Lexi stopped by just before she left to let Bill know that she had spoken with her friends and they were planning a wild girl’s night out. She said she was really disappointed, especially because they could have spent the night together, but she had made the plans a while ago and didn’t want to cut out on her friends. For some reason she made it important to tell Bill that no men were involved, only women, but she also let him know that that did not preclude any fooling around amongst friends. Bill said he was disappointed, but Lexi told him not to be, that she could arrange what he was thinking about with one of her friends whenever he wanted. She suggested it might be nice for his new year’s present. Bill said “indeed” to that notion.
Bea, Bill and Mary found themselves out in the hall when the dinner was all set up and everything was ready and in place. Grandma and Jimmy were inside the kitchen, Jimmy going down the line checking on everything, Grandma doing what she did in the back. Mary and Bea were in their civvies and just waiting to go home. They had not put on their coats yet. They were waiting to see if Henry Lee was coming up to go home with them.
The lunch had been good, quick-paced and steady all the way through. Dinner was anyone’s guess. So far for the week it had been relatively slow, but not dead, and it had been increasing steadily. Tuesday was much better than Monday, but that was a regular pattern. Tonight promised to be at least decent. A full complement of waitresses was working and that included Lorraine and Norma as well as Victoria and three others, two of whom were relatively new and still somewhat on probation. Being on probation meant being subjected to Drenovis’ whims as much as anything else.
Mary was tired and ready to crash. She asked Jimmy to make her three cheeseburgers with French fries to go, this so she didn’t have to cook when she got home. Ordinarily she did not take food home, but it was a perk for her and the cooks as long as they didn’t get piggy about it. Tommy didn’t care. Mary had told him up front and he said to bring them steaks if she wanted, but she was quick to let him know the kids would like the burgers better. So she sat on the milk cases and Bea on the now low stack of lettuce cases and they waited for both the to-go food and for Henry Lee, to see what he was doing.
Henry Lee had messed with Marie when she’d come in. Marie had a bruise on her cheekbone and that meant Mr. Marie had socked her one. He probably had cause because Marie wasn’t exactly the most faithful wife. No one there was faithful, husbands or wives or Bill, the husband-to-be. Both Bill and Henry Lee, because they’d discussed it, felt it would have been more manly for Mr. Marie to leave as opposed to beating her, but it wasn’t their call. Henry Lee had said that he wouldn’t beat Alfreda or leave her if she cheated. He’d said that paybacks were a bitch and he pretty much deserved whatever she did. He also said that he hoped she kept it in the family, meaning he preferred, and he’d said it this way, that it be with someone like you, meaning Bill, than someone strange.
“Tell me she ain’t said nothing to you never,” Henry Lee had said once to Bill. “And tell me you ain’t never thought about it.”
Bill had stayed silent.
Finally, getting impatient, after Jimmy had handed Mary the bag with the burgers to go, Bea got up and called down to Henry Lee for him to let them know what he was doing. Henry Lee told her keep her panties on, that he’d be right up.
Then they were gone, all three of them, and Bill sat in the hall alone.
“Could sure use a beer,” Jim the dishwasher said peeking his head out into the hall.
