Free Love Me Broken by Lily Jenkins

though I haven’t gotten nearly as dirty as Levi. He’s been doing most of the work, narrating as he goes.
    “Maybe it’s my hair,” he says, looking at himself in the mirror. He stares a moment at his long, messy black hair. Then he shakes his head. “Nah. It’s more than that. It’s because I’m a bum.”
    “You’ve got a job,” I offer. We’re walking back to the register now. Next up in my training is logging into the ancient computer system and checking customers in and out. “You’ve got a stable place to live. That doesn’t sound like a bum to me.”
    He considers this. “It’s the way I live. Girls want a guy who has his shit together. All I’ve got is a place to sleep with a mattress on the floor.”
    I didn’t know this about his bed. I haven’t been in Levi’s room yet. Last night we hung out and played video games in the living room, and then we went to our separate bedrooms. I didn’t really talk a whole lot last night, but Levi didn’t seem to mind. He seemed genuinely relieved to have someone there. If I’ve got to be honest, I think the guy was pretty lonely living by himself. I mean, what kind of person takes in a random stranger from the Internet to begin with? He’s got to be desperate for friends. And to be honest, I don’t really know why. He seems perfectly likable to me.
    “You could
buy
a bedframe,” I tell him.
    He shrugs. “I’d rather have a shop.”
    Again with the shop. For someone who plays video games and smokes as much as he does, Levi is pretty single-minded about wanting to own this shop. I think that’s why I like Levi. He’s got goals. I can’t be friends with someone I can’t respect.
    He starts showing me the register, making a login name and password for me. I almost tell him not to bother. I won’t be here long enough to need my own, but I guess there are security issues involved. I even felt bad about wasting time when he made me a nametag.
    “It’s a pretty simple system,” he says. “Although it’s slow as hell. I think it’ll be the first thing I replace.”
    I don’t comment, and he continues the training. It’s not complicated, but it’s a lot of information all at once, and I’m relieved when I hear the roar of a motorcycle on the street. It’s a customer, and we can take a break.
    When the motorcycle turns in, I see that it is an antique bike with a sidecar, one of those old ones from World War II. This might be distinctive enough in itself, but as the bike comes to a halt, I see the driver and passenger in the sidecar—and I know I won’t get this customer confused with anyone else.
    The driver is a thin old woman in tight brown leather. She’s wearing goggles under an old-fashioned bucket helmet. She climbs off the bike with surprising grace and strides over to the register. She pulls off her helmet to reveal bushy gray hair, red lipstick, and wild, energetic eyes. She’s laughing, and slaps her hand on the counter.
    “Levi!” she shouts. “Just the man I want to see.”
    Levi goes over for a hug, and I use the opportunity to stare openly at the woman’s passenger.
    It’s a dog—a great big bloodhound. He’s sitting lazily in the passenger car, staring at me from behind his own set of goggles.
    The lady and Levi break their hug, and Levi introduces me.
    “Adam, this is one of our very best customers, Eliza Burnside.”
    I reach out a hand and she shakes it vigorously. Bright, small earrings dangle from her ears, and I can’t tell but I think they might be diamonds.
    “Nice to meet you, boy,” she says. Then she leans in a little closer and says, “If I were eighty years younger, I’d be all over you.”
    My eyes go wide, and I’m not sure how to react. This seems to have been her intention, as she lets out a loud, boisterous laugh and pats me on the arm. Then she turns to Levi, handing him a set of keys.
    “Just the oil today,” she tells him. “And keep a watchful eye on the General.”
    “Sure thing. Did you