Concrete House -- Part 4: Freemont's Grocery Store -screen_writer-

As Dawn approached Freemont’s, and the three old guys sitting out front talking about who knows what, she got the idea in her head that she wanted to fix BB and Brian a good old fashion home cooked breakfast. If she was going to do this though, she would need some things from Freemont’s – eggs and bread, maybe hash browns.

In a strange way Freemont’s Grocery Store intimidated Dawn. Back in Delaware, although she lived in a small town there as well, she was used to going to the large supermarkets. Now she was going to be doing her grocery shopping in a hole in the wall, and it frightened her. Sure Freemont’s most certainly had the same food as the big supermarkets, but it was just… actually, she wasn’t sure what scared her about it. Just the nerves of being out on her own for the first time she figured. She had good days when she loved the freedom, and then the bad days when that same freedom seemed to be anything but freedom. It seemed more like a rope binding her.

(Look Dawn, aren’t those monkey’s the most wonderful animals you ever saw)

That thought of her mother at the zoo brought a smile to her face just in time to greet Roy, Jess, and Fred.

“Hi, how are you this morning Mr. Freemont?” Dawn inquired cheerfully.

Roy looked up, his eyes just visible from under his straw hat, “Doin alright. You can call me Roy ma’am.”

“Yes sir, and I’m…”

“… not sir dear, Roy.” He said with a smile.

“Okay, Roy. I’m Dawn, we met a few days ago, I live upstairs.”

“I remember. The pretty one.” Dawn blushed at this. Roy continued by introducing Dawn to Jess and Fred, and then he asked, “How do you like your place?”

Dawn replied, “Oh it’s very nice. We just love it.” Roy only looked at Dawn with an uneasy glance. “I just need some bread and eggs from your store.”

Roy shook his head up and down once, and then said as he thought, “Bread and eggs… that’ll run ya about two dollars and seventy five cents. But I’ll tell ya what. You just leave two dollars on the counter and we’ll call it even.”

Dawn smiled, and said thank you; that it was very nice of him to give her a discount. She walked towards the entrance when Roy’s voice stopped her. “You have a son don’tcha?”

“Yes… yes I do. Brian is his name.”

“Well you bring um down sometime, tell um there’s some chewin’ gum in the store for him.”

“Okay, I’ll do that” Dawn returned as cheerful as she could be., and then walked into the store.

Freemont’s Grocery Store, like the rest of Reed Street, had a charm about it. However, unlike the rest of Reed Street, the charm Freemont’s had kind of repulsed Dawn; gave her the creeps. Sunlight slanted in through windows, which were covered with years of dust, and grime, causing everything she saw to become hazy from the dust particles floating around in the air. Old faded green linoleum that, Dawn could see, had many stains, and gashes in it, made up the floor. The homemade shelves in which the food was displayed were wooden, and, by the looks of them, as old as Roy, Jess, and Fred. Two old time swinging storage doors were against the back of the store with two small circular windows set in the middle of each one.

There were no modern freezers with glass doors, or the latest in climate control in Freemont’s, Roy still used the old time freezer’s (the one’s that laid on the floor and had a lid rather then a door). The only thing Dawn found that she liked about the grocery store was the old black and white photo’s decorating its walls. They looked to her like photos of Reed Street, and Bridgetown over the past hundred or so years. Just a quick glance was all that Dawn gave the pictures this morning. There would be time to look at them more closely later. Although, Dawn felt, she would probably be doing her shopping at the nearest big supermarket whenever she found out where that market was.

After finding the bread and eggs, Dawn walked towards the counter reaching in her pocket for two dollars. As she passed the storage room door she looked in the small circular window, and what she saw made her jump and scream, she brought her right hand up to her mouth – as you do when your startled – dropping the bread in the process and almost dropping the cartons of eggs. In the storage room, looking back at Dawn through the window, was a man. An Indian, with a strong rock hard face, brown eyes set deep into his skull, wrinkles around his mouth, and long black hair that flowed down over his shoulders like silk.

Once Dawn got control of her nerves again, she began to laugh. She bent down and picked up the loaf of bread. “Sorry” she said standing back up, “You just startled me.” The man in the storage room just stared. “You see,” Dawn continued, “I didn’t know Roy had anyone working for him.” The Indian sustained his stare without a word. This gave Dawn an uneasy feeling in her stomach, and without another word she walked up to the counter, set her two dollars on the counter, and took the back hallway up to her apartment.

To Be Continued…

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