“This dude spilled beer all over me at the Wilco show last week. I’ve been exhausted - I didn’t wash it in time and now it smells…” She motioned for Effie to follow her into a small boutique called Bourbaki. “Awful.” She finished.
The shop contained thirty circular racks, each packed tight with clothing. The racks were spaced evenly, allowing a very narrow pathway between each, creating a maze for shoppers to maneuver through. Karen led the way, with Effie following close behind. As they squeezed through, Karen paused occasionally, touching the edge of an item, pulling it free from the rack, examining the fabric, testing the seams, looking to Effie for approval, and then moving on. Though she had stated she needed a jacket, Effie noted that she had paused to look at a pair of ragged blue jeans with slashes cut across the legs, a t-shirt with a silkscreened image of an angel brandishing a machine gun, and a pair of cut-offs that Karen could pull off but that Effie would never dare wearing. At the rear of the store were two racks loaded with jackets. Effie found most of them ridiculous, but after only thirty seconds, Karen had chosen one she liked. She held it up, modeling for Effie.
“What do you think?” Karen said.
“I like it.” Effie said. She meant relatively speaking, I like it.
Karen pulled the wooden hanger free from the jacket and returned it to the rack. She slid one hand into the right sleeve and then paused and looked at the label stitched at the back, between the shoulders. “Made in Vietnam.” She read.
“Probably by child slaves in some sweatshop.” Effie said, almost under her breath.
Karen heard her and frowned. “Really?”
“I’m joking, I’m joking.” Effie said.
Karen removed her arm from the sleeve and took the hanger from the rack and began to hang the jacket up again.
“You don’t want it?” Effie asked.
“I’m not buying something that some slave kids made. I don’t want to be a part of that.”
“I was joking, seriously.” Effie said. She grabbed the jacket off the rack and handed it back to Karen. “Try it on. I really like it.” She said.
“But how do we know? You know what I mean? Like, child-slaves could have made this.” Karen said.
“Um, it’s possible. But I doubt it.” Effie laughed. “When did you become so socially conscious?”
Karen ignored her. With the jacket in hand, she pushed through the racks toward the front. A college-aged guy with sculpted hair and a thin scarf around his neck was working the cash register. As they approached, he asked, “Did you ladies find everything?”
“Actually, I have a question.” Karen said. She tossed the jacket onto the countertop. “I’m thinking about buying this jacket, but before I do, I want to be sure that it wasn’t made by slave kids in Vietnam.”
He picked up the jacket and turned it over. He opened it wide near the collar and looked at the label inside. Glancing around nervously, he finally said, “It was made in Vietnam.” He motioned for Karen to come closer. She pressed up against the counter, with Effie close behind.
“To be honest, it’s possible that this was made by, like, slaves, or mentally handicapped teenagers, or, I don’t know, even old people or something.” He whispered. “My boss would kill me for saying this. But there’s no way we can really know, right? I mean, have you heard about all this ‘fair trade’ stuff? It’s all seriously messed up. We’re like killing people over there – all around the world – just by buying this cheap junk. Most people don’t even know it.” He was shaking his head. Effie admired his sincerity. And she thought he was cute.
“It’s so sad.” Karen said. She was biting her lower lip, leaning over the counter. Effie liked the guy even more for not seeming to notice Karen’s flirtatious posture.
“I’m guessing you don’t want this now?” He asked, holding up the jacket.
“No.” Karen said.
“Listen,” He said. “Are you guys going to be around here – like, at the mall – for a while?”
Karen didn’t check with Effie, even though Effie had been the one to drive. She answered, “Yeah.”
“Good. I get off in about thirty minutes. Want to meet in the food court? We can talk about this stuff some more – and there’s something else I want to tell you about.”
“Sure.” Karen said. She turned to Effie, remembering her. “That’s cool, right?” Effie nodded.
“Cool.” He said. “Hey, let me give you my number. I’ll text you so we know where to meet.”
He recited his number and Karen saved it in the address book of her phone. After, he said, “By the way, my name’s Nick.”
“Nice to meet you, Nick. I’m Karen.” She said, and then pointed to Effie. “She’s Effie.”
Effie smiled, her chin dropping bashfully.
An hour later, the three of them were sitting around a small table in the food court. They were directly across from a Chinese place called Wok of Ages. A few feet away, an employee wearing a chef’s uniform was handing out free samples of Shanghai Spicy Chicken on toothpicks.
The two girls sat on one side of the table, huddled over giant cups of Diet Coke. Nick was sitting opposite them, his arm draped over an empty chair.
“Let me just ask you something.” He said, scanning the area around their table suspiciously. “Have either of you heard of Nick.”
Karen stared at him blankly. “Uh… That’s your name, right?”
“It is.” He said. “But it’s something more, too. Nick is – this is hard to explain – Nick is me, but it’s also us.”
Karen glanced at Effie. “Is he making sense to you?”
“Listen, so, we don’t invite many people to join, but I don’t know, I guess I like you two. You seem real or something.” He could see that Karen was lost. Effie took a sip of her Coke, avoiding eye contact with him. He continued, “My name’s Nick, but I’m also part of Nick. Like a member, sort of. Nick is this thing – a group of people. And…”
He looked past the two girls, thinking, and then said, “Remember earlier when you were trying to decide if you should buy the jacket?”
“Yeah.” Karen said.
“You decided not to, right? But it wasn’t only you. In a way, the three of us decided together.”
“OK.” Karen said. Effie had a feeling that if Nick wasn’t cute, Karen would have given up on him already.
“So, Nick – not me, the group – is based on this idea – a theory, really – that people make better decisions together. Of course, Nick isn’t the first to think of this, but we’re doing it in a different way. It’s cool.” He said.
“Like Democracy.” Effie finally chimed in. “Like choosing a president.” She said to Karen.
“Exactly!” Nick said. “Except, choosing a president is this massive decision on a very big scale. Nick makes smaller decisions. I mean, important stuff, but not on such a giant scale.”
Karen laughed. “It’s so weird that you keep saying ‘Nick’ over and over again. And that’s your name.” She stood up. “I’m getting one of those chicken samples. You guys want one?”
Effie and Nick both shook their heads. Karen turned and walked over to Wok of Ages. Effie moved in, subtly leaning in Nick’s direction.
“So, how do people join Nick?” She asked, quickly following her question with a sip of her drink.
“You have to be invited.” He said.
“And so… You’re inviting us?” She asked.
Karen returned to the table. She had talked the Chinese chef into giving her several samples on a small paper plate, each one speared with a wooden toothpick.
“Yeah, so, I guess I’m inviting you to join.” Nick said. “Both of you, if you want. I’m sorry if I’m being confusing. This is my first time to invite people.”
“If we join,” Karen said, still chewing, “What do we have to do? And, like, what are the benefits?”
Nick stared past them again, scrunching his face as he considered what to say next.
“If you become Nick, you have to help Nick make decisions. It’s pretty simple. And the benefits? You get to stop making decisions as Karen and-“
“Effie.” Effie said.
“Right, sorry. So, you get to stop making tough decisions as Karen and Effie, and you get to start making decisions as Nick. And because Nick is us – I mean, since many people are Nick – the decisions you make will be much better than they are now, when you’re by yourself.” He said.
“This is too weird.” Karen said, pushing back from the table. She touched Effie’s shoulder. “I think I’m going to go get that jacket.”
Effie didn’t say anything.
“If you want to stay here and keep talking, that’s fine with me. I’ll come find you.” Karen said.
Effie glanced at Nick. “Are you staying here?” She asked.
“Yeah, sure.” Nick said.
Karen left, leaving them sitting quietly.
“Can I ask you something?” Effie said. She tapped the edge of her cup nervously against the tabletop.
“Sure.”
“I’m wondering if I can ask Nick to help me decide whether I should join Nick?” She said, smiling.
“By asking that question, you just joined!” Nick said, slapping his palm on the table. “Welcome!”
Effie laughed. “Wow, that was easy.”
“There are only three rules.” Nick said. “First, you make decisions as Nick from now on.”
Effie nodded. “OK.”
“Second, you’ve gotta call yourself Nick when you introduce yourself to people.”
“Really?” Effie said.
“Yep.”
“OK.”
Nick reached across the table and took the Diet Coke from her hands. He took a long sip and then said, “The last rule is that you must be under fifty years old.”
Effie giggled. “I’m eighteen.”
“Good.” He said. “You’re in.”
* * * * *
To learn more about Nicolas Bourbaki, read the original Wikipedia article HERE.
i'm telling you you have a future writing for the tween girl market! cmon its a really lucrative segment! just add some vampires and you've got yourself millions of dollars!
ReplyDeletethis is a nice cute little vignette of some teeny bopper girls hanging out at the mall and flirting with guys. (18 seems a little old but maybe for the tween girl market, it works when the main character is a little older than they are). we get the sense that effie is a little more self aware than karen and karen is probably the one who gets noticed by all the boys at school and she's annoyed that this boy isn't giving her the attention she's looking for.
i like that this is a start, it's not an ending to a story. is nick a real thing? what does it actually mean? this could go horror story or love story. this could be the start of a relationship or the end of another. maybe this is where effie finally becomes her own person. lots of stuff here that can be expanded to more. good job.