I happened to be in the...

I happened to be in the neighborhood after a late evening delivery, so I thought I would stop off for a quickie. It had been a very long time since my last visit, so I was not sure what to expect.

I pulled in to the shitty, pot-hole spotted parking lot. I have to admit, I was intimidated to even get out of my truck on this evening. There were 7 people loitering directly in front of the entrance door -- 2 female (one heavy/white and one really skinny/AA) and 5 dudes -- black/white/biker-looking/tatted up -- just a real intimidating collection of humans -- a truly motley crew.

Girding my loins, I passed directly through them all to the front door with a nervous combination of head bobs and "what's ups?". I thought I knew what I wanted. Upon entering, I saw one AA dude on my side of the counter, the older white guy behind the counter and one female on a stool facing me. Her hair was an unnatural neon color and she was pierced and tatted up. She was kind of scarier than the crew outside. The guy asked me for 7 bucks. I pointed at the theatre door to my right and asked if anything was going on. Simultaneously, he said "11 bucks" and she said "Naw, there was a couple in a little earlier, but they said it wasn't busy enough. Maybe they'll be back.". I waived off paying anything and said, "Ok, maybe I'll be back a little later."