Chapter Two: Crybaby Blues:

1967 became my turning point. I met a boy then. He came from the outside. The townspeople frowned upon him when he first came here, but I didn’t. I had never seen such a beautiful rebel. I only call him that out of truth. In the beginning it was because the others in the village called him such. I remember when I met him.

He never gave me his real name. I just called him devil because he told me to. Even then, I was a puppet. I never had decisions to make for myself. Everything was planned out for me. My grandmother took care of everything. She even got me the job at the bakery that I used to do during the summer. Speaking of which, that’s where I met devil.

I worked at the cash register at the time. That was a slow summer day in ’67. The bakery, Little Maureen’s, had just opened for the day. Because I was always early, I helped set up shop. I took down the chairs, dusted off the counter, and turned the sign on. Once I put on my apron, I was ready for work. I hadn’t expected much that day. Just another work day and go home in the evening.

That’s when he walked in.

I looked up when I heard the door angel ringing. A guy about my age looked around the open doorway. I watched him with a curious look my face.

“Can I help you?” I asked. He didn’t seem to hear me as he kept looking around. I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Sir?” I asked. “Is there anything you would like today?” He looked at the setting before turning my direction. I blinked at him.

“Uh… hello?” I asked.

“You sell beer here?’ he asked. I shook my head at him.

“No,” I said.

“Is there a liquor store anywhere?” he asked.

“No,” I said again. The guy shrugged.

“Any smoke shops?” he asked.

“No.”

“A sex store, then?”

“Eww! No!”

He gave me a strange look. “Why do you say it like that?”

“That’s just gross!” I barked.

“Why?”

“It just is!”

The guy shook his head. “Fine, is there a bike shop nearby?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Bike shop?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Oh, that would down the road to your right,” I said.

“Thank you,” he said. “Now was that so hard?” I shrugged at him.

“Hey, it’s your fault that you picked a boring town,” I said.

“Is that right?”

“Yep.” I nodded when I said that. The cicada chirping outside filled the pause between us. Then, my eyes caught him smirking at me.

“What?” I asked. This bold guy walked over to the counter and pressed his hands against the hard surface.

“Oh, I can think of a few things to do here,” he said. I didn’t see what he was getting at.

“Like what?” I asked. He put a dirty finger to my throat and trailed it down just above my chest. His crystal blue eyes held my attention the whole time.

“I can think of quite a few,” he said. “Some involving you.” I blinked at him, lost.

“Me?” I asked.

“That’s right,” he said. “All I would need is you to have some fun in this town.” I tried to keep it together as I felt my knees shake.

“H-H-How?” I stammered out. He took me by my chin and drew my ear to his lips. My heart pounded all the way to my throat.

“I’ll be by around closing hours to show you,” he whispered. I swallowed hard as my heart sped up to go off rhythm. I didn’t even notice that he had left until someone asked, “Hello? Can I get a bagel today?”

I looked up and saw Old Mr. Heinny peering at me with his glasses. He raised an eyebrow at my face.

“Miss Rose,” he said. “My, your face is so red! Is something the matter?”

I quickly shook my head. “No, no!” I lied. “I’m perfectly fine! Uh…a bagel, right? What kind?”

“Plain, please,” he said, sounding skeptical.

“Coming up!” I cheered in my usual work tone. I got right to work from there. Since then, nothing has ever gone how they in the village wanted it for me.