Mills - Famous in a Small Town

Brit had been fired from the Yum Yum Shoppe, which came as a shock to approximately no one.

We sat on top of one of the picnic tables outside McDonalds afterward, eating vanilla cones in defiance. The sun had set, but the sky still had that pinky-blueness to it, fading to purple as we cursed Brits manager, the Yum Yum Shoppe, its fourteen flavors of ice cream, and every person who asks for more than two samples while theres a line.

No, screw that, Brit said. People who ask for samples in general. There are fourteen flavors. There have been fourteen flavors there for the last, like, fifty-seven years. Really? You want to sample strawberry? Do you really need to try strawberry?

In the Yum Yum Shoppes defense, there were twelve flavors up until, like, five years ago. Remember, they added peanut butter crunch, but then there was this whole thing about there being thirteen flavors so they had to add cherry chip?

Were not saying anything in the Yum Yum Shoppes defense right now, Soph. Were dragging the Yum Yum Shoppe and everyone in it.

Ill never go there again, I said, even though I knew I would.

Thank you, Brit replied, even though she knew it too.

The truth was, if I stopped going to places just because Brit got fired from them, I couldnt go very many places. Its a testament to how small our town was, and also how often Brit cycled through jobs.

Its fine, she said, in that way where I knew it really wasnt fine, but she wanted to believe it was. What do I want to spend all summer scooping ice cream for anyway? Id end up with one jacked arm and one puny arm. Who needs that in their life? She gestured with her cone. All they have to do to make one of these is pull a stupid lever.

Ill ask Mel if theres something at the library, I said, chasing a dribbler running down the side of my cone. It was hot out, and the soft serve was melting fast.

You dont have to do that.

No, just come by on Monday.

I can get another job all by myself, Sophie.

And you can get yourself fired from it too. I know.

We finished up our ice cream in silence. Brit leaned back on the tabletop when she was done, folding her arms behind her head. She was still wearing her Yum Yum Shoppe T-shirt, an anthropomorphic ice cream cone on the front with FOURTEEN FLAVORS OF FUN printed in big bubble letters around it. The cone itself was flashing a double thumbs-up and a crazed smile. Its eyes seemed to say, Try the strawberry, you know you fucking want to.

Okay, Brit said, and I knew a question was coming. What do you want right now?

I mean, I would like it if the deranged Yum Yum Shoppe cone wasnt staring at me.

Im going to burn this shirt.

Good.

In the fire pit. Tonight. With extra lighter fluid.

You should.

Its gonna be a literal tower of flames.

Well dance around it.

Brit glanced over at me. Will you drop it off for me tomorrow, though? Tyler said hed take it out of my paycheck if I didnt bring it back.

You want me to give Tyler the ashes?

She grinned. I probably like the idea of burning it better than Id like the actual burning of it.

Its good you know that about yourself.

It was quiet for a moment, her grin fading in contemplation. For real, though. What do you want right now? If you could have the one thing you want most in the world, right this second, what would it be?

Sometimes Brits questions were a joke. Sometimes they were a test. You couldnt laugh at them in case it was the latter, and if indeed it was, youd never know for sure if youd passed or not, except for the slight wrinkle that occasionally appeared between her eyebrows that meant you probably answered wrong.

For everyone I love to get everything they want, I said.

In this case, the wrinkle appeared immediately. Thats way too much. Thats cheating.

Why?

I said one thing. You love tons of people, and each person wants their own thing. Thats like using a wish to wish for infinity wishes.

I dont love that many people.

You love at least a hundred and fifty people.

Do not. A pause. I top out at like a hundred and ten, max.

She gave me an exasperated look, but there was fondness underneath it.

How many people do you love? I said.

Two point five.

How can you love half a person? And if you say its Aiden Morales and its the bottom half, Im gonna punch you.

Love and lust are different, I hope you know that. She looked up at the sky. One thing. Right now. The thing you want most in the world.

Some fries would be great.

Brit rolled her eyes. Youre no fun.

I told you. The people-I-love thing.

Yeah and I hate that you said that.

Why?

Because this is a good question, not an excuse for you to be noble.

Im not noble.

Thats why youre noble, you dont even know that youre noble.

Okay, if my answers so shitty, then what do you want? I said, even though I already knew what Brit wanted most in the world, right that second, and every other second too.

She didnt say it, though, just shook her head minutely. Fries do sound good.

You get them. I got the cones.

I dont want to go back in there. Brit sat up. I cant bear to watch Flora charming the shit out of everybody.

I glanced over my shoulder, where through the front window I could see Flora Feliciano standing behind the counter. Her shiny, dark brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail under her visor, her uniform shirt immaculate. She was taking a guys order, and I watched as her eyes crinkled with a smile. The guy was definitely flirting with her, I could see it from here by the way he was leaning toward her, but I knew she couldnt tellshe rarely could. She was sweet to everyone and somehow believed that everyone was sweet back, that no one ever had ulterior motives.

She couldnt have been more different from Brit, but they were both my best friends.

I pulled a few crumpled ones out of my pocket and held them out to Brit. She cant help it, I said. Thats just how she is.

I know. She took the money and slid off the table. Thats why shes the point five.

She headed inside as a beat-up car pulled into the parking lot, snagging an empty spot facing the road. I recognized itit was Heather Conlins car. She lived just down the street from me, and I babysat her kids all the timeCadence, who was six, and Harper, who was almost a year old.

But Heather didnt get out. Her husband, Kyle, emerged from the drivers side instead, and from the passengers seat came a guy I had never seen before. In Acadia, that was saying something.

He looked about our age, maybe a little olderit was hard to tell. I watched as Kyle fumbled around in the back and then pulled Harper out of her car seat. Harper had what my grandma would describe as two cents worth of hair, which tonight was scraped together into the tiniest and cutest of pigtails, jutting off the top of her head like twin exclamation points.