Beep, beep, beep… BOOM!
[♫]
Beep.
Beep.
“Anything else, sir?” Selma asked the man at the other side of the cashier.
“Ah…” He looked around checking the candies available but he chose no one. He shook his head.
“Ok” Selma pressed a button in her computer terminal. “That’s R$ 75.”
“What? Are you guys really selling one kilogram of meat for R$ 35?”
“Ahh… We…” Selma knew the man did not want an answer.
“That’s fine. I’m not taking it.” He interrupted.
[There is a music player at the end of this page with the music that inpired this short story. I sincerely encourage you to listen to it. / Existe um player no final da página com uma música que eu lhe encorajo a ouvir enquanto lê. Ela inspirou essa história.]
“Ok. I’m calling my manager to cancel your purchase.” Selma hit a button under the cashier and saw that the other people in the line were making fast and repetitive movements – one of them scratched his head and checked his watch. Two or three minutes later a woman – another employee – showed up, passed a card in the computer terminal, typed a password and the item was canceled. “That’s R$ 40, sir.”
“You should stop setting so abusive prices.” The customer presented his credit card.
“Thanks for shopping at ‘The Big Warehouse’!” Selma put his purchases in a plastic bag and handed it to the man, who left with a very angry expression.
“NEXT!” Selma said in loud voice. Another man approached.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
“Excuse me,” The man interrupted. “but the price of these shampoos were different in the gondolas…”
“I’ll call someone to check it.” She hit the same button under the cashier. Again the customers in the line made repetitive movements. The same woman showed up.
“This man says the price of these shampoos were different at the gondolas.” Selma reported.
“Ok.” The woman called a boy wearing roller blades that was standing near the cashiers. “Check the price of it. Bring other if you see that the price is correct.” She meant to say that in low voice, but everyone heard. Three minutes later the boy came back with a price tag.
“The price you saw in the gondola was the price for the Macadâmia moisturizers, not the Shampoos. Here, have a look.” The boy showed it to the man.
“Ok, fine.” He said sharply.
Beep.
…
Beep.
“Anything else, sir?”
“No.”
“That’s R$ 150.” She said after pressing a button in the computer terminal.
“Ok.” He presented the credit card and after entering his password, left.
“Thanks for shopping at ‘The Big Warehouse’! NEXT!” Selma said in loud voice. A woman approached.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
“Anything else, ma’am?”
“No.” Her high-pitch voice scared Selma. She pressed the button.
“That’s R$ 50.”
“Ok.” She took her credit card out of her shoulder bag and Selma did all necessary procedures in the terminal.
“The transaction was denied, ma’am.” Selma told the woman and everyone heard a deep breath from one of the people in the line.
“Oops!” She said after receiving the card back. “It’s the wrong one! I’m sorry!” She handed another one.
“This one was also denied.” Selma was impatient herself.
“Dammit!” She started looking for something inside her bag. It took her long seconds to find an R$ 50 bill. She took two plastic bags and left.
“Thanks for shopping at ‘The Big Warehouse’. NEXT.” Selma said. Another man, with only dozen eggs approached.
Beep.
“Anything else, sir?” Selma asked.
“No.” When he answered, she noticed that he was the man checking the watch minutes ago.
“That’s R$ 4.”
“Here you are.” He handed an R$ 50 bill. Selma checked it and an alarm started inside her head.
“This bill is fake, sir.” It was her reaction.
“Really!?” He was surprised, as expected. “What do I do?”
“Do you want to pay by credit card?”
“I’m not asking this…” He seemed to have rehearsed this part. “I’m asking about the bill.”
“Well, sir,” Selma counted 7 people waiting in the line. There was a man with a full shopping cart. “you can’t use it here. Are you paying for the eggs?”
“Yes, I am.” He presented his card, she did the necessary procedures in the computer terminal and handed the small box of eggs inside a plastic bag.
“NEXT.” Selma said. She checked the time at the screen. 2:45 a.m. She would go home in 15 minutes.
“Hi!” The customer said, kindly.
“Hi.” Selma answered, not kindly.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeep.
Beeeeee eeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
“What now?” Selma asked the computer terminal angrily. She checked the time. 2:47. “I’ll try again, sir. The terminal is presenting malfunctioning.”
“I see…” The customer was not so kind.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
This time the sound was terribly uncomfortable and many people from the neighborhooding cashiers and respective lines moved themselves in their places. But the price had been calculated.
“That’s R$ 33,50, sir” Selma said, relieved. The man handed two R$ 20 bills. She gave him her change and checked the time. 2:49. That mean only one more customer. The man left.
“Next!” she said, excited. An old woman carrying bread and other food that Selma paid no attention approached.
Beep.
Beeeep.
Beeeeeeeep.
Beeeeeeeee eeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeep
“Anything else, ma’am?”
“No, that’s all.” Selma pressed the button.
“That’s…” The computer terminal was really slow and it took some seconds to display the price. “R$ 15.”
“Oh, wait!” Selma showed an ugly face. “I want to add these bubble chewing gums. I love them!”
It took some time to Selma to type her password and add the gums to the purchase. The woman paid, Selma said nothing. 2:59. Selma saw the person who would replace her coming from the employee resting room. The customer left. Another one presented himself. It was a man.
“Just a second, sir. We are changing turns now.” Selma explained without looking at him.
“Just a second? Are you kidding?” The man said that and Selma saw the gun he had in his hand. “Open the cashier and start putting all the money in a bag! QUICKLY!”
She started doing as ordered and saw that the same action was happening in different cashiers simultaneously. There were also some men with guns preventing all the clients from leaving the supermarket before they wanted. Selma started sweating.
“This must be the worst day of my life.” She said in low – but hearable – voice, cursing.
“Oh, really?” The man with the gun said after listening to her. “It can be worse! You’re coming with us after you finish this ‘small job!’”
Selma said nothing and tried to slow down the activity of putting the money in the bag, and when she was about to finish, she started shivering. She was going to be kidnapped. Everything because she said that was a bad day. Suddenly, the lights ran out.
Selma only heard people screaming and running, followed by gunfire. BOOM! She could feel the vibration of people’s movements under her feet, but she could not do the same. BOOM! An explosion hit the ground and she got on her knees. Flashes of gunfire lit the supermarket and Selma saw corpses lying in the ground besides her. BOOM! The man that was threatening her fell motionless. More flashes. The smoke caused by the explosions reached Selma’s lungs; she started coughing. She would suffocate: she had to leave. BOOM! A part of the ceiling fell next to her. She heard the sirens of the police outside. She was crying. Desperately, she decided to reach the side doors of the supermarket which she hoped were intact. She had done that kind of training a million times… BOOM! An explosion came from outside. More smoke. The gunfire and the flashes were making her crazy. She heard a helicopter. She started moving in the ground, as child would do. She was having problems to breath and she put her t-shirt in front of her face. BOOM! Another explosion hit the ground, closer. Selma stopped in the middle of the crossing fire of the thieves and the police. She was hopeless. The flashes and the smoke were making her blind. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The last explosion had been much closer, she felt dizzy and pain in her legs. She tried to move but she was trapped. The gunfire didn’t stop. BOOM! Selma tried to move again but the pain was severe. She saw a man running to her. She would die. BOOM! Selma saw the man being thrown several meters in the air. She fainted.
…
…
Beep.
…
Beep.
…
Beep.
…
Beep.
When Selma finally opened her eyes she saw the heart monitor producing a noise she was very used to...
