Myrtle Hathoway is a petite woman standing about 5’4 and weighing 120 lbs.  She has light brown medium length hair that is thick and wavy.  Her brown eyes are clear and bright as she stands reading the back of the cereal box in the aisle at the grocery store. 

Dressed in a black halter top and a pair of very tight jeans, her gaze is fixed on the box as several men walking by throw appreciative glances her way, which go un-noticed by Myrtle.  Finally deciding that the box of cereal would do, she nonchalantly tossed it into her shopping cart.

Myrtle thought about how much she disliked grocery shopping.  It wasn’t like she ate that much food.  Sometimes she wondered why she bothered.   Walking on up the aisle, she left it and turned to go down the next which was the canned meats.  She picked up several cans of tuna, a couple cans of smoked spam, and one canned chicken.  

After hitting the dairy section she finally finished her shopping.  Approaching the cash register a man appearing out of nowhere, crashed the front of his shopping cart into the side of hers. 

 “I’m sorry,” he said looking directly into her eyes.   Their eyes locked for a brief moment as she busied herself with disengaging her basket from his.

 “Not a problem,” she mumbled back at him.  Freeing her basket, and without another look his way, she continued toward the checkout still feeling his eyes on her as she turned into the stand.  Myrtle started removing items, placing them on the conveyor belt.  The cashier started ringing them up, turning her head slightly toward Myrtle she asked “Did you find everything ok?”  

“Yes, I did,” Myrtle replied, fidgeting inside of her purse for her wallet.  The cashier gave her the total, and Myrtle handed over the cash, keeping her hand extended for the change to be received.   

 “Have a great day!” the cashier called out as Myrtle walked away still pushing the shopping cart which now contained bagged groceries.  As she drew nearer to her car her heart started to thump in her chest.  That same guy who bumped into her basket was standing next to the driver’s side of her car.  Her throat became tight and it felt like all of her saliva had dried up.  She didn’t know why but she was afraid of this man. 

 How did he know which car was hers? And better yet, why was he bothering her?  She had mixed feelings as a mingling of anger and fear crept at the back of her neck.  She kept advancing even though a part of her was screaming for her to turn around and go back inside the store.  She was only three feet from her car now and she could see that he was doing something with his hands.  Turn away, she thought, but her legs kept going forward. 

 Come back next week to read more of “The Woman with Many Faces” A new weekly mini series by Rohnda Delpino Cox