Becoming Calder (A Sign of Love Novel)(104)

When it was our turn, we did the same and watched as the clerk bagged our items, our heads moving back and forth as each item was pulled forward.
"One hundred fourteen and thirty-six cents," the clerk said, her eyes narrowed on us. We were obviously doing something wrong again.
"I added it all up in my head and I thought it only came to a hundred five or so," Xander said out of the corner of his mouth.
"Tax," the clerk said, overhearing him.
"Oh," Xander said back. "Right. Tax. Yeah, I forgot about the tax."
"We've never been in a Target before," I explained. Xander sighed and shook his head.
The clerk stared at us. "You boys Amish or something?"
"Yup," Xander said, handing over our money. We'd just spent practically every cent of it.
The clerk nodded knowingly. "I thought so. I watch those shows." She took our money and put it in the drawer and scooped out some change.
"Oh, uh, that's good," Xander said, clearly confused.
I laughed. I couldn't help it.
"You'll do fine," she said, giving us a smile and handing Xander the change. "Good-looking boys like you, you just ask for help if you need it, m’kay?" She winked at us.
"Thanks," Xander said, staring back at her for a minute. "Oh hey, we're looking for a place to pawn jewelry. Can you tell us where to go?"
The clerk furrowed her brow. "Well, I can't say exactly, but if you walk about a quarter mile in that direction," she pointed her finger out the doors in front of us, "you'll run into a neighborhood that most likely has a dozen of those."
"Right. Okay, thanks."
Outside Target, we sat on a bench and unpackaged our shoes and put them on. They felt incredible. I could practically hear my blisters sighing in happiness.
We walked in the direction the clerk had pointed us and about ten minutes later, the buildings started looking more rundown, and groups of people stood on street corners, some laughing and others just seeming to mill around. Xander and I didn't talk. We were so busy looking around, taking everything in, trying to understand how the big society that we were now a part of, worked. I thought I had understood a lot of it from the people who talked about the lives they'd lived before Acadia, but being among it was a completely different experience.
"Look," Xander said, pointing his finger across the street. I turned my head to see a giant sign that said, "PAWN SHOP." I couldn't help laughing softly. "Well that's not easy to miss. Come on."
We crossed the street and entered the shop and went to the counter. A man came out from the back. "Can I help you?"
Xander took the piece of jewelry he'd brought out of his pocket and put it on the counter. "I want to sell this."
The man picked up the heavy chain and looked it over, squinting his eyes and rolling the small stick in his mouth. My heart picked up in speed. What if this didn't work? We'd have basically no cash left.
"You got ID?"
"No, all our stuff got stolen," Xander said.
The man studied him. "You need an ID to pawn something in my shop."
Xander blinked at him, opening his mouth and then closing it as he looked down at the chain in the man's hand.
"But I'll buy it from you, no ID required."
I wasn't too stupid to see we were about to be cheated. "How much?" I asked.
"Five hundred dollars."
Which meant it was probably worth four times that. "We'll take it," Xander said. I nodded. What other choice did we have? Plus, we had some more. Maybe Kristi would help us out next time and we'd get a fairer price.
The guy nodded and went to the back. When he came back out, he counted out five one hundred dollar bills and put them down on the counter. "Nice doing business with you boys," he said, looking to the side and belching.
I grimaced and pulled Xander's arm as he picked up the cash. He put it in his pocket and we walked to the door. I kept having the feeling someone was going to reach out and pull us back, so when we let the heavy door close behind us, I let my breath out in relief.
"Let's get back," I said, suddenly not liking the feel of this particular neighborhood. Xander seemed to feel the same way as he looked around nervously.
We walked back to the hotel, moving as quickly as possible.
Being in the city with cars racing by us, sudden noises I wasn't acquainted with, shouts of people I didn't know, eyes of strangers on me, caused a brief longing for Acadia and all I was familiar with. It was confusing since I'd wanted so badly to experience the outside world and now here I was doing that. But inside, I longed for the familiar, for the things and surroundings that made me feel confident and in control, for the way of life I understood.