Phase I.II- Exploration

Ange grabbed another box of cereal, this time Corn Flakes.

That made some beer, pre-made muffins, ice cream, some bread and jam and peanut butter to put on the bread, some apples and bananas (for "health", bah!), premade sandwiches, and other foods she didn't need to really "cook".

Strangely, the store was almost empty. Just one other person was there. She was a brunette in her 20's, with a pink sundress, pushing a shopping cart full of "rabbit food." She turned to acknowledge Ange, nodding with a strange smile, before returning to her duties.

Ange had a brief moment of confusion, before heading to the cashiers. The cashier was a young man who looked vaguely familiar to Ange. He had a brown, scraggy hair; brown mustache; blue eyes; some shaving cuts, and wearing an apron over his white shirt. He stratched his hair on the back and lit a cigarette, before attending to Ange's need.

"Hey, there." The cashier casually took the items and scanned them. "Enjoy our store today?"

"Well, it's well-stocked. It had some good products."

"We have get the best brands here. Pretty good shit from the big brands. And some are rebranded specifically for the Stepford style."

"Oh, I thought about that. I thought they all had a special theme or something."

"Nah, it's manufactured specifically for this locale."

"Oh, that's cool."

"You new here?"

"Yeah, just moved from New York."

"Oh, nice, I used to live there."

"Oh, you're the second person who's said that to me." Ange laughed.

"We have people from all over the country. All over the world."

"Nice." Ange looked around again. "Hey, I have a question."

"Hmm?"

"Where is everyone?"

"Oh, it's Sunday. Most people are at church or at home."

"A lot of religious people here?"

"Eh, there's a many, sure, not just Christians either, but Sunday is a just good day to just unwind from errands for everyone. Focus on household chores."

"Oh, sounds reasonable."

As the cashier scanned the items, he looked at them.

"Your husband likes pre-made food like this?"

"I'm a widow."

"Oh, sorry to hear about that."

"Thank you, it was a while ago. No, these are for me and my son."

"Oh, you came here with your son?"

"Yeah, the brochure for this place was on his body, and I liked what I saw. I thought it could be a new start for me and my son."

"Oh, so it was your idea to come here?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry, it's just.... not many people like that. Who decide like that."

"Well, I'm not 'many people'."

"Neither am I" Emmett laughed.

"I don't know how to cook very well, so I just buy this stuff."

"Well, if you ask me, your son might appreciate more homecooked meals, if you want to give it to him. Might make you closer too."

"I don't know, it's not in my nature."

"You never know, Stepford is a great place to try new things. And it has a habit of bringing people together."

The cashier finished, swiped her card, and packed her groceries.

"Welcome to Stepford" the cashier handed her back her groceries.

"Thanks... Emmett." Ange noted the nametag finally.

Ange began to walk out, but turned and asked: "Say, you look a lot..."

"I get that a lot. I'm not the person you're thinking of."

Ange shrugged. Worth a shot.

Once she was out of earshot, Emmett headed to the back of the store, and found a nice corner. He pulled up his sleeve and spoke into his watch. "Contact made. Standing by for instructions with regards to subject Angelica Lopez."

---

"Yo, kid, I'm back."

Ange brought in all the bags as she entered. She put them on the kitchen counter.

"Yo, I got Mickey D's for us to eat."

She held up a paper bag with the old McDonalds chef logo on it.

"Hey, Ben, come and get it while it's hot."

"Hang on."

Ange decided to see what was so important that he was going to miss dinner. She came up stairs, and went to Ben's room. She could see him sitting in a beanbag chair.

He seemed to be playing a football video game. Seems he figured out the wifi. He had his gaming headphones on.

The second half had just ended, and it was the halftime. The CGI cheerleaders had come out and doing their thing. This game had them do a standard cheer. Ange was about to tear off his gaming headphones, when she noticed something: He was rubbing his crotch through his basketball shorts.

She was stunned, and froze, unbeknownst to him. She looked back at the screen. The animated cheerleaders were doing there thing and he seemed to be getting off on it.

Ange walked back to the stairs and descended. She returned to the kitchen counter, and sat. She would've been outraged... but it made too much sense to her. He hadn't had a girlfriend since Suzie (a cheerleader) broke up with him.

Ange knew he was probably jerking off, but to see it in action- and to crude video game cheerleaders, who looked like sporty Amazons more than anything- gave her pause. She wondered if he was acting out partially because of this.

"Done! Coming down."

Ange was broken by Ben's voice. She pulled out the McDonald's as he came down. She mulled talking to him, but decided to hold off today.

He just needed to blow off some steam.

---

Ange and Ben sat and eat their McDonalds. Normally, they wouldn't talk while they ate their fast food.

But that was New York. This was Stepford.

"So, you got the wifi working?"

"Yep. Got a new football game."

"Nice, wouldn't mind me playing with ya?"

"You sure you can keep up?"

"I can."

The two laughed.

"I went to the grocery story, did the furniture shopping a bit-it's coming in a few days, went looking for a new washing machine, in case the guys here don't come through and just got the lay of the land."

"Anything interesting?"

"Not much. Some lady stared at me weirdly at the grocery store, but I met a pretty cool cashier. He was from New York too."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, and our neighbors, too. I might know one of them too!"

"The Indian lady and the blonde?"

"How'd you..."

"I saw them through the window."

"Oh. Those are Sita and Debbie. I gotta catch up with Debbie. It's been a while."

"The Indian lady was doing some stuff in the yard. Debbie came out a few times to talk."

"Sita was... interesting. I spoke to her when we moved in."

"Oh, yeah?"

"She seemed very formal. Didn't swear."

"Huh. Anything else?"

"Well, the McDonalds was weird. It wasn't a restaurant, just a window with the menu on top. Like... I dunno, a foodtruck?"

"That's how McDonald's used to be."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you'd get your foot at the window, and you couldn't sit down."

"The guy did say that there was special branding for existing companies."

"We ought to take a tour sometime."

"We should. I also learned there's a lot of religious people here. I saw a few when I was looking around. Wore these really gaudy church clothes. Very over the top."

Ben laughed as Ange described them. The two would talk into the night, moving to the couch in the adjacent living room after finishing their dinner. They hadn't had a conversation like this in a long time.

The two eventually tired, and went to sleep. Ben went upstairs to his room to change. Ange watched him move to his room at the foot of the steps. She stood, realizing that she might be the icebreaker needed to get Ben to emerge from his cocoon. Through being slightly more involved with his life, he opened up a lot just today. Imagine if she actually encouraged him a little. But how?

Emmett's words echoed a little. She moved back to the kitchen and dug up something: A large, brown hardcover journal. In it, various recipes written in both English and Spanish. Her mother had compiled this when she was a kid, doing both her Italian recipes and her paternal grandmother's Cuban recipes. She had hoped to have Ange learn some of them, but Ange was uninterested.

Ange kept the book through her life out of respect for her mother, but always hid it after moving, feeling guilt over never using it when her mother was still alive (Tim tended to use it more), but now that she was starting a new life...

She shook her head. I'm not so sure about this.

Still, she placed it into one of the drawers before going back to sleep.