When he wasn’t looking / I snuck / a spoonful / of strawberry cheesecake / ice cream / between my lips / crushed the bits / of artificial fruit / between my tongue and / He placed a hand / on the small / of my back / He passed / through the wide / open space / between my body and / the back counter / my body shivered / ate too much ice cream / probably / I liked / sweets / minimum wage and he / liked me / I thought / at least enough / to look past / the late clock-ins and / the rambling stories I’d tell / on slow days / Once / when we worked alone / I told him / about mi abuelita / couldn’t fathom how she / just a little older than me / 18 / left her homeland / married a man / almost twice / her age / That’s just / how they did it / back then / he told me / If this were / the old days / I’d sweep you up / right now / I leaned / back against / the cold metal / sink / stared at my bright / smelled the sugar / of gummy bears / as I swept cookie wrappers / under the mixing table / He told me / a story once / about when he was a teenager / had to be / at least 2 decades ago / his parents watched / silent as / a pair of big / tall men / in uniform / dragged him from his home / against his will / in the middle / of the night / In the middle / of one of my shifts / he led me / to the back / insisted we watch / Top Gun / together / wanted to show me / something I’d never / seen before / He licked / his lips / probably / cherry ice cream / I sat / on the edge / of the scratchy / fold-up chair / he set up for me  / smelled like cheap / My wife’s been making me / sleep on the couch / he texted / one morning I had off / I didn’t respond / when he pointed out the customer / with the tongue piercing / There’s only one reason / she’d get / one of those / he winked / I tightened / the string around / my apron / washed my hands / again / green apple soap / put on another pair of gloves / to keep the food / safe