Social Distance

At that moment, Gary made a dash out of the store. Once outside, Gary starts to look for Crystal. The only people standing outside were the homeless men. Homeless Guy: “Hey my brother. You think you can help me out with a little change?” Gary: “Did you see which way the woman that just left went? Homeless Guy: “You mean Crystal?” Gary looks at the homeless man, thinking to himself, “How does he know Crystal?” Gary: “Yes! Crystal! Where did she go?” The homeless man stuck his hand out, motioning Gary to pay him. Gary: “Are you shitting me right now?” Gary digs into his pocket and gives the homeless man two dollars. The man looks at the money, then hands it back to Gary. Homeless Guy: “Is that all she’s worth to you… player?” Gary: “Fuck!” Gary frantically looks in his wallet and all he has is a twenty dollar bill. Gary glances into the store window where Joe is watching him from the counter. He knew Joe was right, but he couldn’t get over Joe keeping something like this from him. Somewhere in the back of Gary’s mind, he always had hoped that he and Crystal would somehow rekindle their relationship and have a happy ending. He had been through so much with her in their younger years, that he always had this special place in his heart for her. Everyone thought of him as a fool for wasting his youthful years trying to maintain a life with her. He deemed himself as something of her “Savior”. Even after marrying Vanessa, he never really let go of Crystal. He was always asking if anyone had seen her or heard from her. As Gary breaks eye contact with Joe, he hands the homeless man the twenty dollar bill.