THE CORNER SHOP - a short story written by M. E. Heed

I, along with the other villagers, knew them as Pepe and María, the friendly couple everyone loved who had the corner shop in the village for almost 10 years.  We all believed they were married and  from somewhere in South America simply because of their skin colour and their accent, but many thought the country of origin could be Perú.   

Their shop survived Brexit, despite the difficulties and the increase in prices on imported goods such as tea and biscuits which were the items sold the most; and also the horrors of the pandemic years. Pepe and María carried on providing good service to their  loyal  customers.

One morning,  I went to the shop to buy a box of PG tea when I found the shop was closed. On the door was a notice which read: ‘Closed until further Notice’

The villagers were  concerned as the couple never closed their shop, not even during stormy weather. So, rumours  started to go round the village.  

Someone commented:” ho, you didn't hear, they've done a runner with the money as they couldn't keep up with payments”; others gossiped: “they  divorce and each went their own way” and so, the gossip went round the village, no one knew what to believe.  

A month  had gone by since the shop was closed and no one knew about their situation. One Sunday morning,   I was on my usual early walks, and passed the shop, when  I came face to face with Pepe.  I stopped, trying to disguise my shock. He looked thin, fatigued, worried and with baggy eyes.

“Hello Pepe, how are you? It's been a while since we last saw you, what’s up” 

“Hi, It's been a long and difficult few weeks and I couldn't find the strength to even check up on the shop”, Pepe replied.

“But what about María, couldn't she help?”, and I added without thinking  “if you were going through difficult times”. 

“You don't understand,  María was rushed to hospital four weeks ago. She collapsed in her house, her husband found her lying unconscious on the floor. She had suffered a heart attack” 

“I’m really sorry to hear about María. But I don't understand. You said her husband found her, aren't you her husband?”

“Ho no!  María is not my wife, she is just my partner in business, we've known each other many years, we go a long way back” 

No one knew  Pepe and María's real story. The villagers assumed they were man and wife, immigrants from South America. However, Maria was an illegal immigrant and had run away from an abusive relationship in Ecuador and now she was threatened with being deported.  Pepe was certain  couldn't work the shop on his own if Maria was deported back to Ecuador and her abusive boyfriend.

María and Pepe met in a refugee camp where they became friends. When they arrived to Spain, they worked hard and saved up to start a business together which turned into a convenient corner shop in the village for the village.