"It's not enough."

The boy stared back at me with a blank expression. He blinked once.

"This isn't enough money," I repeated. The muscles in his face stayed remained so still that I briefly wondered if time had stopped. Just when I was about to turn around to check to make sure the second hand on the clock was still ticking, I saw him blink again.

I raised my eyebrows expectantly but still got no response. What did this kid expect me to do? It's not like I was rolling in cash either, obviously. Does he think I worked at a convenience store just for the thrill? And I mean, sure... I felt for him. But, come on. I don't make enough money for this shit. Does he have any idea how many people come in here every single shift I work and hand me less than the total they owe? Or how many people complain to me about the prices, as if I had any control over it at all? What, was I supposed to cover the tab of every down on his luck son of a bitch that walked through that door and tried to buy a loaded chili dog that he couldn't quite afford? I don't think so, man. And if I help this guy, do I help the next guy, too? And if this guy comes back, will he expect me to pay again? Where would it end? Nah.

I had to admit, though: I was curious. If I'm being honest, this was the most interesting interaction I'd had all day.

I'd seen the dude around before. He'd come into the store a few times since I'd worked there—probably close to a dozen times over the year and a half I'd been behind the counter. Not often enough for me to remember what he usually bought or anything, but often enough that I knew his face and that he spoke English. And he'd certainly been in often enough for me to know he'd never done whatever the hell this was before.

I started to get uneasy and looked down at my feet. I wished it weren't the middle of the night. I wished there were someone working this shift with me. Even working with Bradley was starting to sound better than dealing with this by myself.

His total wasn't even that high. $6.42, which was actually a damn good deal! The energy drinks were on sale 2 for $5 and we also had a deal going at the time where you could get an item from the grill for only a dollar if you spent at least $3 on something else. And he wasn't even that short on the amount; he'd given me a five dollar bill along with three nickels and a penny. Come to think of it, what was the deal with that, anyway? Who tries to pay their total of $6.42 by handing over five dollars and 16 cents?

Wait.

$5.16?

As the realization hit, I inhaled sharply through my nose, and my head snapped back up. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, and my eyes were wide with panic. He still didn't seem to react, didn't move a muscle, didn't so much as flinch.

But when he saw that I had figured it out, I caught the faintest glint in his eye, and that was all the confirmation I needed.