Chapter 2
This story starts with a hot dog. That’s boiling it down some (get it—hot dog, boil?), but without that hot dog, it’s fair
to say that none of the rest of what’s to come would’ve happened. Two postal workers, Martha and Stacy, got a craving for
a hot dog, a very specific hot dog from a very specific place called Burg Dog, and decided they just couldn’t go on with their
workday without one.
They talked about how good those hot dogs were so much that they convinced the new girl at the post office, Nadine, to hold
down the fort while they ran over to Shallotte “real quick” to get them all hot dogs for lunch. (Even though we all know no
one runs “real quick” over to Shallotte.) Someone had to stay at the post office to take care of the customers, and being
the newbie, Nadine was the easy pawn in Stacy and Martha’s plan to cut out of there.
It is a Thursday, after all, which in many towns like Sunset Beach is Friday eve. And it is springtime to boot. The flowers
are blooming, the sun is shining bold and bright in the sky, and the air feels fresh and hopeful. It is the kind of spring
day when you can smell the green in the air. So naturally Stacy and Martha wanted a little field trip away from work. Who
could blame them?
Those two were breaking rules and taking risks by leaving in the middle of a shift, but Nadine figured what business was it of hers if they did?
It wasn’t her neck on the chopping block if they got caught.
Nadine’s biggest concern was whether she could hold her own with the customers who came in while Stacy and Martha were gone.
“What do I do if they ask to speak to whoever’s in charge?” she asked Martha, who actually was in charge, just before they
left.
“Tell them you are,” quipped Martha. Then they all laughed, because that was far from the truth.
Nadine isn’t the “person in charge” type. She tends to be more the quiet, unobtrusive, “fade into the background” type. Unless
she’s singing. When Nadine is singing, she isn’t quiet or unobtrusive, and she doesn’t fade into the background. She “comes
out of her shell,” as her mama says. Nadine wants to come out of her shell more often. It’s just hard to find the opportunity.
People expect her to be a certain way. Case in point, Stacy and Martha expected her to go along with their scheme, and that’s
exactly what she did.
Through the front windows of the post office, Nadine sees Martha’s car pull out of the parking lot and tries to remember if
she’d told them to add onions to her hot dog. It doesn’t matter anyway. She will get what she gets. She can live without onions.
She just hopes they remember that she’d said no mustard. Her mama always taught her never to say “hate” about anything, but
Nadine does hate mustard.
Restless, she stands up from the little stool she usually sits on and stretches her back, lifting her arms up into the air as she reaches for the ceiling, then dipping all the way down toward the floor before standing back up again.
It feels good to stretch and take some deep breaths.
She is tired from staying late at Wednesday night karaoke last night.
She knows she should’ve gone home at a decent hour, but she’d been having such a good time.
It was hard to leave knowing she was only going home to her little, empty house.
And, she will admit, she likes the compliments she gets from people when she sings, telling her she has a good voice, telling her she should go on American Idol or The Voice or some such. Like she ever would.
Don’t get her wrong. She loves to sing. But she’s pretty sure she doesn’t have that kind of talent. She’s good enough for
a church solo, which is how she got started singing back when she was a little bitty thing. But even though she likes singing,
she knows she shouldn’t have gone out on a weeknight when she should’ve been getting her rest.
The job at the post office is exhausting. There is so much to learn, so much to remember. It is not easy keeping up with all
the rules and regulations attached to mailing a simple package. Nadine doesn’t think she’ll ever learn it all. Stacy, who’s
taken her under her wing and been so nice to her ever since she got here, says she’ll get the hang of it before she knows
it. She hopes so. She needs the job now more than ever, even if it overwhelms her.
At least she has the weekend to look forward to. Tomorrow is Friday! TGIF! Nadine checks the clock to see how much longer
till she can go home. She lets out a long sigh. There are still five hours to go. Martha, who hasn’t taken Nadine under her
wing and isn’t really the type to take anyone under her wing, says that if you want to make time slow down, just hang out
in the Sunset Beach post office. Martha isn’t wrong. Martha rarely is, and she’s the first to let you know it.
Wait. She looks back at the clock, registering the time as her heart lifts a little. By now he has the papers. By now he should
know. It is a good sign, she decides, that she’s gotten no calls or texts. She feels a little glimmer in her heart, the faintest
stirring, the stardust but not the whole shooting star. Still, it is enough. It is still hope. Maybe, she thinks, everything will be okay. Just like her mama said it would. But Mama doesn’t know the whole story. There are some things Nadine doesn’t want to burden her mama with yet.
Before she can think on it anymore, the entry door opens and a woman comes in carrying a large box, struggling under its weight.
The door doesn’t swing closed behind her because another woman comes in right on the other woman’s heels. Customers. Nadine
swallows back her nerves, hoping she can take care of whatever these ladies need without having her coworkers here to back
her up. She hopes Stacy and Martha won’t dillydally, but she isn’t counting on it. Now that they have escaped, they aren’t
likely to rush back. Not on a day like today.
The customer hoists the box up onto the counter between them, blocking Nadine’s view of her and cutting off any chance that
the woman can see the helpful smile Nadine tries to offer. Later Nadine will recall that moment, how she thought to herself,
It’s showtime.
And what a show it turned out to be.