The Candy Lady

It was about to begin.

Outside in the hallway, a crowd was forming. It was composed entirely of children fidgeting about, breathing upon one another’s neck, and licking their lips in anticipation. For some of them, you could see sweat trailing down from the pores of their foreheads to their chins before dripping down to the floor. If you didn’t know any better, you would have thought that these children were all lined up in order to get their hands on some priceless treasure or a delicacy that couldn’t be attained anywhere else. Well, you were right in your assumption. Half-right. A delicacy was the reason that these kids. But, only the kind that could cause a group of them to form a crowd in a school hallway.

It was candy. Candy, soda, chips, chocolates… These children were here to gain all of that but, it could only be so once Mrs. K’Louch opened the door into her classroom and allow the sale to begin. “The Grand Sale”, as the children called it, was something put into place when Mrs. K’Louch came up with the idea a year ago. Beforehand, Mrs. K’Louch was always considered the most beloved teacher at the school thanks to her always trying to find common ground with her students and teaching in a more relaxed, carefree manner. She would allow the children to listen to music during class, show funny videos on YouTube to prove the point of her lessons, and always made various pop culture references as it was a language that the children knew most of all. And, to make her seem holier than was already perceived, she did all of this without seeming artificial. Everything that she did seemed as if it was just a natural for her to be more of an angel than a human. And, this was just another a gift from heaven delivered by her for the kids and the school.

She came up with the idea of a “school candy store” from what she saw was going on with other middle schools in the city but not at Charter East. Other middle schools provided vending machines for children to get a quick snack from but, Charter East didn’t have that. The principal opted against such an endeavor because it seemed like a waste of money and could possibly provoke- at least, what he believed to be- an unhealthy lifestyle. But, Mrs. K’Louch thought differently. She figured that this was the answer to the problem on how to keep children focused as the hours of class began to bore down on them. Having to sit through lessons from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon with only a study period and lunch hour allowing rest was a dubious feat for children of the ages twelve to fourteen. They needed more than the greasiness of school lunch. They needed sugar. So, after delivering the points that were just mentioned and detailing how this could also add some extra revenue to the school, the principal permitted Mrs. K’Louch to sell snacks from her classroom. And, thus, Mrs. K’Louch continued her reign as every child’s best friend and savior capable any wish that they children had with her store. That is, if you can even make sure that your wish will reach when all of these people standing in front of you, thought Sonny.

In the outer rim of the crowd, Sonny pushed and nudged against those around him as did they in order to get ever so slightly closer to the prize mere feet away from them. His friend Igro was close to Sonny doing the same but more aggressively. And, Huey was there too but not joining his friends. Instead, he was sitting on the floor doing what he does best. Reading his precious comics. Each member of the trio was there for their own specific reasons. Sonny wanted to get his hand on a white chocolate chocolate (redundant)-chip Hershey candy bar which was his favorite of all the varieties. He loved white chocolate more than regular because it always tasted as if the milk in the product was more prevalent than any other version. And, Sonny loved milk. Some would drink cups of water, juice, or soda for whenever they were eating or just because but, Sonny drank milk and that was almost all he did.

Igro was shooting a little higher. He wanted to get his hands on the most beloved of middle school snacks, “hot fries”. Yes, reader, “hot fries”. Now, you may have read that and thought to yourself, Fries with hot sauce on it or Seasoned fries with extra seasoning. But, for the initiated, you would have known such words to be another term for spicy Cheetos crunch chips. The red ones. But, why not call them that instead of hot fries? Because, why ask a middle school child why he names something other than what it is? That’s why.

As for Huey, no one really knew what he wanted. He said he was there for something but, for the duration that he had been with Sonny and Igro, he didn’t really seem like it. While his friends looked as if they had initiative, Huey just seemed like he was just along for the ride, trying to find a better way of passing time in his study period. So, his true motives were a mystery and neither Igro nor Sonny were going to ask him any further. In fact, they couldn’t as they were too enthralled in their own goals. But, besides them, Others in the crowd consisted of Dubry who was at the front as he had left class early to get here before everyone. There was also his friend Omil who stood somewhere in the middle and didn’t have to fight to keep his spot due to his immense height. Something that gave him immediate intimidation points.

Lacel was also a part of the fray, worrying less about everyone else and more so her nemesis. No, it wasn’t Wallace. Wallace was never really her enemy than more so her rival. A component in her life that she would rather keep than be rid of as it gave her drive. And, he also acted as punching bag for her to practice some of her silver tongued techniques on for her future in politics. No, the person that she was dealing with was something that she wished could have been done away with. Something that would always try to rob her of her happy middle school days. Its name was Donna Misbra.

Unlike Lacel and Wallace, Donna was not a star at the school. In fact, most of the teachers held some amount of resentment against her. She showed a clear lack of interest towards her studies. She was known for skipping classes or even ditching school altogether. And, what made matters worse was that everything about her screamed a horribly devastating future after high school yet, this wasn’t going to be the case. Donna came from a rich background consisting of her father being a rapper who made it big with a song that established the new term “Cray Cola”. It was a word to describe a very strong alcoholic mixture consisting of caffeine, vodka, codeine, and any soda of the consumers’ choice for actual flavor. Coca Cola was usually the choice as it add that extra burning sensation in the throat. Thus, it was included in the title. It was a beverage that could give the consumer an intense surge of energy while also taking away any painful headache that might arise after the rush was over. Or, so they so. Donna’s father had gained immense recognition from the song that was enough for him to be signed to a record label in the Mid-West with a substantial five-million dollar deal. “His album, “Cray All Day”, will be coming out this holiday season for all the kids to get ‘cray’ for”, was the announcement they had.

With this new-found wealth, Donna had gained some enmity from her fellow peers and the teachers alike. Her only friends consisted of obvious groupies who hung around her for “cray” parties and tickets to ride the “hi-life” that she was on. But, though feelings of hatred and jealousy were strong, combined, they weren’t ample enough to top Lacel’s pure and plain disgust towards Donna. For Lacel, Donna was the image of everything that she hated in a human being. The lack of initiative, wealth that wasn’t earned, and inability to capitalize on good fortune when given. If Lacel’s dream was already realized of being the head of some large corporation, she would have quickly fired Donna from it to then stalk her for a good eight to ten years to ruin whatever other endeavor the girl would take in life. And, if Donna wasn’t working for her, Lacel would find some way to make the girl’s life hell.

But, what about the target of all this hatred? How did Donna feel about Lacel? Well, she would never admit it to anyone but, she liked it. She liked being the fuel that lit Lacel and always did things to make the fire become hotter. She would make small remarks about her fortune in earshot distance from Lacel. She would come to school purposefully in designer flaunt it in front of Lacel. And, as the ultimate sign of vindictiveness, she would walk pass Lacel and release a simple chuckle under a hand to make it seem that Lacel’s existence was a joke to her. Whatever fun her fake friends could give her was nothing compared to what Lacel did for her. Seeing her stammering and puffing up was the greatest joy that Donna had ever found at Charter East. And, today, she was going to exploit it.

Like Sonny and Igro, everyone that was mentioned had their own agendas when it came to the candy store. For instance, Dubry wanted to get his hands on every piece of the legendary mystical rainbow of Kool Aid bottles. This consisted of cherry, strawberry, pink lemonade, orange, lemon lime, mixed berry, and grape. The most divine of flavors. On their own, they were something of what adults considered the finest of wine. But, the idea of drinking from all of them together was so extraordinary that it would cause children to begin frothing at the mouth.

Moving on to Omil, he wanted to get himself three bags of Skittles© of a different flavored variety for each. It would be Tropical©, Wild Berry©, and also Original© because he was always a fan of the classics. And, with these three bags, he would go on to perform yet another impossible feat more unprecedented than Dubry’s. He was going to mix the different bags with together and eat them all. Yes, it had already been a custom idea to mix different flavored Skittles but only from the same bag. Combing the multiple pieces of the same flavor for an additional burst of taste was also something of the ordinary. Well-received, yes. But, nothing extreme. Yet, this. This was insane. God never considered having two galaxies collide with one another so why would you consider having different bags of Skittles do as such? Three at that. Though as insane as both of their endeavors were, you had to give both young man credit for having large aspirations and wishing to go for them regardless of what others thought.

As for Lacel, her wants were more attainable. It wasn’t something as mystical or as adventurous as Dubry or Omil yet it was still something famous and considered a highly-acclaimed delicacy amongst middle school children everywhere. It was the famed Dr. K cola. Dr. K wasn’t the name of a person. It was actually a play on words from the only distributor of the beverage, Kroger. The “K” stood for the name of the store and it was their attempt at recreating the Dr. Pepper that satisfied people so. But, while many would deem their soda to be a failure against the perfection that was the “twenty-three flavors of one kind”, some were able to find merit in Dr. K. Maybe, it was the cheapness that allowed the taster to imagine how it could have been if perfected as Dr. Pepper was. The want for fulfillment in perfection was substantially higher than the image of perfection when presented. Or, with more simplistic ideas in mind, it could have just been the fact that Dr. K was store-brand and, thus, cheaper than Dr. Pepper by the case loads. This meant that, of course, parents bought it and allowed its sugar goodness to be imbued upon their child’s tongue at a very young age. Though the latter made more sense, the former was a better slogan than the other.

Anyway, Lacel grew up on the sad side of the middle class and, so, she loved the taste of Dr. K. And, if that was what Lacel wanted, Donna also wanted it. In hopes that she could get the last one or however many were in stock. All so that she could, again, taste the rage beaming from the round girl’s form. In all serious though, Donna could do with a Dr. Pepper but, she figured that she could buy both. As usual, get everything that she wanted and indulge in three kinds of liquid magnificence with Dr. Pepper, Dr. K, and Lacel’s tears.

And, there you had it. These were our opponents and those were their reasons for participating in this event today. As the minutes closed in more and more towards the time for when the store would be open, the children prepared themselves. The pushing increased, the sweating began making the floor more slippery, and tongues began wiping themselves on their owners’ lips more furiously than before. Finally, with a swift pull of the classroom door by one of Mrs. K’Louch’s assistants, the children were allowed to rush into the room. The assistant was sure to pull the door and herself towards the wall in caution of being stampede over by the mass of students coming through. Past the desks and chairs, the children zigzagged around desks and one another to reach Mrs. K’Louch’s desk with money held out in their hands to throw at her. They yelled and screamed their demands, pushing each other even more so than they had outside. As more time passed, the children became more chaotic to an extent where it felt as if a large fight was about to erupt between them. And, Mrs. K’Louch could only sit back and watch as all of this happened before her. These were no longer the little children that she had cared for and nurtured. No, these were animals from the wild, ready to attack their own friends in order to get what they wanted. And, in instance while continuing to watch the swaying waves of students having lost their minds for sugar, Mrs. K’Louch’s found herself. And, she thought, Oh, that’s right. I’m a teacher.

“Quiet!” She screamed loudly so that it could echo throughout the entire classroom.

The students did as she said and calmed themselves.

“You know better than to act this way!” She yelled again with her hand on her hips this time. “Now, nice and mannerly! Line up!”

And, again, the children did as she ordered, still pushing and nudging one another to get a better spot but more quietly this time. Yes, Mrs. K’Louch was a very nice teacher but, she was definitely not one to be stepped over.

In a line, the children walked up to Mrs. K’Louch’s desk one-by-one to pay and receive their snack. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case for everyone. Dubry should have listened to everyone who told him so as he wasn’t able to get the seven flavors of Kool Aid. The two most popular flavors, strawberry and grape, had already been sold out by the time he had reached the front. And, Mrs. K’Louch didn’t even have pink lemonade or mixed berry which were flavors that could only be bought in the small packs to be mixed in pitchers. Something that everyone knew but hadn’t even crossed Dubry’s mind.

As for Omil, he was only able to buy the original version of Skittles as Mrs. K’Louch never even cared to buy the other kinds. When she bought her supply of junk food, she would usually buy them in bulk at one of the city’s supermarkets. If she could not find a certain kind at a reasonable price, she would just forget about purchasing it. In her heart, she felt bad for not getting the children everything that they wanted but, in her mind, she told herself that they could always just get it themselves. If she remembered correctly, they all had parents and guardians with money.

Lacel and Donna had reached Mrs. K’Louch at the same time while they fought for one another’s spot. When they had finally reached the front, the two of them were bulldozing the other and got to Mrs. K’Louch at the same time. Even as they spoke, they were still pushing at each other.

“I’ll take one can of Dr. K.” Lacel yelled hastily.

“No, me first! I want a Dr. K. All of them.” Donna quickly interjected.

“What? Are you serious?” Lacel screamed in astonishment.

“Yes, I am. And, I’d like a can of Dr. Pepper also.”

Lacel pushed at Donna even harder than before.

“You rich, whore!” She screamed.

Donna returned her push with an even harder one.

“Whore? You pig-looking chocolate ball!”

Lacel pushed.

“You take that back.”

Again, Donna returned the favor.

“Make me.”

Lacel grabbed Donna, placing her in a tight bear hug as Donna did the same. Thanks to her being significantly taller than Lacel, Donna was able of picking the girl up. Yet, Lacel’s greater body strength was still capable of creating a vice grip around Donna’s torso.

While both girls hugged and held each other tightly, Mrs. K’Louch was checking her cache of items before bringing herself back towards Donna and Lacel, taking in the strange image before her and saying,

“I don’t have any Dr. K.”

This brought both girl’s attention away from each other and on the messenger of their dismay.

“But,” Mrs. K’Louch dug through her cooler. “I’ve got Dr. Pepper. Two of them in fact.”

She held the cans of soda in front of Donna and Lacel. The two eyed each other before Donna gently dropped Lacel down to the ground as the two released one another from their grip. They each sheepishly grabbed for the sodas and gave their money to Mrs. K’Louch. Then, together, they quietly walked out of the classroom.

And, lastly, that left Sonny and Igro. Of course, the two had found themselves at the back of the line as they were too weak-willed, and just literally weak, to gain any leverage for the middle position at all. They essentially ended up where they had started. By the time they had reached Mrs. K’Louch’s desk, there was nobody else in line except them and it was getting close in to the end of the free period. The boys were tired, hungry, and far too dispelled in their moods to even force a smile at the idea that, maybe, the product that they wanted was still in stock. And, sure enough, there was no white chocolate chocolate-chip Hershey candy bar or a bag of hot fries. Igro and Sonny slumped their heads down in disappointment and began to make their way for the door. But, just as they were about to leave, Huey came walking pass them. They stared at him in awe and curiosity as their friend continued towards Mrs. K’Louch. They said some words at each other and, then, something magically happened.

The teacher reached under her desk and pulled out two things that made both Igro and Sonny stare in amazement. Sonny’s chocolate bar and Igro’s bag of spicy Cheetos. He placed money from his pocket in her hand and she gave him the items. Then, he walked over towards Igro’s and Sonny’s dumbfounded faces and proceeded to slap them in the face with the snacks in his hands to wake them up.

“Hold your hands out.”

They did and he then dropped the bag of chips and candy bar in the respective hands of his friends. Surprised, Sonny spoke up.

“You… you came just to buy these for us?”

“Yep.” Huey said as he made his way for the hallway.

“But, how? She was out of stock by the time everybody left.” Igro interjected.

“I pre-ordered them last week.”

Igro and Sonny looked at each other in shock before turning their attention back on Huey.

“But, if you knew we were going to get these in the first place, why did you let us get involved with that crowd? The line? Heck, we didn’t even need to come here at all. What was the point of all of this?” Sonny asked as his voice started to become more and more hoarse.

“The point?” Huey shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I guess you could say that it led to something eventful. I thought that this was a pretty enjoyable study period. Didn’t you?”