The stranger

Henry tallied up the man's order on the register. $6.49 for a package of AA batteries. $5.99 for Head 'n' Shoulders shampoo. $0.85 for a package of Juicy Fruit gum -- 8 sticks; 17 sticks for $1.20 but this man didn't get it, even though Henry'd recommended the savings, per-stick-wise. And $899.00 for a Smith-and-Wesson .33. He took a good look at the man, just like the state asked him to do, asked him for ID, please if you will, sir. It's 2018, after all. One more year to go and we'll be rid of Obama and his liberal wacko regulations. Then maybe we'll get another Texas Republican in there and be done with all these ID checks.

The 6-foot-tall guy with the hook nose, flinty hazel eyes, Buster Brown hair, thick dark stubble, and crescent-shaped scar on his right cheek gave him the ID. The Florida driver's license said John Smith, born 1973, resident of Hialeah, so what the hell you want with it? Henry wondered what this 45-year old man was doing so far from home. It's Waco, Texas. Enough said, anyway. His ID checked out with the computer, too. No convicted felons matching the description or the ID. So he rang up the tab and gave the guy his batteries, shampoo, gum, and gun. John Smith left.

Harold turned back to the lottery machine, printing out tickets for the bouffant-hairdoed lady after Mr. Smith. Ten tickets for the $100 million lotto cashpot. Dang, machine stuck on ticket #8. The woman screamed.

Henry scowled at the machine. "Ain't nothing but a jam, lady, settle down!"

He heard a click and felt the tip of a gun at his back. "Don't move," the man behind the gun told him, "or you're roadkill." Henry's breathing stopped as putrid acid coated his throat.

"You wanna tell me about sleeping with my wife, the Helen from Oklahoma City you've been banging? She's really Vicky from Ocala. And then maybe you and I will go out back." Henry didn't want to go out back. The broken glass, sticky tar, and 3-foot tall weeds scared him.