Miles Dangerous is what they called him , Miles Spangler was his real name. " Hey there , what can I do for you sport ?". An older man reached past Miles taking money from a gas station patron, " Good day ma'am .....", the older man checked the nicely built looking lady up and down as she exited the station, along with Miles, " Don't eye my customers boy ". " Sorry sir, name is Miles, I was just walking past and happened to try to find out if you needed a cashier by any chance in here?". The man pondered on Miles looks for a second. " Got a resume'? Credentials ? You like to steal from people boy ?". Holding a small laugh in Miles responded no to the last question, " Except a candy bar one day in here by mistake". " Mistake? ", the older man snatched up the reciever of the store phone," Police will be here in a minute, boy why would you steal a piece of candy from me ? Much as I did for you people and here it is , 2019 ! You should be ashamed of your family boy ..", Miles burst out laughing , " No , no Mr. Joe ! Never stole really , only one time accidentally waiting in a long line , started munching on a Twist , forgot to pay. Any chance I can make it up by being a great cashier? Could use the extra money, you can dock me for the candy bar ". Old man Joe put down the phone, spoke with Miles sternly , holding his given sense of humor stern without laughing along with Miles who was still gaining composure. " Morning or evening you decide. You can start day after tomorrow just come in whichever works for you best. Morning starts at 6:00 am , evening starts at 5:00 pm". They shook hands and Miles left the gas station. The day after next came, Miles showed up at 5:00 p.m. ready to start his shift. Old man Joe showed him the basics of his station , show him how to close down and told him he will be back shortly before closing to help him close the gas station. Miles settled into the small stool next to the register and handled his first couple of customers, transactions going smooth when old man Joe came back in the back door with something special. " This is Stubbles , he won't harm you ,don't be frightened by him. Job pays an extra $3 an hour, if you just keep his bowl with water and the other bowl with food and just let him kind of watch you. Stubbles main goal is watching money and believe me you'll know if you even attempt to get over on old Joe and the money". Joe released the chain from the mid-size bloodhound that was they're pretty much standard color of a bloodhound and let him go on and sit not too far from where Miles was sitting. " The dog food is under the cabinet and you know where the water is and he'll let you know when he needs to go out back to the little patch of grass to do his business, just let him out and let him back in". Then Joe was gone and it was just Miles and the older dog Stubbles. The evening went weird for Miles, you never had a job where you had to watch a dog before, never applied for a position at a pet store and hadn't owned a pet in a long time. Stubbles did a little bit more than sit in the room he actually stood right beside Miles , not frightening him ,but watching him like a hawk. Every time Miles moved to check this or check that, every time somebody walked in Stubbles watched Miles and the customer. Watched every movement of money transaction between the customer and Miles. One incident Miles drop some coins on the floor and what do you know? , a deep light blood-hound bellow from Stubbles like a warning to watch what the heck he was doing ," Whoof ..", like boy be more careful ! Miles first few hours past , he had let the dog out to use the grass and Stubbles was back inside sitting silently , when a patron came in around 9:00 p.m. two hours before closing. The man was not dressed as a complete street thug just a little casually street , sneakers , blue jeans ,white T-shirt ,baseball cap and sunglasses. A little loud for the sake of the sake of the silence of the gas station, " Say man, gas man , what's wrong with the pump it ain't working ?" , off of the loudness of the guy startling Stubbles , the dog gave a little warning growl , " What the hell is his problem ? You got killer dogs behind the register growling for no reason ? What kind of station is this pimpin ' ?". Miles was still a little too weary to pet Stubbles , " Aww man , I think you just got him loosened up from you breaking the silence so loudly". The cool street cat in the hat and glasses calmed his voice , but expressed his continued concern about , " Well dogs shouldn't be growling at customs and I don't appreciate the way he was growling. You lucky it's Friday night and I'm on my way to the club and I don't have my pistol I would show the dog what time it is , because that's what happened to dogs that growl at people for no apparent reason..." , Stubbles gave another growl , not threatening , but a little bit louder just for a little more warning. The guy jumped back a bit a little more dramatic than he was actually feeling, " Calm his behind down before I kick him in the ribs and get him ready for my grill at the house ....", turning and speaking to the dog...," You know barbeque and hot sauce puppy dog is great on a plate Roscoe...". Just then old man Joe came in the back door , " Lil Mack, you bothering my dog boy?". The customer eased a tossed a piece of the sweet Hawaiian bread he just bought from the gas station to Stubbles , " Naw old Joe, just making a new guy think I didn't know this old dog here". The guy in the hat gave Miles a hand shake ," Old man Joe is good , hope a lot of people are around these parts, just don't mess them over like I did trying to sneak a carton of cigarettes home one day. Find out quick how a bloodhound can bark so loudly in the middle of the night at the front door of the house ! Later pimpin'.....later Joe ! ". With that the cool guy with the sneakers ,the jeans , the white T-shirt ,the glasses and a hat was gone in his 5.0 mustang sitting on rims after he gassed up at one of the pumps that was working. Old man Joe asked Miles if you think he'd be back and if he liked being a cashier at the little old shop of a gas station , coming from Miles," Not not bad Mr. Joe , I could definitely use the extra money and it's been so long since I had a pet I think I can get used to the company the old bloodhound". " He'll look after you boy , just keep your eye on the money and respect the customers". They locked up and cut the lights to the gas station, " See you tomorrow Miles ", Miles waved from his walking direction headed home ," See you Joe.... see you Stubbay ! ..." ........" WHOOF ! ". ( dedicated as any story like this , to all dogs gone to Heaven- Amen )
© JerryButthead