After the lunch, Bea, Mary, Henry Lee and Bill ate together in a booth in the side dining room. They made sure no customers remained in that room before they sat down to eat. Over in the west the kitchen sported a table where the help sat to eat. Here there was no room inside the kitchen.
Bill and Henry Lee ate roast beef rare on a hamburger bun with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. Mary and Bea ate chicken salad, Bea’s special for the day. They shared a huge plate of French fries and another one filled with onion rings. Bill had Norma bring beers for everyone. She wasn’t too happy about being designated for it, but Bill didn’t care. Bill had learned that he could do just about anything he wanted with waitresses. He promised her a steak for dinner if she kept the beer coming and he promised her a Filet Mignon if she went to the liquor store for him. She couldn’t pass that up. She could already taste the first-class dinner.
Mary was the cook on call, so when the one late order came in—the waitress brought the order to their lunch table—she started to get up. Bill said he would do it, and since he was sitting on the outside, he stood and went into the kitchen.
First thing Bill did was put the hamburger and steak on the broiler. Then he went around back to check that everything was all right. Satisfied, he lit a cigarette and stood by the hall entrance to the kitchen until he had to turn the food. He flipped the burger but he only rotated the steak. This way, when he did flip it, the up side had diamond marks, the cross-cross. Last, he dropped two orders of fries and when they were done he lifted the basket so they would drain. He set up the hamburger plate, toasted the bun, plated the burger and the steak. Finally, he shook fries onto each plate, put the plates up on the shelf under the warmer lights and rang the bell for the waitress.
Bill stayed in the kitchen. Norma came in and he told her exactly what he wanted from the liquor store. He gave her money and since they were alone, he walked her out into the hall where he kissed her. She kissed back, maybe not so much because she wanted to, but because they still met from time to time. Bill reached up her dress and she let him. In fact that started her off so much that she helped him help her have a quick moment of pleasure. She kissed him afterward, one long passionate kiss, and she told him she could reciprocate later if he wanted. Then she went out the back door and off to get the bourbon.
When Bea, Mary and Henry Lee came back into the kitchen, Bill was cleaning the line. Henry Lee brought in Bill’s unfinished beer and Bill took a moment to finish it off.
“Norma go to the liquor store?” he asked Bill.
“Yeah. It cost me a filet mignon.”
“So what?”
“That’s what I say.”
“You better be cool,” Mary said. “Tommy knows everything.”
“And?” Henry Lee said.
“Mary’s right,” Bill said. “I know Robert won’t let anything happen to any of us, especially you guys. But we don’t have to push Tommy into a corner. He’s really a nice guy when all is said and done.”
“He is,” Mary said. “I don’t want to mess him up.”
“You two too easy,” Henry Lee said. “I’m going downstairs.”
“See you in a bit,” Bill said.
He went back to work cleaning the line, breaking down the steam table, scrubbing the grills and the stainless steel and straining the fryers When that was done, he went to the back to see if Mary needed anything. She said she had everything she needed, so Bill sat out in the hall and waited for Norma. When she got back, she handed Bill the bottle of bourbon in a brown paper bag.
“I’m on a split shift,” she said. “See you later.”
“I’ll be here,” Bill said as he started down the stairs.
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The Ghost Writer, Rose’s Story: A Look At The Worlds We Hide
