Ladies Night by Christian Keyes Page A

reiterate the story twice. Since the non-working security cameras were just there for show, Mr. Lam had to take Amp’s word for how things went down. The fact that Mr. Lam continued to ask questions gave Amp the feeling that his boss was suspicious of his story.
    Amp had been on the clock for a couple of hours and was busy stocking beverages into the cooler, wishing there wasn’t so much tension in the place. Mr. Lam had gone in the back to take a phone call. Amp looked up to check out the black car with dark-tinted windows just sitting out front in the store parking lot. It had pulled up a few seconds ago, but no one had gotten out. Amp felt his heartbeat speed up. What if it was another robbery getting ready to take place? Amp couldn’t imagine coming out of a second robbery unscathed like he had the first one.
    He walked toward the front of the store, wondering whether he should lock the door. Just then, Mr. Lam came out from the back.
    â€œI need to talk to you, Amp.” Mr. Lam’s head was down; he wouldn’t even look Amp in the eyes.
    â€œWhat’s up, Mr. Lam?” Amp had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and now it wasn’t because of the car outside.
    Mr. Lam shook his head, finally making eye contact. “I’m going to have to let you go.”
    â€œWhat?” Amp felt confused and a little pissed off. As far as he was concerned, he’d done a hell of a job in the little bit of time he’d been working there, and had even come close to dying while doing it. “You don’t think I had anything to do with that robbery, do you?” All of a sudden it made sense to Amp. Mr. Lam probably had him repeat the story to see if he could catch him in a lie. He probably thought Amp had set everything up with one of his buddies and had benefitted from the robbery.
    Mr. Lam shook his head. “It has nothing to do with that,” he explained, proving Amp’s theory wrong. “I filed my claim for the robbery with the insurance company. They found out from the police report that I have a convicted felon working at my store.”
    A look of shame slid across Amp’s face.
    â€œSorry. You good worker.” Mr. Lam continued. “It’s no big deal to me, but they double cost of insurance if I keep you on. I can’t afford that.” Mr. Lam shot Amp a stern look and wagged his index finger. “Why you not told me?”
    â€œYou didn’t ask, so I didn’t think that it mattered.” Amp hadn’t been deliberately trying to withhold information from Mr. Lam, but after his experience trying to find a job at the mall, he hadn’t been in any hurry to divulge his status as a convict. It was sort of an “If they don’t ask, I don’t tell” policy.
    â€œSorry. Nothing I can do.” Mr. Lam walked over to the cash register, opened the drawer, and counted out some money. He walked back over to Amp and handed him a wad of bills. “Here’s money I owe you for this week.”
    Amp paused for a moment, trying to conjure up any words that might convince Mr. Lam to change his mind. It was useless, though. Deep down, he knew he would have done the same thing if he were in Mr. Lam’s position, so he did not fault him. Without counting it, Amp took the money and put it in his pocket. “Thank you.”
    Mr. Lam nodded sadly and watched Amp leave.
    â€œTwo steps forward, one step back,” Amp said to himself as he walked back toward the halfway house with his shoulders slumped and his head hung low. Just as he was getting back on track, some fool with a machete had derailed his plans. The whole situation left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Chapter 11
    Babyface stood at the foot of the California king-sized bed in the luxuriously decorated bedroom, pulling up his pants.
    â€œYou mean you’re really going to leave?” the woman lying in the bed asked. “But we make such good music together. What