DEATH'S HEART

Chapter 3

 "That comes up to nine dollars and thirty cents," Asha Strauss beamed at the lady as she bagged the last can of pineapples, and set it aside with the rest of her groceries. She raised her hand, getting ready to receive payment. The lady handed her the money, and she struggled to hide her irritation as her palm was filled by a pile of fifty, twenty, ten, and five-cent pieces. Ooohh boy! She had no choice but to lay them on the counter and carefully count the loose change.

The customer wrinkled her nose in embarrassment. "Sorry. Trying to lighten my purse," she apologised, waving her purse in front of her.

Asha remained smiling, looking as if she was enjoying the task. She could hear the impatient huffs and puffs of the other customers waiting in line. Like grunting will make the transaction go any quicker! "No problem!" She finally finished counting. At least she got the exact amount. She deposited the payment in the cash register, and completed the transaction with a printout of the receipt. She waved at the lady politely. "Thank you for shopping with us! Enjoy the rest of your day," she sang the words that sounded more like a scripted recording. I swear! Bills and coins should be faced out! She turned to the next customer with a smile that seemed to have been plastered on her face since she started her nine a.m shift, which was seven hours and fifty minutes ago. Ten minutes more, and I'm out of here!

Her hand slid the groceries across the scanner like an automaton. The non-stop beeping from the barcode scanner was constantly pulsating in her ear. She has been working at the Rosedale Supermarket for almost three months now. She had regular shifts after school, weekends, and school holidays. The only time she had time off was during exam week, when a major assignment or project was due, and every second Sunday. She was turning eighteen in a few days, four to be exact. She was looking forward to that, even though there was nothing special planned. Probably she'd get a card, and a little birthday package from her Uncle Nigel at the most. What she really looked forward to was getting a pay rise because she would fall under a different wage bracket due to her age.

Asha had been working since she was fourteen. She realised that since high school, her life was just between school, work, and home. She began feeling sorry for herself. That would have been the climax of teenage life. Girls her age would normally hang out at the mall with friends, go to parties, sleepovers, and indulge in superficial conversations about boys or the soap opera that is other people's lives. Her eyebrows twitched slightly together, questioning when the last time she set had foot in a movie house was. Ages! Oh that's pathetic! Then she shrugged, dismissing the shallowness of her self-pity. With the money spent on watching one movie these days, she could rent out six movies on a thirteen-dollar package and have have all the munchies and drinks she wanted in the privacy of her own room. Alone. Then she wondered how old she was when she started being frugal with money. Anyway, her three-month probationary period was almost up and she hoped that she did well enough to stay on. She couldn't afford not to work now that she was living on her own, shouldering all the school fees and all.

"Oh, I have a loyalty card," the customer interrupted her thoughts. His shaky hands offered the blue plastic for Asha to scan. She gladly took it from him and swiped it across the scanner. He nodded to her as if to say 'thanks'.

"That'll be eighteen dollars and fifty cents, please." At least this time the man had a plastic card. She swiped the card and pressed buttons on the machine before handing it to him to punch in his PIN. The screen flashed, signaling a successful electronic payment. She printed the receipt and stuck it in the bag before handing him his groceries. "Thank you for shopping with us! Enjoy the rest of your day."

Asha dreaded how time slowed down just when it was close to the end of her shift. To make matters worse, her last transaction decided to wheel in a full trolley of groceries. What's more, the lady wanted to make separate payments on certain items. One transaction was paid partially on her savings card, credit card, and whatever cash she had in her purse. She had to stay back an extra fifteen minutes! Because of that, she missed her bus and had to wait for another half hour for the next one to come.