The Art of Making Slurpees

Andrea Lopez

 

Alyssa was making her daily run to 7-Eleven. It was absolutely essential that she get her required intake of high fructose corn syrup chilled to perfection in the shape of a 32-ounce Slurpee. To Alyssa, Slurpees were a gift to mankind; liquid goodness that couldn’t be found anywhere else. And no, Icees were not the same. Icees were just Slurpee wannabes. Maybe they looked the same, but they did not taste the same. Put her in a blind taste test, and Alyssa would be able to tell the difference. She went through the motions of the ritual layering and packing.  First, a layer of Coca-Cola; then, give the cup a good pounding on the counter. Repeat with different flavors until full. It relaxed her to go through these motions and it made her think of the one who had taught her. Packing Slurpees was an art. Yes, it took time and got you weird looks, but it was worth it in the end. You left the store with your money’s worth.

As she went to pound the next layer, Piña Colada Surprise, she felt someone watching her. She looked up to see a boy, probably thirteen, staring at her over by the soda machine. He wasn’t blinking. Just staring. She ignored him and went back to her packing. She was almost done, and she was at the most glorious part. She put the lid on and went to put the last layer in, this one Cherry Lava, when she felt someone draw near her. It was the boy, and up close she saw he had around a million freckles covering his face.

“You always take your Slurpee making so seriously?” he asked her with a smirk on his face.

Alyssa hated when she was interrupted, even more so with this. He had ruined it. She regarded him for a second and then turned back to the machine and filled that last bit of her cup with the bright red slush.

Grabbing a scoop straw she turned on her heel and faced him again and said, “Yeah, I do.” She hoped she came off as fierce as she felt, and she knew he was watching her as she walked over to the counter. She paid quickly since she already knew the amount and tried to do her best strut towards the door. Pushing the door open, she stepped out into the sunlight and took a huge sip of satisfaction.

 

      Alyssa decided to go visit her best friend Becca, who was working her first day at the local produce store. She walked through the sliding glass doors and made her way past the magazine rack and the wilting flower arrangements and over to the checkout area. There Becca stood alone staring at her cash register. She was biting her lip and her hand was near her ear, a finger twisted around a lock of hair like she had forgotten it there. Neither of these were good signs, Alyssa knew. She sipped her Slurpee loudly and broke Becca out of her trance. Becca turned and smiled at Alyssa as she sat down on the low shelf in front of the plastic bags.

“So how’s the first day going?” asked Alyssa.

Becca rolled her eyes, “It’s going. Almost had a panic attack though.”

Alyssa raised her eyebrows even though she was not surprised. Becca tended to stress out over everything. Like the time she was babysitting her neighbor’s son and he threw up because he had eaten a ton of licorice while Becca was cooking macaroni and cheese. She hadn’t known about the licorice and was freaked out by the red barf. Thinking it was blood, she called 911. Her neighbors got their niece to babysit from then on.

Becca shook her head, “Yeah, some guy came in looking for organic peanut butter and we were out. I had no idea what to do. No one else was around so I didn’t know what to tell him.”

“So what happened?” asked Alyssa.

Becca sighed. “Oh, he just yelled about how incompetent I am. Seriously. He did this whole monologue. And then he left. Huffily.”

Alyssa laughed but stopped when she saw Becca’s face.

She composed herself and said, “Don’t worry about it. He’s probably a regular. I bet your manager knows him.”

Becca nodded. This sounded sensible to her. She looked over at Alyssa and searched her face.

“So you’ve already made a Slurpee run, huh?” she asked.

There was a pause, but Alyssa smiled and said, “Yeah. So when do you get your lunch break?”

“I already took it. Unlike some people, I got up at seven this morning to go to work. But I get off in a few hours.”

“Ah, that’s right. You working woman. So, you think I can crash at your pad tonight? We can rent movies and celebrate you surviving your first day.”

Becca’s eyebrows furrowed and she said, “You sure it’s okay, Lyss? Isn’t today—?”

Alyssa cut her off, “Yeah, totally. You know how it is.”

Becca nodded and looked down at her register. Alyssa saw her face change. It was subtle, but she saw it. Anyone else might have missed the tiny crease between her eyebrows and they way she slightly sucked in her lips. She finally turned away from the register and looked up at her. They stayed that way for a moment, observing each other, until Becca came to her conclusion.

While she straightened her name tag she said, “Let’s meet at Leo’s at four-thirty then.”

                                         

Alyssa and Becca walked into Leo’s Videos and crossed over the raggedy blue carpet that was threadbare in some spots. Then they stopped and faced the chipped bookshelves. Sure, Leo’s was a bit run down, and definitely not as popular as the local Blockbuster—mainly because of its lack of new releases—but it was cheap. And they both liked that it seemed almost like a secret, a place not many people knew about. They both feared the possibility that Leo’s might close one day. It seemed like all their favorite things and places were disappearing. Like the dollar theater that used to be just twenty minutes away. Or their favorite shade of lip gloss. Even the big bags of caramel apple lollipops that they used to consume in one night suddenly weren’t at the store one day. Everything was changing. Nothing was permanent.

Becca walked over and picked up a movie and showed it to Alyssa. Even though she had her pretty-please face, Alyssa said, “No way. Not Dirty Dancing again. I can’t take it anymore.”

Becca rolled her eyes and put it back. “Fine,” she said.

Alyssa went over and picked up one and said, “What about this?”

Becca rolled her eyes at the offered Die Hard and said, “You know I hate shooting movies. Plus, it’s not even Christmas.”

After much deliberation they finally compromised on two: Pretty in Pink, Becca’s choice, but Alyssa agreed to it because of the 80s factor, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, which Becca did not mind because she liked Harrison Ford. As they were paying, Alyssa felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and checked the screen and sighed.

“Hey Mom, what’s up?”

“Where are you?” asked her mother.

Alyssa turned away from Becca and looked over at the display TV. On it The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were playing, and Alyssa thought it looked like the sequel.

“I’m at Leo’s with Becca.”

“Oh.”

And in that pause Alyssa heard something that made her breath catch. She could hear her father’s voice. But she knew it was only coming from her mother’s TV. Of course Mom had already broken out the home videos.

“So does that mean you’re not coming home tonight?”

Alyssa could picture the house now, most of the lights turned down, her mom sitting on their old couch, a Kleenex box nearby. The TV screen that showed only what used to be, and even that was not a real representation of the truth. She liked to remember her dad the way he really was, not smiling awkwardly in front of the camera. She knew she could not go home.

“No. I’m going to spend the night at Becca’s.”

She heard her mom breathe in deeply, “Well you don’t even have your things. How can you spend the night without a toothbrush?”

Alyssa was still facing the TV even though the images were not registering anymore.

“I have an extra toothbrush at Becca’s, Mom.”

The phone rustled. Maybe she was switching it to the other hand, and her mom said, “Do you remember what day it is?”

“Of course I do! God, Mom. That’s why I don’t want to be there.”

Her mom was quiet on the other side.

Alyssa sighed and said, “I’m really sorry, but I need to be away.”

She heard her mom cough and clear her throat. “All right,” she said. “Call me in the morning.”

As they walked out of the video store, Alyssa chewed on her lip thinking about her mom sitting alone in their dark living room. Outside it was cloudy but the wind started blowing and the sun peeked out and shone down on them. She knew she couldn’t handle the darkness of her house or the sound of her mom crying. Just thinking about it made her chest hurt. Her dad would have hated knowing what their family was like now, with all of them so disconnected. He had hated when they couldn’t even eat dinner together back when her brother was in little league and her mom was working evenings. At least her brother was home. Sure, he was probably holed up in his room upstairs and wouldn’t even realize what day it was until tomorrow or a few days from now. Her brother was forgetting more and more about their dad. But then again, she was forgetting things, too.

Becca nudged Alyssa and asked her, “So are you okay?”

Alyssa realized they had been walking in silence. “Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just my mom, you know? Jake’s home but chances are he’ll play video games in his room all night and not come down.” Becca nodded her head knowingly. She thought for a moment and then asked, “How about we get some Slurpees?”

Alyssa looked over at her and smiled.

 

Inside 7-Eleven they layered and packed their Slurpees side by side, creating a weird sort of chorus. The clerk behind the counter, a college-aged guy who took himself way too seriously, kept looking over at them with a scowl on his face.

As Becca pounded down her second layer of grape, she said to Alyssa, “You know, I remember the day your dad taught us how to do this.”

Alyssa looked over at her, “Yeah?”

Becca smiled and nodded, “Well, taught me how. You already knew. It was the day he took us to Sea World.”

Alyssa stopped pounding her Slurpee, “Really? We stopped at 7-Eleven that day?”

“Yeah, you don’t remember?” asked Becca.

Alyssa shook her head, “No. I remember going to Sea World, but I don’t remember him teaching you the Art.”

Becca smiled and said, “He was so cool.”

Alyssa topped off her Slurpee. “Yeah, he was.”

                 

That night Alyssa dreamed about her dad. It was similar to a memory she had of the time when they were walking by the train tracks near their house. She saw her dad and the little five year old version of herself. She was wearing her favorite yellow sandals. Her dad wanted to lift her up on his shoulders, but all of a sudden she was afraid. She didn’t want to go up that high. He lowered himself to her eye level and said, “You can trust me. I won’t let you fall.” They stared at each other for a moment and then she nodded her head. He smiled and lifted her up on his shoulders. It was scary, but she just held on tight to his neck and his hands wrapped around her ankles. The sunlight had washed everything in a golden glow and she could tell that they were talking but she couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying. They became smaller and smaller as his big loping strides took them away, and even though she tried to keep them in her vision and did not want them to fade, they eventually dissolved into the light.