rapindustryfanfiction:

Nelly stood in the first aid aisle of the CVS, holding two boxes of bandages. One was Band-Aid, and the other was the knockoff CVS brand. He held one in each hand, looking back and forth at the boxes.

He knew for sure that the Band-Aids were high quality, but they were expensive. He had four dollars in his wallet, and the Band-Aids were $3.99. The CVS brand seemed okay, but it was a risk. Sometimes offbrand bandages were too flimsy, or stretchy, or came unstuck when he sweated. He wasn’t expressing solidarity to his imprisoned brother if his bandage fell off in the street.

He thought of his brother, sitting alone in a small cell, his body thin but wiry from long prison workouts, the prison uniform loose at his waist and tight across his shoulders.

Nelly hadn’t written a letter in two weeks.

He put the CVS brand bandages back on the shelf and walked to the checkout counter. He set them down firmly, but gently.

“Just these,” Nelly said.

The girl at the counter scanned the bandages. She smacked her gum. “Four twenty-eight,” she said.

Nelly had forgotten about tax.

“Oh no,” he said quietly to himself. He began rummaging through all his pockets, searching for change. “Oh no, oh no, oh no.”