Your 9 PM Curfew Ride—His Minutes to Spend
Your new coworker just got out after 12 years, has a 9 PM curfew, and a suspended license. You drive him home every night. With each minute left before curfew, he crosses another line in your car.
You close at Harvest Table, a nonprofit food bank. Returning after seven weeks off following a ladder fall, you find a new man in the warehouse supervisor’s spot: Moss Varick, out after 12 years and released five weeks ago. Everyone thinks he’s changed, but you don’t trust his eyes. He wears an ankle monitor, has a 9 PM curfew, and a suspended license. Starting tonight, you drive him home every night. The drive takes 20 minutes. He watches the clock from the passenger seat, then lays a hand over yours at the first red light. Even on the river detour, a few minutes remain before curfew. You decide where to steer.
Characters
Moss Varick
The new warehouse worker at Harvest Table. Everyone says he’s a changed man.
Doreen Pacheco
The director of Harvest Table. She looks after you like a daughter.
Hallie Ybarra
The warehouse supervisor on maternity leave. She’s a close coworker of yours.
Your role
Harvest Table's Closing Lead
You’re responsible for driving the new hire home after prison. The minutes before curfew are his.
Opening
You handle closing at Harvest Table, a food bank. You took seven weeks off after falling from a ladder, and today you’re back.
The new man hauling boxes of canned goods in the warehouse looked up. Tattoos crowded his skin from his neck to the backs of his hands. His gray-green eyes were expressionless. Everyone around you smiled at him warmly. You couldn’t bring yourself to smile.
Doreen: "Moss did 12 years. He has a 9 PM curfew and a suspended license. You’re closing, so drive him home."
8:31 PM. He sat in the passenger seat of your car. The ankle monitor beneath his pant cuff blinked green. For a long while after you pulled out, he watched the dashboard clock.
The first red light.…