Chapter 2 - The Camera Above Register Six
The store manager took us into a small office behind the stockroom.
Simone refused at first.
“I’m not sitting in some back office like a criminal.”
The manager, a gray-haired woman named Linda, didn’t blink. “Then you can wait outside while the child’s father reviews footage involving his daughter.”
That shut Simone up.
Maya sat beside me, holding a cold bottle of water against her cheek. Caleb and Zoe stayed near the door.
Linda pulled up the security feed.
The timestamp showed 2:17 p.m.
On the screen, all four of them approached the register. Simone placed three pairs of shoes on the counter. Caleb bounced with excitement. Zoe hugged a silver shopping bag to her chest.
Maya smiled.
That smile destroyed me.
She looked happy.
Safe.
Normal.
Then Simone leaned toward the cashier and said something. The cashier scanned Maya’s shoes separately.
Linda turned up the audio.
“Refund these,” Simone said.
Maya’s smile disappeared.
“But Dad said I could get them.”
Simone’s voice sharpened. “Your father says a lot of things.”
“Why are you returning only mine?”
Simone grabbed Maya by the wrist.
Maya pulled back.
Then came the slap.
Not hard enough to knock her down.
Hard enough to humiliate her.
Hard enough to make my little girl freeze.
In the office, nobody breathed.
On-screen, Caleb looked shocked. Zoe started crying.
Simone hissed, “Stop embarrassing me.”
Maya whispered, “I didn’t do anything.”
The cashier looked uncomfortable but said nothing.
Then Simone pocketed the refund receipt and walked away with the white sneakers still in her hand.
I paused the video.
“Why did she keep the shoes if she refunded them?”
Linda looked at me carefully.
“Because the cashier made a mistake. She processed the refund before receiving the merchandise back.”
I turned to Simone.
“So you got the money back and kept the shoes?”
Simone crossed her arms. “I was going to return them later.”
“To who?”
Silence.
Linda clicked to another camera angle.
Simone walked away from the register, pulled out her phone, and checked a banking app.
Then she smiled.
Not at the kids.
At the screen.
I felt cold all over.
“Where did the refund go?”
Linda checked the transaction details.
“Original payment was your card, Mr. Carter.”
“That’s right.”
“The refund was redirected to a digital wallet.”
I stared at Simone.
“You can do that?”
Linda nodded slowly. “With manual approval.”
Simone’s face changed.
That was the first moment she looked scared.
I stood.
“How many times have you done this?”
“Andre—”
“How many?”
Caleb suddenly spoke from behind us.
“Mom does it a lot.”
Simone spun around.
“Caleb.”
The boy flinched.
Then Zoe started crying again.
“She said we weren’t supposed to tell him.”
I looked at both children.
“Tell me what?”
Caleb swallowed.
“That Maya’s stuff costs too much.”
May you like
Then he said the sentence that made my stomach drop.
“Mom returns her things after you leave.”
