Bill gave the bottle to Henry Lee. Before he started cutting steaks, he said he had to take care of something upstairs and excused himself. He went up the front stairs, the stairs customers used when they went down to the customer rest rooms and the party room.
Out in the front of the house, he went to Tommy’s office and knocked on the door. When Tommy called out to come in, he opened the door, stepped into the office and closed the door behind him. Tommy was sitting at his desk.
“What can I do for you?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to say I was out of line before and I apologize.”
“I understand,” Tommy said.
“Do you?” Bill asked.
“I know you have a part to play and you’re finding your way. But remember, you’re a college graduate. I expect more from you.”
Bill shifted on his feet. There was nothing to say to that. He looked away, not making eye contact.
“The drinking and smoking marijuana is no good for you. But you’re right,” Tommy said. “I’m not your father or your priest. And I won’t even talk about the carousing.”
“I know,” Bill said.
“I hope you do.” Tommy smiled at Bill. “I have a part to play too,” he said.
“Well,” Bill said, “that’s all I came up for.”
“We’re starting two new girls this week,” Tommy said. “Do me a favor and leave them alone.”
Bill smiled. “I got steaks to cut,” he said. He turned and left the office, walked through the front dining room and into the kitchen. Only Bea was there and she was sitting on her stool reading the racing page again. He walked through the back, checked everything on the stoves, peeked into the oven with the towel-wrapped handle. The prime rib was in there cooking away.
This was a quiet time. The dishwashers were not doing much, mostly just hanging out. They had pretty much finished up everything and were waiting to get off work, waiting for the van to take them downtown. The dish machine was idle. The only noise in the kitchen was the deep base-like droning of the exhaust fans. Those fans ran start to finish, open to close.
Mary was sitting on the stainless steel counter in the meat room. Her legs were crossed at the ankles and she was swinging her feet to and fro.
Bill took a curved butcher’s knife from the knife drawer and honed the blade on a sharpening steel.
“I bet he was upstairs kissing up to Tommy,” Henry Lee said.
“I hope you apologized,” Mary said to Bill.
“What do you need cut?” Bill asked.
“He kissed up,” Henry Lee said. Then, “Cut some Kings and Queens.”
Bill went into the walk-in and came out with three tenderloins. These he laid out on his butcher block. Next he set up the scale and made sure it registered zero with nothing on it. He retrieved a boning knife from the knife drawer and honed it straight. He took the first one and carefully trimmed the veins and fat from it. When he’d trimmed all three, he began cutting steaks.
Mary sat quietly watching. She watched Henry Lee and Bill work. When Bill had finished cutting steaks from the tenderloins, she stood and headed for upstairs.
“I need a sac of potatoes,” she told Bill on the way out.
Bill acknowledged. He took the bourbon from the drawer and offered it to Mary. She sipped it and handed it to Henry Lee. He drank some and passed it back to Bill. Before Bill started on more tenderloins, he brought Mary the potatoes.
Upcoming:
The Ghost Writer, Rose’s Story: A Look At The Worlds We Hide
