BFE

Contemporary

Written in response to: "Write a story about a character who spends all night in a 24/7 gas station or laundromat." as part of Liminal Spaces with Shaelin Bishop.

There’s always something to do in a gas station even a 24 hour gas station in butt fuck Egypt.   Trust me the manager always make sure there’s something to do.   Never complain you’re bored.  If you do you wish you were bored again in about five minutes.   It’s not Mr. Scrooge. He’s the general manager. He thinks she’s making money when nobody comes in from 12 AM to 5 AM at a 24 hour. Gas station is beyond me. The only one that would come here anywhere at 2 AM with somebody trying to rob us, but that’s OK cause we have cameras inside. We don’t have them outside where people steal gas all the time but thank God we have them inside to make sure that we’re secure oh, I’m sorry that he is secure.   Do the usual bullshit   go around to the freezers restock 24 ounce cola‘s make sure the beers are stocked as well like we have a winter coat we put on when we go back in the freezer that way or freezer ass off and you won’t get sued somebody Bobby called OSHA on the son of a bitch   so go around restock everything in the freezer make sure the products are all faced in the same direction towards the customer that way, though we’re not out of the product restock the soda machines put ice in the ice vending machine. Make sure everything is in stock for the morning and the newspaper people come here at 4 AM. Why don’t we open at 4 AM then instead of being open 24 /7?   They called the graveyard shift, maybe the ghost to come out to play.  Heard about ID people for alcohol and tobacco. How many times we ID everyone   

     So that gets done we know when to put the amount of money we have in the safe in case we get robbed that way they won’t be able to take as much of the cash   again we have runoff all the time runoff in case you don’t know with somebody who fills their car with gas and it doesn’t pay for it and runs off   the police are sick of us calling them so we’re not allowed to call them anymore. We just have to file this report. Be a lot easier if we had the security cameras outside instead of inside what the hell do I know?   Gotta restock the cigarettes, the chewing tobacco make sure the lighter isn’t all the other candy and crap. The people eat. They should just call this a kill yourself store cause everything that’s in here is made to kill. The customer is good. I hate the customers.   I need some cigarettes. I need some ID. I ain’t got no ID then you ain’t got no cigarettes.

     Same thing with other age kids tried to buy alcohol. We got fake IDs. We know what they look like. We’ve gotten fake money gas bills gas bills are a lot of fun right gotta go outside and put this gravel type stuff over it before something explodes. But there’s no one at the gas pump right now, even though the gas pumps are on.   Our lights are on where the only place in the neighborhood that’s on great marketing then somebody needs something at 2 AM. They can come here. Nobody wants anything at 2 AM besides sleep I’m just here for the paycheck.  

     We need to make sure we don’t discriminate against customers based on raise religion, ethnicity, etc. as long as they have money, they can buy stuff here, but it don’t even know why they telling me that because nobody’s coming here we’ve not had one customer in the graveyard, not one.   I should buy something then they have a customer.  Get employee discount, right?  

      Figure out what else to do. Oh yeah I forgot to tell you not only are the customers I can but on the boss make sure that we work and he watches those 24 seven because he’s paying us so we better make sure we’re working our ass off why don’t they just close the store? Have us do these things because everything that we’re doing could be done when the store is closed, Idiot.    

*

    Then it happens I hear the bells go off.  My genius boss decided to have bells so we know when someone comes in. It wouldn’t be taken off guard and go to the cash register and be ready to serve customers.  Welcome to our store if you need any assistance, just let me know.   He said thank you. He looks young. Doesn’t look beat up or anything normal clothes. Don’t know what the hell he’s doing here at 1:15 AM, but we’re open so this is why we’re open.  He looks rat a little looks at the collars, which are all faced sides to get a beef jerky in a box of canned beer.  He goes up to the counter, put them up there. I ring them up and turn around, but then turn back because what if this is a robbery?   Men still standing there nonchalant a bag of items tell him how much it is you pay in cash and I give them change and a receipt and I tell him to have a good day.   You think me and he walks out and drives off.   Weird.   Who needs beer and beef jerky at this time of the night?  

     I look at his car. It’s a BMW, but the plates are from another state pull up to the one of the pumps put in his card, pops up his car and eat the beef jerky.   Then comes back in and says, “I forgot something.”   maybe it is a robbery.   But then he says he needs some coffee so show him that we have fresh coffee and bottle coffee. It takes a Fresh again and pays for it. Takes it out to his car. Takes the pump out and drives off.   Maybe that’s why we’re open 24 seven for some wacko driving through the middle of butt fuck Egypt.   Maybe the cops are paying my boss under the radar. Maybe

Posted Sep 04, 2026
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