Responsible

Three young ladies. Raised to be good. Raised to behave. Born into a society and to parents who unintentionally made them into victims. Be polite. Be a good girl. Have a man. Please a man. Obey a man. Don't make a fuss. Don't cause a stir. Real ladies don't do this and they don't do that. Don't be one of those girls. Those girls get pregnant. Those girls get raped. They become sluts, strippers and prostitutes. They have many abortions, are diseased and end up dead in a ditch. Don't be like that. Just be afraid. Judge like everyone else. Blame those girls, never the men. Be nice. Smile. Be good. Be responsible.

Tiffany was seventeen when she started working at the movie theater three months ago. She was polite, pretty, very pretty in fact, and well behaved. She was responsible. A virginal princess awaiting her handsome prince, a grade-A student, natural leader and always kind even though she was popular and could have been a bitch like many girls in her clique. Tanya and Melissa both knew Tiffany was different than the other popular girls at their school, the nerd and the outcast, the quiet bookworm and the semi-goth chick, well feminist witch to be exact. They had experienced Tiffany's genuine good nature first hand. They themselves had started working at the movie theater fives months ago, two before Tiffany, and on the same day oddly enough. They two were good girls like Tiffany and even though they all had a mind of their own they were still slaves to the polite behavior forced upon almost all daughters. Behavior that mostly leads to something bad.

These good girls had come to understand that quite early in their lives, unbeknownst to one another, and it wasn't until a fateful day in January, during a sudden snow storm in which they were all snowed in for the night that Tiffany, Tanya and Melissa all came to learn that they had something very painful in common. As the snow picked up and every other business had closed down and people left for the safety of their homes, Tiffany realized that they were in for some trouble, now how bad things got was up to them and it was up to her, in her mind, to handle the situation as best as she could. Mike the Manager had left an hour ago and wasn't back yet. He would disappear for a couple of hours at a time sometimes and today claimed he was making an emergency change run where he would go get change from a neighboring business when theirs was low. All the girls themselves didn't have vehicles and were dropped off by mom or dad, Tiffany by her sister Yvonne, so at present they had no way to flee what was coming and would have to hunker down until help arrived.

She first decided to cancel the later showings, something that wasn't in her job description but Mike the Manager wasn't here and it was drastically needed. The snow banks were getting too high and the parking lot too full and it was apparent to all three girls that no car or truck could make it through without it being plowed. So the box office lights were turned off and she closed out the registers and locked the the two sets of double glass doors. The snow there was starting to push against them and was already a foot and a half high. According to Tanya's phone, which they shouldn't have looked at since they were still technically on the clock, the unexpected winter storm wasn't letting up until late that evening and it was only three in the afternoon. They were going to be here for awhile. At least their parents knew where they were but they all texted them anyway, letting them know they were safe and would remain inside. Tiffany even called the Sheriff's department to inform them of the situation and that she would let them know if things worsened or she saw anyone trapped outside in the storm. The entire front wall of the large two story high lobby was mostly windows so much of down town was visible to them. Responsible she thought to herself, sure that they would be alright.

She had told them too about Mike the Manager and that he had made the change run, describing his late 90's red, rusty, two-door Chevy with a shattered and taped passenger window and that she wasn't sure what store he had gone off to. She then grouped with Tanya and Melissa and explained that they would secure the building, finish cleaning up as if it was closing and then clock out. Mike the Manager had reluctantly left her with a set of keys, just in case they needed to get into the stock room for concession items and to start the next shows if he wasn't back in time, so they would be alright and all they would have to do is not panic and be responsible. First up on the responsibility list, making sure all the exits were secure and they didn't have to worry about any windows since there were none outside the lobby. Still they didn't need the cold air getting in or even worse, the snow. Each of the four auditoriums had a fire exit that sometimes people would leave by and sometimes they would get stuck open. Each corridor leading to these auditoriums had exits as well. Melissa was assigned with auditorium 1 and 2, Tanya 3 and 4, and Tiffany would check the side exits. Responsible.

Melissa was very nervous about going into auditorium 1, which the others wouldn't know of course and she was too polite and obedient to say, and he wasn't here anyway, so she did her part without a fuss, smiling even as she had been taught to. She felt lightheaded at first and then as she embarked towards the big screen down the aisle, nearing the back exit, she felt sick to her stomach. The red neon exit sign was so bright compared to the dim theater lights, the scarlet curtains that lined the walls frightening, able to easily hide someone as they had hid Mike the Manager when he popped out and grabbed her early one morning before anyone else arrived. She had been dragged down to behind the screen and raped there among old boxes, trash and mouse traps, her gaze fixated during her ordeal on a dead mouse that had been caught on a glue trap. It obviously had suffered as she was, her insides in so much pain, his weight so suffocating. Still she had to smile each day, still had to continue living, never having told anyone about it, too afraid to make problems for herself, too frightened to even think about it. He was the boss, God in this place, and he could easily ruin what little life she had.

Tanya grew tense as she passed by the janitor's closet, an icy chill running down her spine, the memory of what Mike the Manager had done to her in there, especially what he had done with a plunger handle, too traumatizing, most of it forgotten amid shock, and she started to cry, only partly understanding why. But she had to be good. She had to finish the task at hand. She told herself that nothing really happened and like Melissa would also tell herself, it only happened once and it really didn't matter, not in the long run. No one would or could believe something like that anyway. She had tried to kill herself over it once but her newfound friendship with Melissa and what was a budding friendship with Tiffany kept her going. Had he hurt someone else? Someone else like her who worked there? She was horrified at the thought that he could have or will soon hurt one of them. People like him always managed to continue their sick, twisted ways and always seemed to get away with it. She was helpless she truly believed at her young age. They all were.

Even Tiffany had had a disturbing, horrible run in with Mike the Manager, as she was reminded of when she passed by the concessions counter to go check the side exits on the other end of the theater. He had cornered her after closing one night in the small room between the concessions stand and the back stock room for concessions, where the big freezer for ice was kept. She had been pinned by him up against the cold stone wall, groped violently and nearly raped, Mike the Manager only halting in his evil efforts because he heard someone come into the lobby from outside. People had been in the movies still so the front doors were unlocked, and Tiffany was mortified when she heard her older sister's voice. She couldn't tell if Yvonne could pick up on the fact that something had almost happened, did in fact happen if she was going to be honest with herself, it was still sexual assault, but luckily Yvonne was her ride and stuck around in the lobby for the remainder of her shift. Tiffany shook off the terrible memory, still quite vivid as it only happened about three weeks ago, and continued on with her duties. Responsible.

All Mike the Manager's victims had been teenagers, young ladies soon becoming independent women, just beginning to make their way in the world, most still trying to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives. The most recent three were still under his control even if they hadn't yet realized it and even though he was never one to target the same victim twice he got off on the power he held over them, knowing he not only ruined them but continued to torment them without even trying. It was worse for them and wonderful for him to go on as if nothing ever happened, them having to live with what he had done in wretched silence and him enjoying getting away with the same thing over and over and over again. He felt truly powerful there at work, twenty-eight girls in all, close to twenty-nine cause he didn't fully count Tiffany since he had been interrupted, but there was a sixteen year old waitress a few buildings down that he was attempting to pay a visit when the storm broke out. Unfortunately for Mike the Manager he didn't pay attention to the weather reports and by the time he parked out behind the restaurant, knowing the young pretty blonde took a fifteen to smoke near the dumpsters, he was suddenly trapped in his crappy car, the place entirely empty as all the other buildings were save the movie theater.

As the trio were making sure every door was secure he was attempting to drive in about two feet of snow, his broken passenger window letting in the freezing air, and Mike the Manager was ill equipped for the weather since he hadn't planned to be gone long. His bare hands burned from the cold as he struggled to force his door open with hope that he could truck it on foot back to the theater. As Tiffany came across the back storage room, the door locked and forbidden for anyone to enter but Mike the Manager, she noticed that cold air was pouring in from underneath it. She knew that the room which was used to store posters, boxes of both old and new equipment and various light bulbs and the like had a door that opened to the outside. She figured that Mike the Manager must have left it open, irresponsible as he was, and she knew that they had to close it in case the power went out or they would eventually all freeze. Mike the Manager elbowed at the broken passenger window which was taped up too good, unable yet to bust it fully out as Tiffany, Melissa and Tanya suited up in their winter jackets and gloves, Tanya with white mittens to match her wool cap, the girls determined to break the rules and secure the last door. Responsible.

The three girls felt so close at the moment, a real team and like real friends, Melissa now adorning turquoise and navy blue, Tanya sparkling light pink and Tiffany various sizes and shades of purple squares, giving her matching hat to Melissa for extra protection. Tiffany set on her white earmuffs, then unlocked the door looking at Melissa who brought over the two shovels she found in the janitor's closet. They would have to work fast and she pulled open the storage door, quickly turning on the light and all three girls made their way across the room where plenty of snow had piled in obstructing their chance of closing those partial opened big metal double doors. Mike the Manager finally was able to squeeze himself out the car window, horrified to see that the snow was over four feet now, sinking into it backwards as the girls worked effortlessly shoveling the snow with Tanya pushing on the doors slowly until they all could, making sure not to slip on the wet floor. The doors wouldn't latch and as Mike the Manager stumbled his way in frozen agony barely able to breathe Melissa faced her fear and ran out for auditorium 1, remembering that there was old piping she saw that could be placed through the handles to hold it shut. She managed to find a crowbar instead and rushed all the way across the theater as Mike the Manager could barely pass the building next door, unaware that the door he left open on purpose so to make a quick return from his well planned crime was no longer accessible.

With the doors now secure with the crowbar, Tanya faced her dread and trauma and headed to the janitor's closet, knowing there were old, but clean, towels in there so they could dry off. Tiffany decided that she would mop up the water later and for now they just shut off the light to the room and locked the door. By the time Mike the Manager rounded the two dumpsters behind the theater and noticed the doors were shut tight he could hardly move in the snow that was up to his chest, attempting to cry out but unable to vocalize his misery and he went unseen and unheard. Tiffany noticed the snow out front was over five feet now and she was definitely sure that they would be here for at least the night, handing Melissa the keys, with the one for the office held up. “Go in and turn on the heater on the wall, it's electric not gas... I'll get us some stuff...”

And with that she faced her own fear and went behind concessions, passing through that room where it had happened, and Tiffany used her credit card to buy three large drinks, three large popcorns and plenty of candy. They weren't stealing and they could get all the refills on the popcorn and drinks that they wanted, and she looked up as Melissa entered the office, followed by Tanya, his domain where they weren't suppose to be, defiant yet with a reason, and for the next several hours they wouldn't yet share their horror stories of Mike the Manager, though through their growing friendship they would realize they shared such similar tragedy. For now they drank and ate, eventually clocking out using his computer, then told jokes and tales from childhood, shared teen crushes and beauty tips, and for the first time in a long time felt normal once more. The power never went out and the girls all slept soundly on the office floor, warm and safe. By morning the fire department would have to rescue them through the roof and thankfully Mike the Manager had been responsible enough to give Tiffany those keys so they could access the roof through the upstairs projection room. Mike the Manager's body wouldn't be found for about a week, sad for some but a relief for many. Since that night they all knew, even without having to say a thing to one another, and in time they could finally talk about it. And talk about him who was responsible.