... Beardy ran over to him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, jackass?” he screamed. “Well, one of us has to do something before the cops get here!”
... The robbers scuffled with each other. Anil and I shared a glance. The babushkas began to titter.
... “What about you?” she asked, ignoring our captors’ unprofessional conduct. “Why are you so interested in my condiment habits?”
... I blushed a little. “Ah, I spend a lot of time here,” I confessed. “I’ve tried most of this stuff at one time or another, it’s kind of a running experiment.”
... She giggled and I let out a gasping chuckle of my own. I’d been holding my breath for her reaction without realizing it.
... “Have you heard of Marshmallow Fluff?”
... “That spreadable marshmallow stuff?”
... I nodded.
... “Yeah, I think I’ve had it before. Kinda weird.”
... I hoped that weird was a good thing in her book. “Well I’m trying to find the perfect two things to go with it.”
... “So, like...toast and peanut butter?”
... “Yeah, but I’ve tried that, peanut butter is too dry.”
... “What about just butter?”
... “Doesn't clash, but the butter just disappears under the Marshmallow Fluff, you can’t tell it's there.”
... She nodded slowly, brow furrowed, thinking hard. “Wow, you’re right, it is hard.”
... Inside I was jubilant, but I maintained a serious face.
... “What about-”
... She didn’t get to finish. A loud noise began at the front shutter, making Beardy and Turtleneck flinch in terror. We stood up to get a better look. All eyes turned to the door. The sound was a high pitched screaming, but had a flowing quality to it. Then a bright, grainy beam of light began to break through near the wall. Beardy and Turtleneck exchanged glances and began to back up, their guns held loosely in their hands. I could hear them hyperventilating. We all stood silently staring as the dot of light cut a line across the base of the shutter. Then it stopped, a molten outlined segment now cut into the barrier.
... Suddenly, the shutter rolled up. The robbers were frozen in fear, fascination, curiosity, I don’t know. However, when the SWAT team member burst through the door, I’m fairly sure it was fear. I think Turtleneck wet himself. There was screaming, mainly from the SWAT team. The robbers dropped their guns, throwing their hands in the air. I’m fairly sure that’s how it happened. Beardy’s pistol went off as it hit the floor.
... She was suddenly on the floor, letting out little gasping cries.
... There were a few more gun shots after that, but I was oblivious. I kneeled at her side, frantic, and watched blood begin to stain her shirt at her hip. Her face was twisted with surprise and pain. I was crying. Unsure of what to do, I flapped my hands above her, planning to stop the blood, then hesitating, not wanting to touch the wound and infect it, but then needing to do something.
... It ended with a SWAT man throwing me to the ground, pinioning me, and putting a zip tie around my wrists. He looked at her and began screaming for a medic. Her eyes met mine. Paramedics swarmed her. Face down on the floor afforded a poor view of the proceedings, but medical detritus flew liberally to the floor, and copious anxious and loud instructions were issued.
... We were both lifted at the same time, me by a SWAT officer, her on a stretcher by paramedics, our eyes never leaving each other. She was still conscious. Her lips moved. As they carried her off, she managed to speak to me.
... “Graham crackers. Chocolate.”
... It was genius. I had been thinking of Marshmallow Fluff as a condiment, a sauce, a topping. Instead, I should have thought of it as what it is. Marshmallow. And what do you do with marshmallow? Smores. The crunch of the Graham Crackers would counter the creamy of the Fluff, and a regular bar of chocolate would not have the overwhelming sweetness of syrup.
... My revery was interrupted by the SWAT officer pushing me through the front door and into the parking lot. Police cars, SWAT vans, two ambulances pulling away.
... The details that stand from that night are funny more than anything else. Anil’s look of beleaguered irritation when they burst in. Beardy’s swagger. Turtleneck’s panic. Her giggle. Her smile. The look of pain on her face. She was right of course. Graham crackers and chocolate are perfect. But as I sat at home the next day, munching on the combination, I realized I didn’t know her name and never would.
... I don’t go back to the corner store very often anymore and I don’t really have Marshmallow Fluff much either, in Smore form or otherwise. But I still love it, and those times I do have it, I think of her.
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