Prospero's Half-Life Read Free Page B

everything is well?”
Richard blinked, unsure of what his superior meant. There wasn’t
very much of his life that he could honestly characterize as “well”
nowadays.
    “ The store, Richard,” Mohammed continued when he saw Richard’s
confusion. “How is business?”
    “ We actually had some traffic today”, Richard replied brightly.
“It was quite the sale”.
    “ Give me numbers”, Mohammed replied impatiently, twirling his
hand in the classic get on with it gesture.
    “ Oh, uh, let’s see”, Richard stammered. “It was, er, somewhere
around nine thousand dollars, give or take a few hundred, I
think”.
    “ Did you print out a duplicate receipt?”
    “ Ah, no”
    “ What is the standard procedure in cases like this?”
    Richard
hesitated, and licked his lips. “Ah, print a duplicate so that the
numbers can be submitted quickly”.
    “ So what’s wrong with this situation?”
    Richard gaped,
disbelief rising through him. He spoke before he could process it
fully.
    “ What is right about this situation?”
    Mohammed
smiled quickly, revealing formerly bright-white teeth now heavily
stained with ejected blood. It was a ghastly grin, a death’s-head,
and Richard recoiled slightly.
    “ Not much, my friend, not much” he replied, his underlying
laugh bubbling under with thick, choking blood. “I’m afraid that
this is the last day that we’ll be open for business”.
    Richard
nodded, having already come to much the same conclusion.
    “ You’ve given me a lot of good service over the years, you
know”, Mohammed. “I couldn’t have run this store without
you”.
    Richard nodded
mutely once again. There was nothing that he could think of to say
that would add anything useful.
    “ What’s going on out there?” Mohammed asked, leaning forward
slightly. His bloody eyes widened intently. “The news sites haven’t
updated in days. There’s nothing but babbling on the radio, crazy
people and idiots shouting about nothing into the mic”.
    “ I don’t listen to the radio”, Richard said automatically, and
Mohammed twirled his finger again.
    “ There’s nobody out there”, Richard stammered along. “On the
streets, I mean. I saw a car earlier, a little way off, but nothing
else”.
    “ But someone came into the store?”
    “ Yes sir. Also, Samantha and Mark came into work today. I had
to fire Mark”.
    “ With cause, I hope”.
    Richard’s
mouth twitched. “Job abandonment, sir. He made a scene and then
walked out”.
    Mohammed
nodded gravely. “No great loss, there. What about Samantha?”
    “ She’s still out at the front of the store. I told her to stay
away from the windows and page immediately if anything
happens”.
    “ She’s been a good worker, too”. Mohammed paused and stared at
his desk. He didn’t speak quite a while, and Richard wondered with
growing discomfort whether he had died or not.
    “ Tell her she’s been excellent, and that I appreciate
everything she’s done” he said finally, his head flying up and
bloody spittle catapulting off his lower lip. It hit the desk and
Richard stared at it, slowly realizing after half a minute that he
was unable to look away. It quivered noxiously, ropy spit and dark
blood smeared on mahogany. That stringy
spit he thought distractedly, that’s what you cough up right before you
go . He did not remember where he had
learned that.
    “ Is…is there anything I need to do for you, sir? Ah,
religiously I mean?”
    Mohammed waved
his hand. “I’m not religious, Richard. I think I’ll just stay here.
At least I’m more or less comfortable”.
    “ Oh, ah, I just thought, er, since you were named,”
    “ Oh, the only reason that I’m named Mohammed is to pull my
great-aunt’s nose. She was a very devout Christian and hated the
fact that my mother’s family was Muslim. They were secular of
course, and that’s where the joke is”.
    Richard
nodded, only partially understanding. “So you just want to be left
here?”
    “ JUST