Chasing Charlie (Part 1)

Josie was short, thick, and awkward in conversation, but she was a pleasure to know if you had the time and patience. She trained herself to keep people at arm's length, fearing any fallout; a defense mechanism she had learned early on.

Her messy, jet-black hair masked her acne, which was a regular problem for her ever since puberty. Her distinct features, her boxer nose and pegged teeth, made her an easy target, always placing her last in the eyes of others.

She remained hidden in plain sight; invisible to the boys, the running joke among girls, ignored by teachers, and practically disowned by her own family, but her strength to overcome all obstacles soon came to fruition.

Dressed in gothic layers, black lipstick, and her ever-present fishnets, she made her entrance known long before she appeared with her platform stilettos clattering a rhythm down the corridor.

"Whoa! Here comes Ghostie Josie! See any ghosts lately, ya freak?" Ghostie Josie was her nickname in school. She loathed it, along with everyone else in school. The captain of the football team's attention had always found her, and never with kindness.

With her schoolbooks pressed to her chest and her head bowed in shame, somewhere deep within, a spark caught. It was faint at first, then sudden and electric. Hot, fast, and furious, like lightning on dry earth and just as dangerous, she reacted. "You have the crotch of a stick figure. Do you piss lying down or use a prosthetic?" She walked past them, silent in her own victory of retaliation, steps steady, and with a calm demeanor.

The kid stood frozen, flabbergasted by what he heard. Stunned, the moment for a comeback passed. His crew was just as shocked as he was, and then they cracked up. Their laughter turned from her to him; fingers pointed. The chant from the jackals started low, then built like a drum, "Little Mack! Little Mack! Little Mack!" He watched as she walked away, newly humbled. Though coined years ago, the name clung to him for life. Later, she regretted that moment (never wanting to hurt anyone intentionally), but an eye for an eye remained her mantra from then on. It was her quiet reminder that this world rarely played fair. Especially her.

She soon learned to wield ridicule and confrontation like an artist painting a portrait. Her sharp tongue earned her a reputation, and soon enough, the noise around her faded. She was left alone to her own devices: computers and books. Because of this, she grew wise in silence, strong in solitude, and walked with the calm certainty of someone who needed no approval, head held high. She found herself. Who she was and who she was supposed to be. Her plight in life may have been tough, but she soon carried it boldly, a visible testament to her strength. She now moved through crisis with the same tranquil grace she portrayed in an ordinary day. Nothing fazed her anymore.

She moved away, away from her family, away from her problems, went to college, graduated, and then moved to a small town where no one knew her or wanted to know her. Her fashion sense and quick wit secured that, and she liked it like that. She thought if this was her life, then so be it! She stumbled upon a town caught between eras: half humming with technology, half shadowed by coal’s dark legacy.

Some of the population relocated there for tech-savvy jobs. The rest of the population, the natives who hated the ‘transplants’ (what the locals called newcomers), spent their lives here, stitched into the fabric of tradition and fading echoes, poised in quiet resignation to end their days in a town where coal once breathed life. Now slipping slowly into oblivion.

There, she found a job that matched her major, IT. Her cube was tucked away on the fourth floor of a repurposed office building in the center of town, where the transplants found their livelihood. The cubicles were spaced with such sterile precision, it felt as though a program had calculated every placement, like a maze built for mice, not people. The air was dry, silent, with a musty scent reminiscent of a forgotten bookshelf.

Alone, yes, but only physically. Her solitude stood unyielding. That was her fortress. Like a superhero, she lived a double life no one knew about, not even her best friend Charlie.

In real life, she had a job, paid her taxes, was a member of the local library, and sometimes went out to the local bar with Charlie, only to return to isolation not long after. Simple. Subtle. Boring. She carried that over in her other life; her digital life. It was one hidden behind screens and code like a ghost woven into every corner of the web.

She was a regular on all the popular sites: 10 profiles on Instagram, 10 on YouTube, 15 on Reddit, it went on like a grocery list. Like a reserved general on the battlefield, she commanded her accounts to stay vigilant and only attack when necessary. She was everywhere and nowhere, a ghost drifting through the digital twilight. If the real world only knew what superhero they had, fighting digitally for justice, they’d throw her a weekly parade.

Charlie, tall, slim, and beautiful, startled Josie with her sudden cheer, jolting a few half-asleep coworkers in the process. "Happy Friday!” She loved Josie, meeting her just a year ago. They shared an Uber after Josie watched a botched midnight kiss Charlie’s date tried to plant on her.

The drunken putz pushed for more. Charlie was reluctant but kind and tried to defuse the moment. It was Josie who stepped in. A couple of sharp quips, the man, red-faced and drunk, tossed a few weak jabs over his shoulder as he walked away, deflated. From that moment on, they were inseparable. Best friends from then on out, bonded by Josie's steadfast virtue. A few days later, Charlie spotted his name in the local paper. He was arrested for tax evasion.

“Wanna go out tonight?" Charlie grinned.

"Tempting, but I'd rather get an enema with broken glass," Josie said, smiling. Charlie laughed out loud. She pressed a hand to her mouth, glancing around, suddenly aware of the glares surrounding them yet again. Rudy, the old man in the next cube over, stared annoyingly.

"What are you looking at, Rudy? Go back to your porn forum." Josie snapped.

Charlie, dumbfounded, refocuses. "You're going to get into trouble! And Tommy is on the warpath...again.” Although sometimes ditzy, she remembers why she came over. “C'mon, it's 3-dollar beers at the Beast tonight! Some music, A little dancing? Have guys buy us drinks? What do you say?"

Josie kept typing, barely glancing up. "Watch guys buy you watered-down backwash trailer lager? I'd rather not. That place is only filled with redneck jerks anyway. You shouldn't go to that shit hole."

Charlie defeated, "Well, it's the only place around." She stretched her gum out like it was taffy, eyes wandering, then slurped it back in without a thought. Her gaze locked with Tommy’s while he weaved through the maze like a shark.

"Shit!" Charlie whispered, "Man your post, girl. Tommy is heading over." She half-ran, half-walked back to her corner, sliding into her chair, pretending to be deep in work.

Josie sat up just enough to see him coming. Tommy made his shark-like approach, threw a wink to Josie, then stopped at Charlie's cube. Josie, sitting back down, tilted her head to listen to the conversation. His voice, low and a little too familiar, set her teeth on edge.

"Hey Charlie, have any plans for the weekend?" Tommy said, sleazily rubbing her shoulder.

"Ummm, no. Probably not. I have my parents come in tomorrow so..."

Tommy interrupts, "Yeah, well, Alice is taking the kids to the mountains this weekend," looking at his watch, "Probably already gone. I was thinking of going over to the 'B' later, grab some beers with the guys...if you're not doing anything, maybe I can buy you a drink or two or three!" He laughs, thinking he’s hilarious.

Josie pantomimed a dry heave. She watched as Charlie subtly shrugged off Tommy’s hand, Charlie’s smile strained, her eyes darting toward the nearest exit.

"Thanks." She said. "I'll keep that in mind."

Tommy turned to Josie, dejected. Josie didn’t say a word and watched as Charlie stuck her middle finger in her mouth and fake-gagged as a joke. Josie laughed to herself and turned away. Tommy noticed. Anger flared in Tommy's eyes. “Josie, in my office. Now.” Without hesitation, Josie gets up, walking cautiously to Tommy’s office like a robot. Tommy follows her, scanning the room.

Charlie watched her settle into the chair across from Tommy’s desk. His office, a glass box, open to every gaze but was sealed by a single ill-fitting solid door. You could see and hear whatever happened in there. Usually, it was a basketball game or a poker game ringing through his speakers.

He collapsed into the leather-bound chair like a man settling into a throne. His eyes locked with unblinking precision. He paused, seething. His glare fixed on Josie. Then, with measured venom, “Josie, you’re fired.”

The words landed a blow to Josie’s ego instantly. It was cold, cruel, and calculated as intended. She reeled briefly, eyes wide, blindsided by the blunt force of it, but composed herself quickly. He went on, “We don’t run a charity here. We don’t give out money to every insurance claim that crosses our path, even if it’s warranted. We'd go bankrupt if we did in a matter of hours!” He sat in silence, point made, finger ticking against the desk like a metronome of impatience waiting for her response.

After careful thought, “You wanted me to fix the glitch in the system. I fixed the glitch.”

“Yeah, well, you made it too user-friendly, so now every claim has a 94% approval rating. Our customer service cannot dispute them.”

“I did what you told me to do...”

Tommy interrupts, “I know what I asked you to do! I don’t need it repeated to me like I’m 5! Jeez, you sound like my wife, only uglier!”

His anger boiled over, spilling into a tirade of reckless, thoughtless cruelty; barbs about her looks, reminding her of snide remarks she exchanged with coworkers in moments of defense, a string of unfiltered venom that shattered every professional boundary.

His words dissolved into silence as she looked through him, out into the office. Whispered murmurs drifted from cube to cube, accompanied by thin smiles and hands pressed lightly over mouths, as if to hide their quiet amusement.

It was the first time she had been cut this deeply in a long time. It’s reminiscent of her first encounter with the captain of the football team so many years ago. Charlie stood on the edge of tears, her face hollow and still, like a mourner lost in silence at a graveside. Then, something inside Josie ignited again like it did in High School. A spark of defiance burned bright in her head. She smiled.

Wear the grudge like a crown. Clutch it like a cornerstone, she thought. A cherished lyric she remembers echoing in the silence of her thoughts. Her eyes met Charlie’s, and with a gentle knowing wink to Charlie, a quiet spark passed between them. Charlie’s lips curled into a fragile, heartfelt smile. A tear slid silently down her cheek.

“...I mean, what do you do all day anyway, except distract Charlie from doing her work? Huh?”

Josie met Tommy’s eyes head-on. Her stare was firm, gripping, and full of rage. Her hatred, blazing like wildfire. He caught the heat in her stare. It was a sudden, brutal impact like being hit by a freight train. She pulled out her phone, fingers flying across the screen in a frantic blur.

“I just got done watching a documentary, actually.” She murmured under her breath as her finger danced across the screen, urgent and deliberate.

Tommy laughs, “Wow, you have some stones on your kid, I’ll give you that. On company time? Now, you’re really fired.”

“It might interest you. It was about the dark web. You see, the guy explained, everyone is at risk.” She goes on. Her smile gradually grew bigger and bigger.

“What are you getting at, Josie Grossie? You know that’s what the guys call you around here. Josie Grossie!” He smiles, thinking he has the upper hand. She continues.

“An email address, a license plate number, maybe a postal address, that’s all it takes. EVERYONE! Everyone can be destroyed with just a click of a couple of buttons and the know-how. I mean, a person doesn’t even need a gun anymore, or a lead pipe, a bat, or whatever you find lying around the house to hurt someone. You don't even need social media to chastise a person into seclusion. With a couple hundred dollars in bitcoin, a VPN, a will, and a way, and you’re all set.”

She gets up, opening the door.

“You can move a decimal place, creating debt that was never there. Maybe your house payment goes from $1500 to 15k in the blink of an eye because you misread the fine print? The car you almost have paid off has a new interest rate of 150% instead of the 1.5%. Maybe the bill for the cancer treatment you never had comes in the mail, and you owe 1.5 million. You never know.”

She walks over to Charlie, who is ready to leave, holding Josie’s personal items. She yells, looking around, scaling the room. All eyes were on them as Charlie and her walked off, cool and confident, like bosses heading out on holiday.

Tommy was at the threshold of his office, confused by what he had heard. He tries to get the last word in, “Yeah! Well, get your things and get out!”

Josie ignores it. “At the end of the documentary, he warns people about the severity of cruelty towards others. You never know what people are capable of.” She grabs her things from Charlie, holding up her phone.

“In other words, you shouldn’t FUCK with people you don’t know. It’s easy to destroy a person with a click of a button. You don’t need a gun! You can make them put the gun in their own mouth and pull the trigger!”

Her finger hovered, then gently touched the center of the phone screen. She presses the button, decisively, unflinching.

Rudy’s phone rings, and he answers. Then another phone rings. Then another. All phones in the office collectively start to ring. Chaos ensues. Josie looks up to Charlie, “Let’s get that beer you were talking about. We have some things to talk about.”

Charlie surveys the wreckage, wiping the tears from her face. She smiles, flips Tommy the finger, then strides out the double doors with Josie at her side, victorious over the chaos that had unfolded.