To Whom It May Concern: by M.J. Garrett (books to get back into reading .TXT) 📕

her car did what she thought it did.

After a couple of slams and a strong kick, the door finally closed and stayed closed. She walked towards me, tilted her head slightly to the left, and with the cutest voice asked, “You wouldn’t happen to have another cigarette would you?”
I let out a bashful chuckle, “Yeah…What happened to your back; why the bandage?” I handed her the box of Marlboro Menthol Lights, and then reached into my pocket for the lighter.

“It’s nothing.” She said, as she reflected back to the dizzying episode or bad dream. “This is your last cigarette, are you sure?” She said.

“It’s okay. Take it. I can do without.” I looked at her and wondered what it was that she was hiding. Everyone had secrets. I have seen that look on her face before, every time I looked in the mirror. Confusion, denial, with a tad pinch of untrusting glances...that’s how I looked at everyone since my dreams and visions started.

She smiled and quickly brought the conversation back to the cigarette. “Nonsense.” She says “How about you light it. Seeing how it’s your lucky smoke, I’ll share with you.”
“Sure.” I said and smiled.

I lit the cigarette and took a nice slow pull off of it. Holding the smoke in my lungs, I handed the cigarette to her. “I’m Nathan…but you can call me Nate. What’s your name?” I asked, as I let the smoke slowly escape with each word.

“Carla.” She said. She put the cigarette between her freshly painted lips and pulled the smoke into her lungs. She handed me the cigarette with a red lipstick covering the tip. It didn’t matter though. Not today. I place the cigarette on my lips and lean against the wall. As I pull the cigarette away from my lips, the sticky lipstick hangs on to my lip and released it with a small tug.

Handing her the cigarette, I asked her, “So what movies do you recommend?”

She started talking, but I couldn’t focus on what she was saying. I could only focus on the articulation of every word. How she talked with her hands. How she supported her weight with her left leg and then shifted herself to the right. How her beautiful neck defined itself with every turn of her head. When she moved her arms, her shirt would raise slightly above the top of her pajama pants revealing the smooth skin of her stomach.

“I’ll check it out.” I said. Of course, I didn’t hear a word she said.
“Good. It’s a really good movie.”

I opened the door for her and watched her sexy body glide in front of me. I tried not to make it obvious that I was checking her out, but any man in this situation could not be that discreet. As she walked through the door, she looked over at the counter where a man stood wearing a white polo shirt with a blue collar. The front of his shirt had the video store’s logo with his name tag just above it. TOM.

I turned to the left and headed for the new releases section of the store. All of the movies on this particular shelf started with A. I tried to pretend like I was searching for a movie, but my eyes kept wondering to Carla. With her back facing me, I imagined what her body looked like under those baggy pajama pants. I would then look at Tom and he’d look at me, like a protective older brother or jealous boyfriend. I stare into Tom’s eyes for a second and then turn to check out the B section.


To Whom It May Concern:
Give me strength. Give me resolve. Give me Carla.

Standing there for a moment, trying to not look obvious, I glanced through every movie in that section. I wondered if she and Tom were together, or maybe that was his sister. I just needed to look busy. I wandered through the C’s and then the D’s, all the way until I found myself looking at the doorway of the porno section.

“Are you old enough to go in there?” I turned to look at the person talking to me and it was Carla.

“Uh…No, I’m good. I was just…wondering…” I was flattered that she would consider me underage, although I knew she was kidding, but I was mostly embarrassed and speechless. Here I was, standing in front of this doorway to lust and sex, and this beautiful woman was probably thinking I was some pervert.

“I can recommend a couple of good ones…what are you into?” She looked at me smiling.
“No…I’m not looking for porn.” I told her.
“We got cheerleaders, school girls, back door entries, 3 dick minimums, inter-racial, girl on girl, gay porn…just not kiddy porn or animals.” She said with a curious grin. “I know a guy, if that’s what you are into.”

“I think we have a misunderstanding. I wasn’t paying attention and you caught me in the wrong place at the wrong time. I am quite embarrassed.” I lowered my head in shame and embarrassment.

“Don’t be embarrassed.” She said. “The local preacher comes in here all the time. If he can look at it, why can’t you? Besides, I’m sure his lovely mistress doesn’t mind the entertainment.” I laughed at her view of things.

“What was the name of that movie you were talking about earlier?” I tried to change the subject, but at the same time, I didn’t hear a word she said to me while we were standing outside.

“‘Thr3e’. It’s good, but you might like the book better. They have it over in the book section on the other side of the store. You should check it out sometime.”

“Yeah, I will. Thanks.” I told her. I watched her walk away from me and enjoyed every second of it. Her lackadaisical stroll made me smile. As she walked by the shelves of movies, she’d pull a movie cover off the shelf and replace it a couple of shelves down where it didn’t belong. This was her way of messing with Tom. She did this throughout each section starting with Z all the way to A. This had to piss Tom off; after all, it was one of his jobs to make sure that the movies were in the right place.


CHAPTER 10

The following day at work, Tom decided to intervene. “So! Who is the guy that was in here yesterday?” Tom asked her, as he leaned back against the counter. His arms crossed over his chest, covering the store logo on his shirt. His left hand held a sauce dripping, oversized, breakfast burrito and his right leg supported most of his weight with his left leg crossed over top of it; catching every drip of sauce leaking from his breakfast burrito. “So, you guys hang out; talking? What’s the deal, Carla?” He then forces half of the oversized burrito into his mouth and then strains his jaw closed. He looks at her, with little pieces of egg and bacon stuck around his mouth and in his scraggly goatee, and says with a mouth full of burrito, “Well?” The water from the imitation egg started to drip from his hairy chin onto his shirt, “I thought we had something special, Carla. I see it wasn’t as special as I thought.”

She stops drawing on the receipt paper and throws the pen back into the cup with the rest of them. She quickly turns and lays eyes on Tom. With a look of disgust, she quickly glances at his egg and bacon covered face. She notices Bar-B-Q stains on his collar from last week’s lunch at Porky’s. She then spots the trail of egg juice and sauce down the front of his shirt, knee, and shoe. Tom, not the greatest at keeping up with the times, still sports the thin braided leather belt. He keeps the tip of his belt tied around a belt loop and tucked into his front pocket and only the front part of his dirty work shirt is tucked in. This was a great example of professional dress and appearance…at its worst.

“Tom?” She said. “You do know that we are cousins, right? There are rules against that type of stuff. Besides, I don’t think my dad would approve of your healthy life style….and wipe your face for Christ’s sake! Where were you raised? In a barn?”
“I’m just saying. You don’t talk to anyone, you barely smile, and you’re a drag to be around…”
Carla quickly interrupted, “He’s my neighbor, Tom. What do you mean ‘a drag’?”
“I’m just asking, why this guy?”

She ignores the conversation and walks from behind the counter. She walks through the new releases and notices that every movie cover has been placed back in its proper place. Laughing under her breath, she asked without looking, “Tom? How long did it take you to fix the movies I messed up for you?” She couldn’t wait to hear his answer. She just smiled in anticipation.

“I didn’t do it.” He muffled out with his mouth full of burrito.
“Really?” she asked sarcastically.

“Nope. Your new boyfriend did.” He said, as he licked and sucked his fingers clean. She slowly walks back toward the counter as he spoke to her. “Carla, I’m telling you…” He paused, looked around the store, leaned toward her, and lowered his voice. “After you left, he walked through each section and straitened every movie. The dude is fucking weird. I just let him do it. What else was I supposed to do? Tell him to stop? He was making my job a lot easier, not to mention, he was standing at the porn isle for a while. I thought he was waiting for you to leave and then go back to the porn, but he didn’t. He walked through every section and straitened the movies you messed up, and, if you didn’t noticed, they are all evenly spaced. A nice touch if I do say so myself.”

She looked at him with a blank stare on her face. “I’m not kidding.” He added. “He literally straitened every movie from A to Z. The guy’s a fucking freak!” Tom pushes himself off the counter and puts his fat finger in his nose. Examining his freshly plucked finger, his eyes cross as he pulls his finger close to his face and he rubs his discovery between his thumb and index finger. Lowering his hand down to his side, he wipes his fingers clean where the stains of a weeks’ worth of chips and burritos have made their home.

Still standing there with the blank stare on her face, she listens to every word that Tom is saying. She wonders why he would do that. Why would he go behind her and