The Mint on the Counter

Ages 12-15

The little square of mint chocolate is wrapped in green paper, with a gold leaf folded over one corner.

Tamaris puts two quarters on her desk. The mint costs fifty cents. She has checked twice this week, through the sweetshop window on the way home from school.

Mommy calls from the kitchen.

"Could you get the box of biscuits for Bubby? The same plain ones."

Tamaris comes down with the quarters in her hand.

Mommy has four dollar bills inside a folded note. On the outside she has written PLAIN BISCUITS - $4.

"I'll be here when you get back," she says.

Tamaris slides the bills and note into the left pocket of her skirt. The quarters go in the right.

The shop is two streets away. She walks past the bakery and the narrow house with flowerpots on every step. At the shop door, she takes her hand out of her right pocket so she can turn the handle.

The mint squares are in their glass jar beside the register.

The biscuits are on the bottom shelf. There is one box left with the blue stripe Bubby likes. Tamaris takes it out.

Behind it, a fresh white label covers the edge of the old one.

$4.25.

She takes Mommy's note out. The corner has caught beneath one of the bills. She pulls it free.

PLAIN BISCUITS - $4.

At the counter, she sets the box beside the register.

"Did these go up?"

The cashier looks at the blue stripe. "This morning. Four twenty-five now."

Tamaris folds the note closed.

The cashier reaches for a paper bag. Tamaris puts one hand in each pocket.

"Anything else?"

Through the glass she can see the gold leaves on the mint wrappers. One leaf points straight up. She has been choosing that square in her head since Tuesday.

"One mint."

The cashier lifts the lid, takes the square with the standing leaf and lays it beside the biscuits.

Tamaris puts the four bills on the counter. Then she takes out her quarters and sets them beside the bills.

The mint wrapper has a tiny tear near the fold. Dark chocolate shows through it.

She moves one quarter closer to the bills. The other stays beneath her fingertip.

"Just the biscuits," she says.

The cashier puts the mint back in the jar. The gold leaf bends beneath the lid.

She gives Tamaris the bag and the receipt. Tamaris picks up the quarter still on the counter. She puts it in her right pocket. The note and receipt go in the left.

On the way home, the biscuit box knocks against her knee through the paper bag. At the flowerpots, she changes hands.

Mommy is at the kitchen table. Tamaris sets the bag down and opens it. Mommy checks the blue stripe on the box.

Tamaris unfolds the note beside the receipt. The four on the note sits next to the four twenty-five on the printed line.

She takes the remaining quarter from her right pocket, turns it once against her thumb, and puts it back.