Free When It Rains: The Umbrella Collection by Prudence Hayes

logo on it, must be a college team because I didn’t recognize it. He had a white baseball cap on backwards and a scar above his left eye that he got while in a fistfight in the 10 th grade. I have been lucky so far and our paths have not crossed up until now. It was Darren Levington and he was standing in the potato chip aisle. As I searched his face more closely, he had a pondering look on his face. Probably something asinine like rippled potato chips or plain ones. I guess my gaze started to burn a hole through him because he looked right at me and I ducked as fast as I could. I was kneeling down with my back against the shelves unsure of what to do. Do I run out the door? Do I confront him? Do I walk over to him and start beating him with two bags of potato chips? “Here you want rippled?” and whip his head with the bag. “Oh, you want some non-rippled. Here you go!” and beat him until there were no bags left and chips were covering the tiled floor. 
    I wanted to take another look , so I slowly inched my way back up the shelves and with my chin resting on the Skittles, I peered over in his direction to spy on him. He was no longer evaluating the snacks; he was now headed towards the opposite side of the aisle, where the beer was. With each one of his steps, my heart began to beat more rapidly. I spun back around and hit the floor to where I was a few moments ago.
    If he reaches for a beer, I’m not sure if my angel side will be able to control my devil side. He killed my parents because he couldn’t stop himself from ingesting beer after beer and then jumping behind the wheel of his truck and there he is about to purchase a major factor in the accident , I thought to myself as the speed of my pulse quickened and anxiety manifested within.
    I had to know if he would buy some beer or not so I willed myself to get back up. But after I convinced myself just to get back up and take a peek, he was no longer where he stood. I swiveled my head around, eagerly searching for him throughout the store and he was nowhere to be seen. I began desperately looking for him, walking up and down each aisle thinking maybe he was crouched down looking for something on the bottom shelf, but he wasn’t.
    I stood at the front of the store near the hallway to the bathrooms in a state of panic.  Then I heard knocking and someone say, “Hey Dare, I’ll be in the car” and a reply “Alright man. I’ll be out in a sec.” 
    I looked to where the conversation was taking place and a tall, lanky guy, wearing a blue T-shirt with the same sports team logo as Darren, walked from the Men’s room door out the front.
    My head turned back to the bathroom.  It felt like my feet were cemented into the spot where I was standing with my stare fixated on the handle of the door, willing it to move so it will open and he will see me, the child of the people he killed, staring at him with pure hatred.
    A few moments went by and the scene that I was picturing in my head became a reality. However, as he walked by me and our eyes met, his head just nodded and he kept on walking. His scent that was engrossed in cigarette smoke lingered in my area infiltrating my senses and I picked up a slight odor of alcohol, too. There was no acknowledgment of who I am. No wonderment strewn across his face about whether or not I was the little girl crying her eyes out in the back of the courtroom as his verdict was read.   No apology just a nod in acknowledgement that a person was standing in his walking path.
    He walked to the same aisle that I saw him in before.  He grabbed a bag of rippled potato chips, then turned his attention to the refrigerator behind him, reached in and grabbed a six pack of the cheapest beer there was. He was done picking up his supplies and headed towards the cashier, but he had to pass me one last time. He noticed that I was still in the same place and watching his every move, so this time he added a smirk across his mouth along with his