Being part of a series involving Chicago and its surroundings.

At the front of the line in the convenience store was a young woman in sweats and a tanktop, holding a tiny suede purse. She had two coffees in styrofoam cups she was paying for. A man in a gray compact car was idling at the curb outside. He must have been waiting for her. The clerk at the register gave her the total. She took a credit card from her purse and handed it to him.

“Sorry,” he said. “$10 minimum.”

The woman looked in the impulse-buy area adjacent to the register for something else to buy. She didn’t seem to be in any particular hurry. Finally she pointed to something on a shelf behind the register. The clerk picked it up and then gave her a look that asked, “Are you sure?” She nodded.

The clerk put a box of condoms down on the counter. He added it to the total. “Sorry. Still not enough,” he said.

She took another gander at her choices and after a long moment of deliberation picked out a single-serve packet of “Mega Stamina” herbs and vitamins. That was enough to put her total over the top. After she signed for her purchases she stuffed the condoms and vitamins in her purse, left the store, and got into the car. She handed one of the coffees to her lucky companion.