A Serenade for the Innocent 68 Cashier

So that's why I'm here right now in a convenience store at 3 am while holding four packets of instant noodles. I stood in front of the cashier after placing the products I wanted to buy on the counter. I yawned visibly and started tapping my feet while scratching the back of my head and my tummy at the same time. After yawning for a second time, I started noticing that the instant noodles I wanted to buy were still left in their lonesome on top of the counter while the woman who was supposed to be the cashier was just looking at the far distance idly.

I wanted to complain, really, I do, but the oddness of the woman operating the counter took me aback, rendering me speechless.

She was a chubby woman, maybe around her forties, but I might be wrong since she's already way past her fifties. She was a bit tanned like me, but unlike her visibly fake, orange-ish tan, my skin is naturally brown. I pointed that out because I was always insecure about how dark my skin was, so seeing a person deliberately wanting to have the same skin as I was both intriguing and funny to me. I can't quite explain it adequately, though, but all I know is that it's never fun to see people not doing their job.

I cleared my throat to get her attention, but she remained indifferent to me as if she was deliberately trying to tell me to fuck off silently. After standing in front of her for a solid minute, I finally heard the silent sound of a radio playing somewhere on the other side of the counter. I could barely hear the sound, but somehow, I could tell that the woman in front of me was listening to it. That's also probably the reason why she's dozing off right now. No, that's silly! I could barely hear the radio, so it's definitely not because she's so engrossed with what she's hearing.

"Welcome back... Heights Radio where you... the best... deals for... needs..." 

I could scantly hear a very, very quiet voice of a woman speaking in the radio program that the cashier was supposedly listening to. Another customer then entered the convenience store, who looked at the two of us with a raised eyebrow, which finally irked me.

"Excuse me, miss." I politely mumbled with a smile, not wanting to be rude to a person who's probably raising her family with a below minimum wage salary. Nevertheless, the woman still didn't say anything.

She just stared at the distance, probably looking at the concrete wall beside her. She was sitting on a plastic chair with her arms crossed. Her body was facing me, but her body was directed to her right side as she slumped her back on the chair. Looking at her carefully, I could see that there are some boogers in her eyes while a bit of her saliva was slowly creeping out of her open mouth.

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I could hear the female anchor or DJ speaking on the radio once more, which made the woman on the other side of the counter show a light smirk. After a few more moments, the woman uttered a light and weak chuckle while her blank and darkened gaze still remained rooted on a far distance.

"Excuse me." I started to feel angry as I see that the woman was not deaf, after all.

The woman's gaze was still stuck onto the concrete wall as if she was trying to deconstruct the many layers of paint used onto it.

"Miss!" I finally lost my cool and yelled while banging my arm on the counter. "What the hell? Do you want me to pay these or not!?"

The woman on the other side of the counter finally noticed me after hearing my loud protestation. She quickly blinked thrice, and oddly, I could see the life in her eyes returning when she finally noticed my looming presence towering over her slumping figure.

"I'm so sorry, sir!" The woman apologized frantically while scratching the sides of her eyes.

"God! Your services here are so fucking horrible!" I said, still fuming at the utter disrespect that I had to endure. After breathing deeply, I finally reclaimed my calmness. "Just... Please punch these in."

"Yes, sir! I'm so sorry, the radio show I was listening to is so loud." The cashier timidly replied as she touched whatever button she had to operate. She then told me how much I had to pay for my noodles, but I can't hear her properly because my annoyance is now turning into anger.

"Miss, I can hear your radio here. It's not that loud. At all! I can't even hear it properly!" I said as calmly as I could, but I can hear my voice rising as I proceeded to speak. "And you know what, that doesn't matter! What sort of radio program is so important for you to neglect your job anyway?"

I tried to breathe again. I know myself well, and I'm aware that once my anger switch is on, I will definitely not shut up until someone literally shoved something in my mouth. I wanted to just pay for my purchase and apologize for my rudeness when I saw the look on the woman's face.

She is smiling.

No... No, that's not it. That's not quite right. Yes, she is smiling; there's not an ounce of doubt within me that could argue against that, but no... The way her mouth stretches to form a smile is so unnatural as if she was wearing some sort of device that she places in her lips to make her mouth form the shape of an arc. This revealed her yellowish teeth that are so unnaturally unaligned. I mean, it's not that her teeth are malformed or anything like that. It's just that her jaw moved to the right side, and she kept it that way while smiling.

Also, her eyes. Her eyes are just as empty as it was when she was sitting idly earlier, looking at the abyss on the wall. It feels so empty, it seems so blank, and it makes me want to close her eyelids just so I couldn't see any more of it.

"I was listening to Plural Heights Radio, sir." The woman replied with a monotonous but slow voice as if she was some sort of machine trying to imitate the sound of a gentle person.

I wanted to her off and get done with this charade once and for all, but after looking through the void lurking within this stranger woman's pupils, I halted my words. I... I can only stare and watch as I stood there with awe at what I was seeing. 

The woman then started scratching her earlobes with her thumbs both at the same time, but I can observe that she's trying not to touch the hole in her ear as she continued to speak. "In fact, sir, the radio program is being played all over the store right now. It's so loud, see? Can't you hear them, sir? The station is so, so loud, and I can't do anything but to listen to it while their voice scratches my eardrum."The woman said with the same distorted smile that she had by the time she started talking about this radio show. It made me feel like she's some kind of stroke patient, talking to me with a voice devoid of joy. 

I then took a step back once I saw her grinding the teeth on her jaw grinding his upper teeth while trying to utter what I could only describe as an attempt to chuckle. Still, it only came out sounding like the distorted sound of a broken voice recording, sounding ripple-like sounds along with a scratchy noise that I could compare to TV static.

The woman then stopped chuckling in a snap, as if she was scheduled to do so after chuckling a few seconds. The woman also stopped grinding her teeth as she slid her jaw into the left side this time. "It's okay, though. Because I am very thankful to hear everything they had to say to me; it uplifts my trashy soul and makes me want to be a better version of myself. That is what Plural Heights wants to do to you, sir! Plural Heights is there to help me, and it's here to help you too. Plural Heights is your friend; they are all your friends! Plural Heights is here for your every need." 

I started to regain my calmness and maybe a bit of my lost sanity once the woman began speaking again. However, I still could not open my mouth, let alone utter a word once I started looking at the darkness that is her eyes.

"It's all over the store, see? Can't you hear how loud it was? Aahhh... My ears hurt. It's just so, so loud, sir; I feel like it will bleed soon, but it's okay because Plural Heights has my back. You should..."

I can't take it anymore! The cashier was about to put my instant noodles in a plastic bag, but since she's too busy with her monotonous monologue, she failed to do so. I just merely placed an exact payment on the counter and dashed out of the store. As I hurriedly ran towards the glass door of the convenience store, I heard the woman saying that she had received an exact amount along with the ringing sound of the cash register closing.

I heaved slowly while after leaving that godforsaken store. Oddly enough, the quiet and dark world outside of the bright convenience store felt much more comforting and warm. I looked back to check what is happening inside the store. When I looked, I saw that the cashier is now slumping on her chair again in the same position when I first saw her. She looked just as empty as earlier as if she was programmed somehow to sit that way.

I slowly walked out of that store, not wanting to buy from there anymore ever again. When I peered at the large glass window accidentally, I saw that the other customer who came after me was just standing there in the middle of the convenience store while looking at the ceiling with the same empty-looking eyes as the cashier. However, contrary to what the cashier is doing, this person has a distorted smile on her face like she was listening to the most entertaining piece of content she had ever heard.

That was when I decided to dash out of that place.

I'm never, ever going there again!

Whatever. That's done already. I got home safely, thank god. I started eating my noodles while watching a recording of a podcast that I always loved seeing on YouTube. Damn it. Who the hell still listens to radio anyway?

Nevertheless, as I finally fatigued my body to fool myself enough into thinking that I was already ready to sleep, I laid on my bed, fully awake, while remembering that dreaded name. 

"Plural Heights..." 

Needless to say, I didn't sleep well that day.

Chapter end