In A Pinch
By Audrey W.
Roy pushed the grocery cart to the front of the store, Johnny following alongside him. Once they reached the check-out area, the two men passed the longer lines and got behind two other people in a shorter line. While they were waiting their turn, Johnny looked in the cart and took inventory of the items.
"What're you doing?" Roy asked as his partner pushed the groceries to one end of the cart, trying to keep the rest of them separate until he had looked at each piece.
"Making sure we didn't forget anything."
"We got the steak, the hamburger, the buns, the beans," Roy reached in and pulled the empty lining out of his pocket. "I think the only thing we forgot was to bring the list with us. But everything seems to be here."
"Did we get all the green things we were s'pose to?"
"The four plastic tubs of guacamole dip, three bags of chips, and dozen cupcakes with green icing. That should do it for the Saint Patrick's Day stuff."
"What about the green Kool-Aid since we can't have green beer on duty?"
Roy shook his head. "I think we voted 'no' on that one. . .too much sugar on top of the cupcakes for you and Chet."
"Oh yeah. . ."
Soon it was the paramedics' turn to pay for their groceries. Johnny placed
the items up on the counter, then stepped aside so
that
"Aren't ya gonna pay for the stuff?" Johnny wondered.
"I don't have any money on me. I thought you were going to get this one."
The cashier turned to face the customers that were still standing at the end of the counter, arguing. "That'll be sixteen dollars and twenty-nine cents."
"Uh. . .we. . .uh. . ." Johnny forced a lopsided grin. "This is really kinda funny. But neither one of us has any money." He blushed slightly when he saw the girl waiting on them didn't see the humor of the situation. "I thought my partner was gonna pay for it all, and he thought I was."
The young woman folded her arms across her chest. "So what you're sayin' is that it's Saint Patrick's Day and you've got no green."
"That's about it," Roy said, a slight grin on his face.
"Can you hold the groceries until we can come back?" Gage wondered.
She shook her head. "Sorry, the meat and dip'll go back. They have to be refrigerated."
Both men frowned.
"Guess we'll have to do this all over again," Roy said, shrugging. Nothing like wasting time.
Johnny sighed as the two men headed out to the parking lot empty handed. "Well, it figures."
"What's that?"
"We not only don't have any green, but apparently the luck of the Irish isn't with us, either."
Roy snickered. "You know, for once I’ve got to agree with you.”
The two men climbed into the squad and headed for the bank. They hoped to find plenty of 'green' in one of their checking accounts, or at least the sixteen dollars and twenty-nine cents worth they needed so that A-shift could celebrate Saint Patrick's Day.
My thanks to Kenda
for the beta read and suggestions. Even the short stories need help at times. :o) After sitting on this for 4 days without an ending line,
she helped me when I waved the white flag in surrender. <VBG>
*Click on the Pot Of Gold to send Audrey
W. feedback
