLY DISTURBING
velvet ribbon tied neatly around
TO WATCH.
her neck, just like the horror story Janet had once heard
about a woman who wears a
velvet ribbon around her neck her whole life, every second of
every day, until the one night when her curious husband removes it and her head falls off.
“Excuse me,” said Janet, resting her pocketbook on the
counter. “I have a question for you.”
“Sure.” The saleslady re-upholstered her salesface in
seconds. “How can I help you?”
“Do you support yourself?” Janet asked. She smiled, as
amiably as she could.
“Pardon me?”
“I know it’s an unusual question, but do you support
yourself? Are you self-supported? Financially?”
The saleslady squinched up her nose. “Well,” she said.