The Corner Store

Pssst! You wanna hear something about me that I am not totally proud of, but looking back I think it is kinda funny? K, since I totally trust you and I know that you won't let it go beyond this moment (you won't, right?) I am ready to share. Yay us! A new stage in our relationship- the trust stage. This is huge.

I went to Esma (yeah, I know) Lewis Elementary School in Rifle, Colorado- home of the fighting Eagles! Those were some great times. Oh, yeah, this is the school with the third grade teacher who can't pronounce orange. Remember that one time I told you about her? Yeah. See, we are even in the stage where we can remember stories together. This is awesome!

I had a great friend who lived down the hill from me and we did pretty much everything together, including a vicious fight and break-up EVERY DAY followed by a sincere make-up the next morning on our walk- uphill both ways- to school. We were total BFFs.

Most days our moms told us, "Girls, come straight home from school- no stopping at the Corner Store." And most days, we would. But then some days we wouldn't. Those days when we wouldn't go straight home we would stop at the Corner Store for a treat.

The thing is, I didn't have a job in the third grade, and therefore no moolah. So what did I do? I basically picked the pockets of my family. Loose change pretty much belonged to me whenever I "found" it around the house. Not too proud of that. Sorry Mom and Dad- even sisters- that you have to find out like this. Did you suspect? I probably owe you about $10. Do you take payments?

One day in particular, my friend- let's call her Mindy- and I stopped at the Corner Store for an after school treat and found ourselves about a quarter short for what we wanted to purchase. What would we do? It didn't take me long to hatch a brilliant plan. We would tell the clerk that we were trying to make a phone call on the pay phone outside the store and it ate our quarter before we could place our call. Genius! No fail. So that's just what we did. We told that clerk our sad story, expecting full sympathy. What we were not expecting was his response. He told us that his phone didn't accept quarters- only pennies, nickels and dimes. (Uh-oh, didn't see that one coming) But, he would get the key from the office and check it out.

The clerk disappeared in the back of the store and into the office.

You know that song that goes:
"My teacher told me I should never tell a lie,
Because a lie will bring you trouble, sure as pie.
It's an awful thing to do.
And it's true as true as true.
You'll get caught and then you'll start to cry.
You'll have a horrid, painful pounding in your head.
And you will feel your face get hot and turn bright red.
Then your heart will start to thump
In your throat you'll get a lump
And you'll feel so bad you'll wish that you could lie right down and die.
You're much better off to never tell a lie
Not even sometimes,
Remember, Never ever tell a lie....."

That totally sums it up. All these are the feelings Mindy and I experienced as the clerk walked back to his office.

What were we going to do? The only thing we could do, of course. We took off running as fast as our little Esma Lewis Fighting Eagles legs would take us. And we didn't stop. Not even when we got home. Until we were safe in Mindy's pantry. And the door was securely barricaded. With stacks of food storage. And we didn't come out. For a long time. And we listened. To every sound. Because it could be the cops.



K, bring out one of your skeletons from the deep recesses of your walk-in closet and share a "corner store" moment. Please? I'll give you a quarter.