Ricky strolled towards the grocery store checkout with his cart in tow. It was nice having more of a disposable income – he was able to go to a real grocery store and not just pick up a box of Twinkies with a case of beer at the gas station and call it dinner for a week. Now he was able to buy Twinkies and his beer at a grocery store and call it dinner for a week! Moreover, he could buy a larger supply – and also buy things like Hot Pockets, Lunchables, and other nutritious meals.

He tossed the first box of Twinkies onto the checkout counter and looked up at the clerk who quickly dodged his eyes.

“Anna May?” he gasped. s**t. He wasn’t sure if he was happy or disappointed to see her. He didn’t want to make a big fuss and kept tossing things onto the counter, his body seeming to want to escape the already awkward encounter.

“Hi,” she smiled nervously as she quickly started to scan his stuff, clearly wanting to get out of the situation as well.

“You uh, still engaged to that rich feller?” he asked, unable to control himself.

She gave him a hard look. “Does it look like I’m still engaged to him?”

“I dunno,” he shrugged.

“Am I wearin’ a ring on this finger?” she questioned rhetorically. “No, that’s right, I ain’t. I’m here behind checkout counter trying to get you outta here. Now you going to make this worse for us Ricky, or can you keep yer mouth shut for once?”

Ricky bowed down his head.

“s**t Ricky,” she groaned. “What are ya still doin’ here anyways? I thought ya only moved up here to chase me down and I clearly wasn’t havin’ you no more.”

“I stayed around,” Ricky shrugged. This was the girl that he had once been so in love with that he had wanted to settle down with her – until he ******** everything right on up and stepped out on her. She left Alabama not long after and after a few months of wallowing, he had chased her down – but she was already swooped up and engaged to some rich kid. “What are you still doin’ here? You ain’t engaged anymore.”

“What? I ain’t gonna pack my bags for one failed relationship.”

“You did before.”

“No I moved for me to get the hell out of that creek. You’re the one that moved to chase me down.”

“So is that what yer doin’ now?” Ricky asked, gesturing to her work station.

“Yeah, what’s it to you? What the hell you doin’ for money?”

“Mowin’ lawns, same as back at home,” he said, scratching the back of his head. He felt he should be honest with her – he always was in the past. You know, aside from him cheating – which he told her about right away. “And strippin’.”

Anna May laughed. “Well, you make me feel less like s**t. That’ll be $62.79.”

Ricky tossed down some cash. “It was nice seein you, Anna May.”

“Yeah, have a good day Ricky.”

Ricky smiled as he grabbed his bags and waved goodbye the girl who he once changed everything for. But his life had greater purpose now. He was doing something good for the world, he thought.

Uh, not the stripping. The whole Knight thing.

That.