Member-only story
The Old Lady at the Gas Station
I couldn’t make this story up but I wish I had.
The time was 2:00 am. We were out of cigarettes. I volunteered to get them at the gas station one-half mile down the road. Do you remember your mother’s warning that nothing good happens after midnight? I guess she never stayed awake after 2:00 am.
The gas station has a little convenience store. That’s where I always get our smokes. I feel like Norm from “Cheers” because the clerks reach for my brands without asking me what I need. Only they don’t know my name. I can read name tags so I know theirs. That’s how we get each other. We just know.
This particular night, things were different. A rather large older woman who was probably my age was standing in front of the door. She almost blocked people from entering the building, but she’d step away at the last second.
She screamed at the top of her lungs, “DON’T GO IN THERE! DON’T GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY! THEY’RE A BUNCH OF FUCKING CROOKS AND THE POLICE ARE COMING!”
I made the mistake of making eye contact with her. Guess who followed me into the store a few minutes later? Yup. It was Crazy Lady.
I asked the new girl at behind the counter if everything was okay. She rolled her…
