“Chausseures, Shoe Boutique”? Really? When did you ever come in here?”
“I was in here last break with Martha, I have been watching these shoes – Look! They’re on sale!”
“They’re yellow.”
“They are the color of butter – Feel them!”
“Hmm, soft. Well, they are on sale,” Mama weakened, “Will you wear them?”
“Are you kidding? All the time!”
And I planned to….
ACT IV – What Happens When You Contemplate Replacing Faithful Loafers
I went back to college, and the very next night I went out in my beautiful buttery shoes. Since it was rainy and a Monday night, things were pretty mellow in College Town. My group of friends and I stayed at the bar until closing and walked back to where the college van would pick us up. Half-way to the van stop, one of my friends realized that she had left her denim jacket in the bar. We all jogged back to the bar, but it was closed.
“Don’t worry, my brother says that every building can be broken into.”
We cased the joint. Round back, we found a wooden fence that surrounded the rear exit. We peeked through a gap in the fence and saw that the back door was ajar. I stretched my hands up to the top of the fence and bent my left knee and waited for someone to give me a leg-up and over the fence. No one did.
“A leg-up? Boost me over, I’ll get it!”
Somehow I got over, but I landed in a mud slick. The smooth leather soles of my shoes had no traction and I slid to my knees. Since I was already down low, I ran in a crouch to the door. It had one of those chain locks. Inserting my hand, I pressed the door against my arm so I could reach in and unchain the lock.
“Hello? Hello…?” I whispered. I walked through the storage area and out into the bar. My friend’s jacket was on the seat of the booth where we had been sitting. I grabbed it and ran out the back. I moved a crate closer to the dumpster so I could make steps and get back over the fence. I landed on the outside with a sick sucking sound.
I handed the jacket to my friend and looked at my shoes and sighed.
“I wonder if these will clean up?”
They never did.