Monsters | Page 4

pain. All
morning long it had been swelling like a balloon. If Celeste accidently
touched him, he wasn't sure he could keep it from striking out at her.
He had never let it touch anyone at work before.
"You get time off for good behavior, Henry."
"I said, in a minute."
She shrugged and went back to her stool, unwrapped an egg bagel with
cream cheese and lox. Only when she was settled back on her stool did
he pick out his tea with extra milk and the English muffin. Coffee break

could be the longest fifteen minutes of the day. He needed Jerry right
now to shield him from Celeste. That was about all the kid was good
for. What were they doing up there?
"Don't you ever get bored eating the same damn muffin over and over
again?" she said.
"It's a new muffin every day."
He was dunking the tea bag when he heard someone up front shouting;
the racks of clean clothes muffled the sound. "Shush!" As he strained to
hear, he felt a twinge of dread. He hadn't worn the blue but still,
something was happening. The noise got closer; he recognized Jerry's
whine.
"What do you want me to say? No, really, tell me what I'm supposed to
say. I mean, I'm sorry and all and it won't happen again."
Kaplan was the first through the door; his pink face had flushed a
meaty red.
"Why won't you listen to me?" Jerry tagged behind like a bad dog on a
short leash. "Nobody saw, really. How could they? We were way, way
back, behind the 'W' rack."
Kaplan hesitated, trapped by his own machines. If he wanted to keep
walking away from Jerry, he'd have to leave the store. He glanced
blindly around before deciding his only escape was to dive into a cup
of Rudy's coffee.
"Please, Louis."
Jerry tried to come around to face him but Kaplan veered away. He
clutched the styrofoam cup close to him and fixed on it as if it were
telling him secrets.
"Nobody could've seen us back there," said Jerry. "Go see for yourself.
Besides there weren't any customers. Maggie was listening for the door

chime. Mr. Kaplan, please say something."
The creature squirmed in delight at Kaplan's distress, watching as he
worried at the drink tab on the lid. "You had your hand in her pants."
Celeste used both hands to smother a giggle and Jerry realized he had
an audience. Since Kaplan's back was turned, he let a grin slink across
his face.
"No, no," he said. "You don't understand. Yes, we were kissing. That's
what you saw and I'm sorry but it's not what you think."
Kaplan tore the plastic lid off and hot coffee slopped onto his hand and
down his trousers. "Shit!" When he tried to dance out of the way, he
bumped into Jerry and half the cup splatted onto his shoes. Celeste
laughed out loud.
"Okay, okay, so I was playing with the elastic a little." Jerry's smirk
curdled what little sincerity he had left. "But that was as far as we were
going. I mean, this is a public place. We're not stupid or anything."
"You're right, Jerry. You're not stupid." Kaplan put the dripping coffee
cup back on the shelf as if it were a weight he was glad to set down.
"I'm the stupid." He finally turned to confront Jerry. "You've worked
here for two whole months and done nothing but screw up. I guess that
makes me dumb as a box of rocks. But I've learned my lesson, kid. Get
your stuff and go. You're finished."
"You're firing me?" Jerry seemed to shrink six inches. "What is this, a
joke?"
"I'll give you a week's severance. The check will be ready by closing.
You can come back then."
"Oh come on, Mr. Kaplan. Give me a break."
His voice was hard as the sidewalk. "Take your lunch, you can even
take your coffee, if you want. But go."

"Henry." Jerry spun toward him in desperation. "You can't let this
happen. He'll make you do both our jobs, Henry. Tell him you need
help."
Henry was certain that if he opened his mouth the monster would leap
out and strangle them all. Jerry plucked a vest from the basket and
shook it at Henry. "Who do you think is going to clean this? Miss
Dumpty Humpty?"
"He already does most of your work," said Celeste. "Asshole."
"Celeste," said Kaplan. "Enough."
"No." Jerry threw the vest to the floor. "I'm not going anywhere unless
you ask Henry. He runs this place but you're all afraid of him. I'm the
only one he ever talks to."
A sound like the squealing of brakes filled Henry's head. He knew it
wasn't real