Day Eighty-two - Eagle fly free

But before time ran out, there were still some good times ahead. Summer 1998 was a fun one, where me and 'James' - and sometimes Dora, when she could -  would meet up after work, and then spend the whole night drinking. That was the year when both 'James' and me got to know this guy who sold CDs at a fair - only metal, which was perfect for us - and every weekend we'd go to his stand to see what was new, and drop a significant chunk of change there. It also helped that many times we were drunk by the time we got there, so we ended up buying a lot of crap from him... which, obviously, he didn't much complain about. But those were some truly fun times, and though by now I'd know 'James' for about five years, this is the time where I really started getting to know him better and understand him at a deeper level. All his oddities and weird behaviour he'd displayed ever since we went to school began making more sense. There had always been something inside that was broken, or perhaps just maladjusted, and he could never fix himself - at least not then. He coped with that by drinking immensely and by being - at times - both unpleasant and aggressive. He needed something in his life that would fill that void he had, and that would only fully come to him much later in life. But yeah, that time we spent that summer really solidified our friendship, and both Dora and her sister Sara also got along with him really well. And, as summer ended and fall came, I decided to turn a new leaf and leave my job at the convenience store. Sure, them being hip to me swiping from the till might have helped, but I was on my out anyways, because I was being underpaid and undervalued, and no matter how much I liked some of the people who I worked with, it was just the right time for me to leave... and almost immediately start working on a different convenience store, one who wasn't a franchisee, but rather a proper, official store from the retail chain. The best part about it? It was within walking distance from where I lived - where I, in fact, still live. I gave them my CV and within a few days I was being called up to start my job there. To be fair, the job in and of itself wasn't any different from the job I was already doing at the other store, anfd though this was a smaller store, the team itself was bigger than my previous team. And I got along pretty well with almost everyone, and quite thankfully, both of the guys who I got along the least well with - one of them a shift supervisor - left not very long after I started working there. So, to replace the clerk who left, one of the other shift supervisorrs brought in his cousin... and I, though being really was a rookie there, thought that I would be a shoe-in for the shift supervisor position. But that went to the new kid, who, barely a few days after working there was promptly promoted. And that left me feelling scorned... slighted. And by now, you may have come to realize just how vengeful I can be.