CHAPTER 5
The A & P Grocery Store
They recklessly pushed the grocery cart, already stacked with meat and candy and potatoes, down the canned vegetable aisle. The six of them attended the vehicle as if it were a float in a parade. And because they looked like students, the management ignored their childish antics.
“We can't fit another thing in this cart!”
“Then get another!”
“What are we missing?”
“Beer…”
“And wine!”
“I'll get it!”
“Wait for me!”
“Rick, take care of the women and children.”
Nat and Julian eagerly sought another cart to secure a cache of spirits. And after stopping in front of the potato chips and dips, they pushed the cart down the aisle, top-heavy with booty.
The two carts met in the next aisle for a parley.
“What next?”
“I don't know.”
They carefully inspected both carts.
“Jesus Christ…”
“What?”
“Cigarettes!”
“The man is a genius!”
“I could have thought of that!”
“So could your mother!”
Amid the following laughter, Kerry broke away from the group to find cigarettes. “Any special flavors, gang?”
“No menthol.”
“Anything with a filter.”
“And several cartons' worth,” Gladys said.
“A woman after my own heart.”
None of them questioned Gladys's ability to pass a bad check. But if the cashier refused it at the checkout counter. they already agreed they had a lot of fun anyway. And if they actually walked out with all this stuff…well, then, there was going to be a big party.
Kerry returned with five cartons of cigarettes, several boxes of mat ches, and a half dozen packages of cigarette papers.
“Hey, papers.”
“Another genius.”
“It's an epidemic!”
Checkout took longer than the shopping spree, even with their enthusiastic assistance at bagging groceries. They joked and goofed around and maintained a friendly rapport with the cashier. Nat even pointed at Julian and said, “See that guy bagging groceries over there? I've never seen him work that hard in all my life.”
The cashier was an amiable sort who apparently viewed the motley group as a novel change from her usual line of customers.
Gladys wrote the one-hundred-and-eighty-nine-dollar check with a steady hand. And while the others remained in an angelic tableau, she presented her identification to the store manager without blinking an eye. He initialed the check, handed it back to the cashier, and walked away.
They left the A & P grocery store, suppressing their excitement as much as possible to avoid suspicion. But when they reached the parking lot, they danced all the way to Nat's car. escorting Gladys as if she was the Queen of Sheba.
“I can't believe it! I can't believe it!”
“We did it!”
“Pass me the cigarettes!”
“I'll take a beer!”
Bags and wrappers were torn open as the groceries were loaded into the trunk of the car. And by the time Nat drove out of the parking lot, the carload of three in the front and three in the back were eating, drinking, and smoking to the sound of rock-and-roll music.