Windows into the Soul Ch. 01

Chapter 1.

The sun beat down, hot and unflinching with its August heat. Outside a typical high school, walks an untypical girl. As she walks thru the parking lot to her car, she wipes the sweat form her forehead.

Abigail Forrest was walking to her car, leaving school at noon for her job that started in a half hour.

"Ah, the perks of being a senior," Abby muttered to herself, while fishing her car keys out of her backpack. She was lucky, really. She had a 4.0 average, so her school had approved her co-op request. She worked at the only video store in town. Really she was lucky when it came to her job too. She worked at a job where she got to sit around most of the time, do her homework, and talk about movies.

Getting into the car and rolling down the window in haste, she wished again that her old car had an air conditioner. It wasn't as bad as in the winter at least, when there was no heater either. It was an 89' Corsica and it had only cost her 500 dollars, so she didn't feel like being picky. When most of your money went to your family, like hers did, you couldn't be picky about your transportation.

"I wish the stereo worked," Abby rolled her eyes at herself in the rearview mirror, something she often did when she was annoyed. She wasn't annoyed at anything or anyone in particular; she just wasn't in a very good mood that day. She started the car, and she was on her way.

She had to admit to herself, last night was a bad night. Abby's mother Marti, had been home for once in a blue moon, she said to see her kids. Abby took one look at her mom and knew she was stung out on something and looking for a hand out. Since she had been fifteen, Abby had been working to put food on the table for her and her brothers and sisters. It had been harder then, when her siblings were younger and couldn't help her. She couldn't count how many times her, Jack, Will, and Lori had gone to bed hungry. She didn't like to think about how many times she had stolen food from a store, or money for rent.

As she pulled into the parking lot in front of the store, she couldn't help but smile when she thought of her siblings. Jack, at fifteen worked four nights a week, as a dish washer at a restaurant. Will, at thirteen worked at the same restaurant, delivering pizza's three nights a week on his bike. Even Lori, the youngest at twelve, worked weekends at the video store with her big sister. Every week, the four of them would sit down, and budget the money. After groceries, rent, clothes, and the other necessary items, they would put what was left over from everyone's checks in savings accounts, for college. Yes, Abby wanted to see her brothers and sisters graduate from college; she wasn't going to stand by and watch them be like her mother.

She grabbed her backpack from the driver's seat and walked into the store, smiling when she saw Wendy, the owner, behind the counter.

"Hey, how's it going, Wendy?" Abby asked as she walked behind the counter and sat down on the couch, checking her watch.Two minutes until she clocked in.

"Ok. We got a new shipment of DVD's in. I'm gonna need you to repack them and label them for me." Wendy got off her stool and walked over the mini refrigerator that they kept behind the desk. She reached in and grabbed a bottle of water." Oh, yeah, I brought some left over spaghetti in for you to try, just warm it up." The older woman looked at the young girl, sizing her up for the day. She could tell she was in a mood.

"What's wrong? School or home?" she sat back down on the stool, opening her water and taking a little sip.

"Home," Abby said simply, standing up to go clock in. Wendy took the opportunity to really look at her while her back was turned. Abby was about 5'3, and weigh maybe 100 pounds. Her small face was heart shaped, with the biggest green eyes Wendy had ever seen. Her brown hair, which she normally wore down, today she wore in a loose bun on top of her head. Her clothing, Wendy thought, had to all have been second hand today. She wore a regular black t-shirt, and army green cargo pants, and on her feet were scuffed Chuck Taylor All Stars, probably second hand from one of her brothers. Wendy swore to god, one day she would see that girl in a dress.

"Let me guess, Mother problems?" Abby went to the back to get the box of DVD's. Wendy waited a minute, for the girl to come back, before saying anything. There were a couple of customers in the store, and it wouldn't be very professional to be yelling across the store at each other.

Abby set the box on the floor walked to the counter and leaned against it, propping her head on her hands. "Yeah, it's mom. Last night, she came in around ten at night. She said she wanted to see us. But she only stayed a minute, and when she got me alone she asked me for money." Abby put her head down on the counter, feeling the cool wood on the check.

"What did you tell her?" Wendy knew this story. She had heard it many times over the last couple of years. She sometimes wished she could wring this women's neck.

"The truth, I don't have any money to give. As soon as she heard that, she called me a lying little bitch and left, she nearly broke the door off the hinges she slammed it so hard"

Abby looked up, noticing a customer was approaching the counter. He stood in front of her, holding two movies.

"Yes, hello. Could one of you ladies tell me which of these movies is better?" He asked sitting them on the counter.

Abby looked at them both, and cleared her throat. "Yeah, there both good, but I would suggest Good Fella's. It's one of Scorsese's best works. Casino is good, but Good Fella's is a classic in the movie field. It also has one of the best performances by De Niro.Plus it has one of the best shots in film history. The scene where there walking thru the restaurant? Yeah, I would go with Good Fella's." She said looking the man in the eye. Most of the time people didn't listen to anything she said about a movie. She was curious to see what he would do.

"Yeah ok, I guess I'll take it then," he said, reaching into his pocket and taking out his membership card.

That's why I made her a manager, Wendy thought. I have never seen anyone know more about movies. I think, I'll talk to her about ownership one day, if she's interested.

Abby took care of the man, and off he went to enjoy his movie. It mad her happy to set people up with a good movie. You never knew what a person's reaction to it will be.

"Oh shit! I have an interview next door in five minutes." Wendy said standing up. "A guy is supposed to come in to see about the day shift."

"Ok. I can man the battle stations here. I wish I could work in the liquor store, then I would be a lot happier. And drunker." She smiled at her friend and boss.

"Yeah, well after how I've seen you work, who knows? I might leave my entire kingdom to you." She smiled back.

"Why is that?" Abby was tearing into the new box of DVD's.

"Because, when it comes to movies, you are all knowing. And you could easily pick up at the liquor store. Now I gotta go. I won't be back, so close up for me." She walked to the door. "Oh, yeah, eat the spaghetti." She looked over her shoulder and smiled.

Abby smiled back, and set to that task ahead of her, soon she would be done with it, and then she could eat. She liked Wendy's cooking, and she knew the women only brought it in because she didn't think she ate enough. She knew she was a little under weight, but didn't think it was unhealthy. She didn't have an eating disorder, she just rather her siblings ate than her.

While she took care of the DVD's her mind went back to her mother, and the other things she had said to her the night before.

******

While Abby was inside the movie store, a young man was sitting inside his car, looking at the liquor store that was right next door. He slowly got out, stretching his legs. He had been in there most of the day, reading, listening to music, and just waiting for his interview to come around. He had seen the woman come from the video store to the liquor store, and figured she was Wendy Black, the owner. As he walked up onto the sidewalk, he remembered the girl that had gone in just minutes before. He was pretty far away from her, but he had liked the way she carried herself. Her hair had been brown and he assumed long, but it was up in a bun, leaving her long neck bare. He liked the way her ass moved when she walked; it was hypnotizing, and her breasts? All he could think was, yum. He wondered if she worked there, or was just getting a movie.

He walked into the store, smiling as he looked around. It was a normal liquor store. There was shelf after shelf of liquor, plus coolers full of beer. Behind the counter stood a man, about his age and a woman in her mid to late thirties. It was the woman he saw walking in a minute ago.

"Hi, I'm here for the interview." He said extending his had, first to the woman, then the man.

"Hi. Thanks for being on time. I'm Wendy. Would you follow me please?" She led him around the counter, into the back of the store. They soon came to a small office, containing a desk, two chairs, and a couple of filling cabinets. The desk was covered in papers, on top of which, was his application.

"So, Mr. Elias Bishop, you want to work in my liquor store? Ok, why?" She leaned back in her chair, looking at him expectantly. She also took a moment to look at him. He was tall; she would guess around 6 foot, a good looking face, which the female customers would love, and deep blue eyes. His hair was long and almost black, which he wore in a ponytail at the base of his neck.

"Well, as you can see on my application, I just left college, I guess you would say to find myself, and I need a place to work, and this was one of the few places in town hiring." His policy was to be honest, not sugar coat anything.

"Well, you left college with only one year left. Pre Law? Well, I would think you could get a lot better job than this."

He decided to go for broke, "Yeah, well, I knew that quitting school would piss my father off. And then to add insult to injury I didn't go to work in his law firm. Then I decided to alienate him more, and try to work in a liquor store."

Wendy looked at him for a moment, with an undecipherable look on her face.

A smile crept onto her face. "Good. You can start tomorrow. Let me show you around."

"Ok, thanks. And please, call me Eli."

******

Abby was going thru the steps of closing up, vacuuming, putting away movies, wiping the windows down. She looked at her watch. The store closed at eight tonight. Only ten minutes to go. Then she would lock up, and get her ass home. She went behind the counter to put the vacuum away, and then she heard it. The noise all employees hate the most. The little bell above the door ringing. And so close to closing too. She just hoped who ever it was knew what they wanted and then would get the hell out.

She turned around, and standing in front of her, well she couldn't describe him. He was good looking, but not beautiful. His eyes blue, they reminded her ice bergs for some reason. He was a long, Roman nose, high cheek bones, and full lips. He was taller than her, and he fit very well into his jeans and t-shirt. She saw a tattoo on his arm, but couldn't make out what it was. His hairwas dark brown, and long enough to be put in a pony tail. He also had his ears, lip and nose pierced. He smiled at her, to show his straight white teeth.

"Hey there. I'm Eli. I just got hired next door at the liquor store." He looked her in the eyes when he spoke.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Abby. Yeah, you'll like working for Wendy. She's really cool." What the hell was wrong with her? She couldn't stop looking at his eyes. "What can I do for you?"

"I would like to open an account," he took his wallet out of his back pocket. "Two forms of I.D., right?"

"Yeah." She set about the task of making him an account. When she was done, she looked back up at him. "Would you like to rent something tonight?" She hoped he would say yes. She didn't want him to leave yet.

"Do you have Princess Mononoki?" He loved that movie, but very few stores carried it.

"Yep." She stood up and went to the back of the store. She retuned in minutes, holding up the DVD. "It's one of my favorites. Will that be it?"

"Yeah." She checked it out and he paid for it. As he walked away from the counter, while she walked around turned out the lights.

"Closing?" he looked at her ass while her back was turned. Yeah definitely has a great ass, he thought.

"Yeah." She picked up her back pack, and moved around the counter.

"Mind if I walk you to your car?" He didn't want to part ways with the little beauty yet.

She looked up at him, a look of total surprise on her. "Yeah, sure." He followed her out of the store, and watched as she locked the door behind them.

"Wendy trusts you a lot, doesn't she?" He asked as he followed her to what he figured was her car.

"I've been working for her for a while, and where good friends." She reached into her pocket to retrieve her keys.

"What time do you start tomorrow?"

"Noon, before that I have school." She opened her car door and slid in behind the driver's seat, leaving the door open.

"Do you go to the community college?"

"No, I go to Franklin High." Was that the wrong thing to say? He looked concerned.

"Are you a senior?" he liked her, he knew that already. He wanted to ask her out, but he had to make sure she was at least eighteen first.

"Yeah, I turned eighteen about a month ago." She didn't know why she told him that. She wanted him to know that she was an adult, because she liked him already.

"Oh." He sighed in relief. "I start at noon too. Maybe I'll see you?" dear god, he really wanted to stay with her. When she got into the car, he had smelled her scent. She smelled like soap and fruit. He wondered what the rest of her would smell like.

"Yeah, maybe. Well, have a good night." She closed the door, and started the car. She watched him as he got into his own car, then she pulled out of the parking lot and headed home.

For fuck sakes, what's wrong with me? She thought. He's just another guy. But that nagging little voice in the back of her head reminded her of something. He's the first guy who's ever looked you directly in the eyes while he talked to you. He has nice hands too, she thought. They look like he works hard, there kinda callused. For some reason she liked that.

It was almost nine by the time she got home; she had missed her turn and had to turn around. She had been thinking about him. Eli. She really liked his name. She gathered her stuff out of the car and walked into her home.

She sighed as she looked around. Will was at the sink, doing the dishes. Lori and Jack where at the kitchen table, Jack seemed to be helping with her homework. She set her back pack down and smiled at them.

"Hey, this is where the parties at." She walked over to the table and sat down.

"Your dinners in the oven." Lori said without looking up from her work. Abby stood up to get it, but Will pushed her back down and went to get it for her.

"How was work and school?" Jack leaned back in his chair, reached into the refrigerator, and got his sister a Pepsi.

"Ok, how was everyone else's day?" Will sat the plate in front of her. Chicken, rice, and carrots. Thank god, at least one of us can cook, she thought as she watched Will return to the dishes.

"Good." Everyone said at once.

"Well, now that that unanimous, we need to talk about something serious." She cut a piece of chicken and put it in her mouth. All eyes where on her now. "Mom," she said simply, sipping her drink.

"God, what now? Did you see her today?" Jack looked at her with worry. He didn't like his mother, and didn't want her around. Last night he had seen the state she was in and he had wanted to kill her for being around Will and Lori like that.

"No, I didn't see her today. But you all heard what she said to me last night as she was leaving." She took a bit of carrots.

"About how she's going to kill you?" Lori said.

"Yes, thanks for being so blunt, Lori. Well, I've been thinking. From now on, don't let her in the house. At the end of the week I'm going to talk to the land lord and see if we can get new locks put on the doors. If she comes to the door, tell her to leave. If she doesn't call the cops." She looked up from her plate, and saw three worried faces looking at her. She took Lori and Will's hands in hers. "Hey, don't look so worried. Everything's going to be ok." She put on her best smile for them all.

"Ok, Abby." Lori closed the book in front of her. "I'm going to bed." She kissed her sister on the cheek and walked out of the room, into the back of the small house.

Abby sighed, and looked at her watch. "Will, you go to bed too, I'll finish the dishes." She walked over to the trash and started to clean off her plate. Will nodded, under standing that Abby needed to talk to Jack alone.

"Alright. Goodnight guys." He walked into his bedroom and shut the door.

"So," Jack said, "Do you really think that will keep mom away?"

"No, but what the hell else am I going to do?" She dropped her dish in the sink and started to take over where Will had left off.

"I don't know, Abby. You do to much as it is." He looked at his sister. She looked exhausted tonight.

"I'm ok." She looked up at her brother, they had the same eyes. Even though they each had a different father, they all had common characteristics that they got from there mom. Abby and Jack had green eyes. Lori had her mothers natural red hair. Will had her lips and cheeks.

"Whatever. Why don't your go rest, and I'll finish up." He pushed his sister out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

"Fine, I'm going to take a bath." She walked into her bedroom that she shared with her sister and got her pajamas. She searched in her dresser for a lighter and a joint and finally finding it, she turned off the lamp and walked to the bathroom.

Abby turned on the water, holding her hand under it until it was the proper temperature. She put the stopper in and started to take off her clothes. The door had a full length mirror on it, and as she undressed she looked at herself. Her legs, to her where short looking. And pale. Fuck her whole body was pale. Her ass looked too big by her judgmental eye. Her breasts. Simply too small at B cups.

As she stared at herself she couldn't help but think of Eli. Would he like her body? She liked his. She never thought that tattoos and piercing where her thing. But she thought he looked good with them. Sexy.

She turned off the water and climbed into the tub gingerly, letting her body get used to the heat. She reached for the joint and lighter and put the joint in her mouth. Lighting it and taking a deep toke, she wondered what he was doing right now.

******

On the other side of town, Eli was just letting himself into his apartment. After getting the movie he had stopped to get Chinese food, and had to wait forever for it. Sitting it down on the table he kicked off his shoes and walked to the answering machine, which was lighting up. He frowned, but pushed play.

"Son, you listen to me now!" Great, he thought, good old dad. "I am your father. I want you to come home, right now. I am sick your childish games. I have a great job waiting for you, and you can go back to school...." Eli deleted the message without hearing the rest of it.

He sat at the table, ready to dig into his sweet and sour chicken when the next message played. "Hey Eli, baby how's it going?" he sighed. Faith had gotten his number. "So yeah, your Dad gave me your number. Seems he agrees about us being a good thing. We should get back together and you know it. Well, call me back if you come to your senses."