The Uneventful Life of Harvey Mackler

c h a p t e r | t w o

     A LARGE BLACK SUV was parked in front of the convenience store. That is, if you could consider it parked. It more or less ate up four of the five parking spots in front of the small store from the haphazard way it was parked.

I glared at the Bentley as I tried to manoeuvre past it. As far as my (admittedly sad) knowledge went, none of the locals owned a Bentley that size. It probably belonged to some tourists.

As I walked past, I peered through the tinted windows, making out three figures. A man at the front, and two kids sat idly in the back.

I glared at them too.

In case it wasn't obvious yet, I was in a bad mood.

Despite my objections of how we were all going to get heart attacks from eating so much bacon, the bacon pancake legacy continued for another week. Leaving us with no milk. Or eggs. Or anything that could be considered as breakfast food. And of course, my dear brothers (except for Harry, bless his soul) all voted for me to be the one to buy more.

Hence, the reason why I was pushing the store's door open, trying to straighten out the scowl on my face.

"Five kids? Wow, they must be a handful," a blonde haired woman said, leaning against the counter as she chatted with old Mrs Crossbury, the shopkeeper.

If there was one thing The Peak was famous for, it was gossip. The disadvantage of having a close-knit community like ours was that everyone knew everything about everyone — and couldn't resist spreading it to anybody who would listen.

"Actually, no they're quite—oh look! Here's one of them!"

Mrs Crossbury lifted her head eagerly when she spotted me. The blonde lady follows her gaze, turning her head to the front door where I stood.

"Hello, Harvey dear," Mrs Crossbury greeted me warmly.

"Hi, Mrs C." I nod, giving an awkward wave. If there was another thing The Peak was famous for, it was talking about the Mackler kids. Who, unfortunately, included me.

"Harvey, this is Mrs Ramsey," Mrs Crossbury introduced the woman opposite her.

Mrs Ramsey held out a hand, flashing her pearly whites as she smiled.

"You can call me Amanda, Mrs Ramsey is my mother-in-law," she greeted brightly as she shook my hand. "Harvey, that's an interesting name for a girl."

I scrutinised 'Amanda', in her white polo shirt, khaki shorts and designer sunglasses placed on top of her blonde hair. I'm assuming she's a tourist, and by her attire, she was probably going on a hike to see the various sites White Peak had to offer.

She seemed friendly enough, and after a moment I replied, "My parents were into the names are genderless thing." I shrugged. "Luckily, they managed to keep my middle names somewhat normal."

Amanda threw me a piteous look, before adding, "Well, it was nice to meet you, Harvey." She turned back to Mrs C. "I best be going. Jeff and the kids are probably wondering what's taking me so long." 

"Nice to meet you too..." I replied.

At the same time, Mrs Crossbury waved goodbye. We watched as Amanda hurried out the door. I'm guessing she was one of the owners of that SUV.

I hurried over to the breakfast aisle, not leaving a single moment for Mrs Crossbury to start another conversation with me, probably concerning the current whereabouts of my parents.

As sweet as Mrs C was, I was hungry and so not in the mood to spend an extra twenty minutes discussing what George and Isla Mackler where doing at this moment in time.