7. Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
Cody
Cody still had to check in with the pet shop lady, the bakery guy, and Bob, from Bob’s Bait and Tackle . He remembered Bob from picking up live bait with his Grandpa Sam. Cody decided to save him for last and get the two new people over with first.
Okay, where next? Cody asked Knife. Corner Pieces Bakery or Cornerstone Critters?
They are like, really into corners here, Knife mused.
So, which one? Cody asked, ignoring Knife’s comment.
Which one has a cute girl? The pet shop, right?
The Resident on my list for the pet shop is a young woman, yes, Cody said matter-of-factly.
Okay, that one.
Cody shrugged and brought up the Resident List to check her name and profile picture, so he knew exactly who he was looking for.
Her name was Marigold Parker and she looked to be in her twenties, wearing her long, golden blonde hair in a pair of braided pigtails that fell over her shoulders.
In the photo, she was wearing a colorful striped T-shirt and denim overalls.
He had no memories of this woman from any of his past visits to town, but he never had a reason to go to the pet shop before.
He decided to use the [Find Resident] option to look up Marigold, since he didn’t know where the pet shop was.
He wasn’t even sure if she was currently in the pet shop.
He brought up the Map, which had a small legend on the side, listing the Residents.
He ‘clicked’ on Marigold’s name, simply using his mind, and a glowing white dot appeared on his map.
It was on one of the side streets that branched off of Main Street.
The building the dot was in was labeled ‘Cornerstone Critters’, so it looked like Marigold was at work.
He followed the directions on the map and was there in less than ten minutes.
He felt a little strange as he walked into the pet shop, since he didn’t have a pet, so really had no reason to be shopping there.
Growing up, he’d never had any pets, so the whole experience was foreign to him.
The place looked more like a toy shop than a pet store, with rows and rows of colorful stuffies and other pet toys hanging from hooks on the walls.
Sturdy-looking wooden shelves were stocked with small, medium, and large bags of cat and dog kibble.
Rows of treat bags were lined up across the tops of each shelf.
There was also a little turnstile shelving unit that held clear plastic buckets of what looked like animal body parts: chicken feet, furry rabbit ears, pig snouts–
Fuck, is that a lamb’s head? Knife asked.
Cody looked at the bottom bucket, which indeed was labeled ‘Lamb’s Head’. It had a few skinless lamb’s skulls in it, sawed in half. Teeth and all. He was pretty sure he also saw some pig feet.
Creepy, Cody said to Knife.
The woman at the front counter cleared her throat, pulling his attention away from the buckets of dismembered animal parts. It was definitely Marigold, with her blonde braids and overalls, exactly the same as her photo.
She’s pretty damn cute, Knife mused.
Cody didn’t necessarily disagree, but she wasn’t exactly his type, either. His type was definitely curvy redheads who wore glasses.
“H-hello?” Marigold’s voice was barely audible. “Can I help you?”
“Just browsing,” Cody said, but then remembered he was somehow supposed to earn Friendship Levels with this woman, so he introduced himself. “I’m Cody Hampshire. I recently moved to town.”
The woman gave him a jerky nod. “I’m M-Marigold.”
“So, is this your shop?” Cody asked, trying to keep the conversation going.
“Um, no. It’s my parents’ shop. But they’re retired now. So…um yes, I run the shop now.” She swallowed nervously, her brown eyes going wide. “Oh gosh, I never said that out loud before: I r-run the shop!” There was a tremor in her quiet voice, hinting she was mortified by the realization.
“Recent development?” Cody gave her a warm smile, hoping to put her at ease. It didn’t work.
Marigold grabbed the end of one of her long braids and started twisting it around her fingers, over and over, as she stared down at the countertop. “Um, yes. They retired at the beginning of the s-summer.”
“That was a few weeks ago and the store hasn’t burnt to the ground, so you’re doing great!”
Her head snapped up, her eyes going even wider than before. “Why would it burn down?”
“It’s just a saying! I don’t actually think you’re going to burn the place down.”
“Oh. Okay.” Marigold looked back at the counter, as if the woodgrain was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen.
This is going wonderfully, Knife said. Stop making her feel uncomfortable.
Cody agreed and figured that was enough of an attempt at a conversation with the shy woman. He left the front counter and wandered up and down the aisles, taking in the products on display and giving Marigold some space.
This one might be a tough cookie to crack, Knife said. She can barely look at you.
I know. Add to that the fact I don’t have a pet and have no reason to ever come back here.
Time to adopt a puppy? Knife suggested.
I know nothing about dogs and I already have enough on my plate.
Cody looked at a bag of dog food that advertised it was Grain-Free, Potato Free, and Corn Free and that beef was definitely the first ingredient, as if there was reason to believe it might not be, even though the food was called Beef And Bits.
Maybe a cat? A goldfish? Knife said.
We’ll figure something out. Cody finished walking down the last aisle of the small store. He looked over at Marigold and waved. “Nice store! I’ll uh…stop in again sometime. When I have a pet. Or something.”
“O-okay.” Marigold did the weirdest little handwave Cody had ever seen. It was like halfway through the wave she thought better of it and curled her hand into a fist and shoved it in her pocket.
Cody returned the wave and exited the store, feeling defeated.
He had no idea how to advance the Friendship Levels of Lexi, or Marigold, and it was becoming clear he’d gotten really lucky with Doris the waitress.
He was hoping he’d have better luck with Bob and the bakery guy.
The bakery was not far down the street, and he could already smell the yeast from baking bread in the air.
Corner Pieces was the kind of bakery that had a big glass case of sugary treats, wooden bins overflowing with loaves and dinner rolls in plastic bags, and there were a handful of tables where customers could sit and enjoy something fresh from the oven.
Cody still hadn’t quenched his sweet tooth since arriving home, so his eyes were drawn to the rows of little cupcakes, cookies, and brownies.
“How can I help ya’?” the man behind the case asked. He matched the photo of William Brooks from Cody’s Resident List. Cody didn’t have any memories of the guy. He was a tall, heavy set middle-aged man wearing a white apron.
Cody’s mouth was already watering in anticipation. “One of everything.”
William laughed, as if he thought Cody was joking. Cody was not joking.
Calm down, he thinks you’re crazy now, Knife scolded.
“You’re serious?” William asked.
Cody realized his request was pretty wild, and that he should probably dial it back. “Or your top five. How’s that?”
“You can have one of each if you want.” William eyed him expectantly as he picked up a white bakery box.
“Nah, five is good. Any five. I’m Cody, by the way. Grandpa Sam’s grandson.”
William got to work, using a square of wax paper to pick up the selected treats and put them in the box. “Ah, so you’re living in Grandpa Sam’s cottage now? Oh, and if we’re doing introductions, I’m William.”
“You’ve lived in Cornerstone long?”
“I was born here, moved away for a bit, then decided I missed the place and came back about three years ago to open this bakery with my wife.” William placed the last treat and closed the box. He walked over to the cash register at the side of the glass case, where Cody paid for his baked goods.
Cody nearly jumped for joy when the notification screen popped up:
[Congratulations! You have completed your first Friendship Level with Resident William Brooks! Only four more to go until Full Friendship Achieved!]
That was easy, Knife said and Cody was happy to agree.
“I think I might be your newest regular,” Cody said to William.
“It’s great to see new faces around town. Got any requests for items you’d like to see in the shop?”
Cody scanned the baked goods in the glass case, trying to think of some of the sweet treats he’d missed the most while in Velasarin. He immediately thought of one that was missing.
“Cinnamon rolls?” Cody suggested. “The kind with lots of icing?”
“Ah, we do cinnamon rolls!” William grinned. “My wife Kelly makes the best cinnamon rolls you’ll ever taste. You just caught us on a day without them. We try to switch it up every day. But if you come in tomorrow, they'll be waiting for you.”
“Deal. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
As soon as Cody was walking down the street, he popped open the bakery box.
He picked out a big square of chocolate brownie and took a bite.
It was probably the best brownie he ever had in his life.
He had to stop walking to properly enjoy it.
He also let out an involuntary moan of pleasure. It was that good.
Somebody is going to be packing on the pounds, Knife said.
Shut up. I’ll cut back once William’s Friendship is maxed out.
Cody was suddenly upset that each Resident only had Five Friendship Levels. But he reasoned he could still stop in for treats once in a while, even when he was done with William’s levels.
He finished his brownie and closed up the box, saving the rest for later. He looked around. No one was paying him any attention, so he sent the whole box, and his bag of library books, into his Inventory.
Cody remembered the way to Bob’s Bait and Tackle and headed in that direction.
The bait shop was on one of the side streets, but wasn’t far.
He was there in less than ten minutes. The smell inside of the bait shop was the exact opposite of the bakery.
It was more of a dense, earthy smell, but with an extra unpleasant edge to it.
Cody grimaced, even as the smell brought back happy memories of stopping in with Grandpa Sam before heading out on fishing trips together.
A big burly man with a blue baseball cap and a bushy grey mustache slapped his beefy hand down on the counter as he noticed Cody, startling the customer he’d been helping.
“Well, I’ll be! It’s Cody Hampshire!” Bob said. “I was wondering when you’d be stopping by.”
“Hey, Bob. Good to see you, too.”
“Give me a minute, son.” Bob finished cashing out his customer, and then turned back to Cody. “So? You staying at Grandpa Sam’s for a few weeks? Going to do some fishing?”
“Actually, I’m staying for good. All year long.”
“Fantastic!” Bob grinned and clapped his big hands together. “I can teach you the ropes when it’s time to do some ice fishing.”
“That would be awesome. I was thinking about doing some fishing off the dock this afternoon.”
Bob opened the grimy fridge behind the counter and pulled out a little white tub. “Your first tub of nightcrawlers, on the house.”
I like this guy, Knife commented. If you’re ever on your deathbed, maybe stab him in the heart so I can transfer to his soul.
I mean, assuming you die young, and this old guy is still alive.
Actually, cancel that. If you have some terminal illness and you know you’re going to die, maybe stab a kid for me?
Then I can stick around longer before finding another host.
I will never stab a kid and we’re not having this conversation right now, Cody said and tried to block Knife from his mind, but he instantly felt a dull pain in his temples as Knife fought back.
It’s not like you’re killing the kid, Knife argued. You’re just giving them the gift of me, forevermore.
The thought of purposely stabbing a person in the heart to pass on Knife to someone else had certainly crossed Cody’s mind more than once over their years together.
But it felt too much like passing on an unwanted curse if he did it to a good, decent person, but then it also felt like he’d be damning his friend if he did it to someone evil.
And when it came down to it…Knife really was his friend.
He was fucking annoying, but he was his demon sentient knife, and he’d grown accustomed to him being around.
Besides, anytime he thought about getting rid of him, Knife could tell and would throw a hissy fit which usually resulted in a week-long migraine for Cody.
“I can pay,” Cody said, refocusing on Bob.
“Nope. On the house.” Bob snapped his fingers and pointed at Cody. “But tell you what, anytime you catch a fish, you snap a pic, okay? I got one of those ‘smart phones’ now, do you have one?”
“Yeah, I have a phone.” Cody couldn’t help but smile at the old guy, holding in his laugh.
“And you know how to use it to take pictures and how to send them to people?” Bob asked.
“Yep, I know how to do that.”
“Okay, let me give you my number.” Cody took out his phone, but Bob was already hunched over the counter, diligently writing his number on a scrap of paper.
Cody tucked his phone back in his pocket and accepted the paper from Bob.
“You catch a fish, you send a picture to that number. It’s my new thing.
Love seeing the fish people catch. And then they can’t lie about it being ‘this big’, ya know? ”
“Yeah, sure Bob.”
“But don’t be a stranger. I can give you the same discount I used to give your Grandpa Sam: the Family Discount.”
“Thanks.” Cody remembered what Grandpa Sam used to say about Bob–he gave the exact same ‘Family Discount’ to everyone in town.
“Okay, now you get out there and catch some fish!”
“Will do.” Cody thanked him for the nightcrawlers, and headed out. No one was around, so he popped the tub of worms into his Inventory.
When the pink game screen popped up, Cody was hoping he had achieved his first Friendship Level with Bob. But it wasn’t that kind of notification.
[System Notification: Two More Residents Have Been Added to Your Resident List!]