Johnny Gets His Wings

Chapter 22

I got to Walmart five minutes before my shift was scheduled to start. And I was met at the entrance by an elderly black lady named Sammy.

She said, "Boy, you in da shit."

I stopped and smiled. "I'm in the shit?"

She nodded grimly. "You all over dat damn internet. People saying you killed a man. Shot him right in da head."

"That's crazy. I've never shot anybody in my life. Hell, I don't even own a gun."

"Dats what I keep tellin everybody. But dem damn rumors spread like wildfire. I said, 'Johnny too pretty to hurt a fly.' Yet dere you is, running away from dem reporters." She suddenly grabbed my arm. "I knows use a good boy, Johnny. I knows it in my heart."

"Thanks."

"But da manager want to see you. Reckon Walmart gonna fire you. But I'm not shore. I'm justa ole lady who don't know squat."

Her words caught me off guard. "The manager? You mean Juliette?"

"Naw. Not Juliette. Dat girl too busy for da small stuff. I'm tawking bout her flying monkey, Mr. Benoit."

I let out a sigh of relief. "If it's Mr. Benoit, then I should be OK. That guy loves me."

"We all love you, Johnny. Like I say, use a good boy."

A grotesque image immediately popped into my head. Once again, I was down on my knees licking Darlene's thirty-six-year-old asshole in front of that twisted old general. I was a lot of things, but good certainly wasn't an adjective that could accurately describe my degenerate character. On the contrary. I was an evil motherfucker.

Sammy said, "Hey, where you vest?"

"I forgot it at my house."

"Go to my locker. I have an extra."

"What's your combination?"

She shot me a devilish grin. "Six, six, six."

"Six, six, six? I thought you were a church-going lady."

"I is. But six, six, six be easy to remember."

I finally made it to Mr. Benoit's office at five minutes past the hour. He was sitting at his desk rummaging through one of the lower drawers of his file cabinet. He waved to me and smiled as soon as he noticed that I was in the room.

"Hey, Johnny. It's always good to see you. Have a seat."

I did as he asked and waited patiently for the assistant manager to get to the point.

He said, "Are you having a good day?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "That's a difficult question to answer."

"Are you stuck in a rut? That happens to me all the time."

I shook my head. "Not really a rut. I don't know what to call it."

"Well, Juliette wanted me to speak with you. She's afraid that you might have..."

Silence.

I said, "Might have...?"

"Killed a man. Don't get me wrong. I think you're innocent. But you're all over social media. Yet I notice that you haven't been arrested, so I guess that's good news."

"Mr. Benoit, you have my word of honor. I've never killed a man in my life. Heck, I don't even shoot deer. I'm a soft-hearted guy, if the truth be known."

He nodded in agreement. "That's exactly what I told Juliette. I said, 'Juliette, you must be crazy. Johnny is the nicest kid in the world. Plus his work ethic is excellent.'"

"So you're not going to fire me?"

He started chuckling loudly. "Fire you? Hell, who would we get to replace you? In fact, Rodriguez just quit and high-tailed it to Target. No, Johnny, you can have the job as long as you want it. Besides, we don't fire murderers. I shit you not. It's company policy. We only fire thieves, and it's not like you've stolen anything from the store. If the truth be told, we need more people just like you."

"It's funny that you brought that up because I know a guy who's looking for work."