Turn in Creeps.

(Disclaimer: i don't know what the fuck this story is. Plot? I don't know her Lol. This story is bad. I'll still take constructive criticism though)

“I need to find some work life balance…” Aaliyah muttered to herself as she parked her fork-life as the break bell rang through the warehouse. It reminded her of highschool when the bell rang to indicate that one class was finished and it was time to move to the next one. The only difference was that this bell shrieked like Satan’s wife and it was gonna shriek again in only ten fucking minutes. The warehouse that she worked in was a depressing place. It was full of aisles like a grocery store… only there were no groceries. 

Just aisles and racks full of home improvement items.

They often shipped to home improvement stores and they liked to buy in motherfucking bulk. She had yet to pack an order full of items that were less than 700 pounds.

That’s why she had a forklift, a nice stack of wooden pallets to place the orders on, and an endless supply of caffeine to get her through her shift.

She often wondered to herself how she always ended up working such shitty jobs. She was single, pushing thirty, and wondering where the hell her Prince Charming was. Did he exist? He was supposed to save her from this bullshit almost ten years ago. Instead, she was up in her shitty tower that was full of home improvement goods and slaving away for The Man.  Was there a difference between Prince Charming and The Man? Were they actually the same person? Was Prince Charming actually a part of the one percent who owned half the country? Was she sold a pipe dream? Were Romance books going to be her downfall as a Respectable Adult?

There were simply so many questions?

And no fucking answers.

However, that was a dilemma for AFTER BREAK.

So she lowered her load to the floor, turned off her forklift, and hopped off that bitch. She only got ten minute breaks and didn’t even bother going to the break room because she was way too far away from it. She always sneakily brought snacks with her onto the work floor because a) It

was almost one hundred degrees in this place WITH NO FUCKING AIR CONDITION. B) They didn’t pay her enough to die on the workfloor so….. Fuck ‘em. She knew she was an absolutely sweaty, disgusting, mess and it had only been four hours into a twelve hour shift. She was sore from lifting heavy tiles and fucking shovels and nothing weighed LESS than twenty-five pounds. She stacked everything semi-neatly on a wooden pallet, prayed to God it didn’t tip over, and then wrapped the fuck out of it with plastic wrap.

God Bless plastic wrap….. Because HONEY, by the end of her shift….. Her loads were looking like the Leaning Tower of Piza.

She was a stellar employee dammit.

Also, since she was such a stellar employee….. She decided that a stack of bathroom tile was going to be her seat at the moment.

It was super uncomfortable as she pulled out a packet of crushed peanut butter crackers out of her pocket.  She was also about to jam to her Fuck This Job playlist because it was an awesome playlist and also….

FUCK THIS JOB.

IT SUCKED.

She was just about to pull her phone out of her pocket when she heard someone talking.

 “I don’t like him….” Pollita’s voice floated from behind her.

Aaliyah grinned to herself as she overheard the young girl. Her real name was Jessica Garcia…. But Aalliyah called her “Pollita” which was Spanish for a baby chicken. Aaliyah was learning Spanish because the majority of her co-workers only spoke espanol. It was fun learning a new language and Jessica looked so young and lost working here sometimes…. And it was fucking adorable. Aaliyah sort of adopted Pollita into her small group of baby ducklings that sometimes followed her around. She was in her thirties and they liked to call her “mom” because… she was a worrier okay.

Some of these little shits did not know to cut away from themselves when using the fucking razor blades they were given as box cutters.

It was insane…

So she was known for “playfully” nagging at the little shits from time to time. She had the title of Mama Duck around the plant because there were usually at least two fresh out of highschool adults following her around when she worked on foot.

She was not only known as a Mama Duck….

She was also known for being Nosey as Fuck.

She was an avid fan of As the Warehouse Turns.

There was also some kind of drama going on in this place. There were verbal duels, love triangles, cheating, lies, deceit….and most of the time it was in Spanish. She watched her co-worker talk in rapid fire Spanish and it always seemed so spicy. She just knew something ratchet was going on…. AND SHE WANTED TO KNOW.

Aaliyah glanced up and down the warehouse aisle she was working on and realized that she was once again by herself. She had a fleeting suspicion she was on this side of the plant because she was told that productivity always dropped when she was around.

Aaliyah could not help it that people loved her.

“Noooo….. I really don’t like him. He’s always bothering me and stuff.” Pollita continued.

Awwww….. Pollita was in another love triangle or something. She was a beautiful young lady and Aaliyah had smirked when she watched the young men start puffing out their chests and strutting around to start their courting rituals. She also watched as the women started sizing her up. It was funny until Aaliyah realized how uncomfortable all of it made Pollita.

“No… I mean, like….he won’t leave me alone.” Pollita continued speaking. She was most likely talking on the phone. “He’s always coming up to me and messing with me.” 

Oooohhhh….. Was this young love? Was this one of those will-they…won’t-they scenarios?

Those were always entertaining to watch. The female ducks pretend not to want the male ducks attention or vice-versa. She kind of wanted to make a documentary and narrate it like David Attenborough.

“ It doesn't matter where I’m working. He’ll find me and start telling me how sexy he thinks that I am and stuff.”

Oh… so the male duck was coming on a bit strong, huh? Was that a positive or a negative? It was hard to tell sometimes. 

“No…..” Pollita sounded small at that point. Wow, that sounded like some absolute defeat right there. It sounded like she couldn’t combat the person she was talking to.

That flipped quickly.

“Yes ma’am….”  She said quietly. “Okay, love you too. Bye.”

She was probably talking to some authority figure in her life.

If Aaliyah had to guess it was most likely her mother or family or someone similar. She’d seen the woman come and pick her daughter up many times after work. She seemed nice enough from a distance but Aaliyah had never personally talked to her. Pollita might jokingly call her “mom” sometimes but she did have an actual mother. She wasn’t going to cross those boundaries.  Pollita also sounded like she was told something that she didn’t want to hear. Aaliyah didn’t know what the conversation was about but it was probably about some boy. She was gonna tease her about it later.

* * * *

It wasn’t until Aaliyah was almost done with her shift that she ran into Pollita again. about three quarters through her shift that she heard the voice again. It was that last hour of the day when everyone just kind of stopped working. Everyone was idly pushing brooms up and down the aisles as they talked and “cleaned” up. Aaliyah of course was pushing her own broom down the aisle when she spotted Pollita talking to another young lady. Aaliyah had spoken to her every now and then and vaguely remembered that she practiced witchcraft and wanted to be a tattoo artist. Aaliyah didn’t have a problem with witchcraft at all. She had been curious when she was younger but after trying to read a “ How to Witchcraft” book and kept seeing the work “imagine” well…. It all sounded like make believe to her.

However, she did try to make a spell body that was supposed to bring wealth.

She stayed broke.

So, she didn’t really bat an eye when the young girl said she was a witch. She usually worked on the other side of the warehouse but the shit was almost over and NOBODY cared.

“Hey ducklings…” Aaliyah said, walking over to the young ladies. She noticed they stopped their conversation when she walked up towards them. Aaliyah eyed them for a moment before sighing. “Allright. Spill. You guys are acting shifty.”

They looked at each other before witch girl spoke.

“Jessica doesn’t like Eduardo.” Witchgirl said to her seriously.

“Which one?” Aaliyah said with a smile. There were like twenty Eduardo’s who worked here.

“The old one.” Pollita replied and Aaliyah smiled.

Aaaahhhh…. She knew which one they were talking about. He was old but fine. He was in his fifties but he was handsome and well built. Aaliyah had seen him earlier and was jokingly flattered when she was asked to be his workwife. She winked at him and told him she’d have to get permission from his actual wife but she would LOVE to boss him around at work. He was just a flirty old man as far as she was concerned.

“He keeps… touching me. And getting close to me and making me uncomfortable.” Pollita said, looking at the ground.

Aaliyah stood up a little taller.

“Okay Pollita. This is just for clarification….” Aaliyah said seriously. She may be easygoing most of the time but she had been around the block a couple of times. “What I’m hearing is…. Eduardo is harassing and touching you without your permission. Right baby, girl?”

Pollita nodded but kept looking at the floor.

“Do you feel unsafe  working around him?” Aaliyah continued when Pollita didn’t speak.

She watched the young girl nod again at her.

“Do you want to quit?” The young girl shrugged. That was valid… this job legitimately sucked but that was the wrong question to ask. “Do you want to do something about it?”

Pollita didn’t say anything but she shrugged again.

“She’s scared.” Witchgirl piped up and Aaliyah looked at her. Sweet Jesus these kids were young.

“Allright Pollita.” Aaliyah said, wrapping her arm around the girl. She recalled the phone call that she overheard earlier. So this is what she was talking about. “We’re going to HR.”

Pollita shook her head and was about to protest but Aaliyah shook her head. Unlike this baby duck…. She’d done this before…. And she had to do it by herself.

“Don’t worry. I’ll stay with you.” Aaliyah said guiding her towards HR. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

* * * *

Aaliyah watched in satisfaction as that old fuck was escorted off the premises. She’d stayed with Pollita until her mom came to get her and watched as she ran to her mom in tears. There was a moral to this story somewhere.

She didn’t know what it was.

She may not have found Prince Charming but she did get a fucking creep fired.

She’d take the win.