Into the mix came Alfreda. She waltzed in at about 2:00. She had driven the van over today after completing all her work.
First thing she did was go out into the side dining room where Bill, Bea, Mary and Henry Lee were eating lunch. The lunch meal had been a good one, not gangbusters, but steady-eddie from start to finish. About 11:15 they had all congregated in the hall, Bea up on her lettuce cases as per usual, Bill down on the metal milk cases, as per his usual. Mary and Henry Lee stood leaning against the wall. Bill and Bea had smoked cigarettes. Mary drank a soda. Henry Lee bitched about all the work he had to do in the afternoon. Meat was coming in today, and that was just an added chore.
As Alfreda ambled up to the table where they sat, she acted almost shyly and stood there at the end of the booth as if she were waiting to be asked to sit in with them.
“What you waiting for girl?” Mary looked up at Alfreda from where she sat and told Bea to scooch over, then slid over herself.
Alfreda sat down and kicked her husband under the table then smiled at him and said hello. Henry Lee simply asked what was up. She said just about nothing was going on, that the lunch over on the west side had been slow and all the work was done so she came over with the van to pick up the meat. Bill asked her if she wanted something to eat but she said that she’d already eaten. She said, kind of quietly, that she’d like to get high.
“We got meat coming in today,” Henry Lee said.
“You got the meat cut for us?” Alfreda asked.
“Yeah. All Bill and me got to do is carry it up for you.”
“Good. I don’t want to hang around long. I want to get back, finish up and get home to the kids.”
“Good,” said Henry Lee. “I’m going to be a little late cause of the meat delivery and what I got to do for both stores for tomorrow.”
“No problem for me,” said Alfreda.
About that time Lexi came in and handed Bill a dupe. It was an order for three hamburgers and two bleus.
“Bring Alfreda a beer,” Bill told Lexi. “And bring me one in the kitchen.”
“It’s what I live for,” said Lexi. She did a little curtsy then about-faced and left the dining room.
Bill got up and went into the kitchen. Since he was coming from that side, he took a bag of fries from the reach-in and dropped enough for the five orders into one fryer basket. He did not drop the basket into the oil yet. Next, he went down the line and from his reach-in box he took the burgers and bleus. He placed them on the Garland without opening the drawer. That done, he took five plates from the plate warmer and set them each with a set-up of lettuce, tomato and pickle. The setups were laid out on a tray so all he had to do was plate them. As soon as he’d done this he turned to the Garland, flipped the hamburgers and rolled the bleus.
He heard the side doors open and saw Alfreda come into the kitchen. She was carrying her beer. She stepped onto the line and stood next to Bill. Bill took her beer, sipped it then handed it back to her.
“Drop the fries,” he told her. He watched her slide down the line and do what he’d asked. At the same time he opened the drawer to the Garland, rolled the bleus again and flipped the burgers again.
“When you gonna give me some, baby?” Alfreda sidled up real close to Bill and tapped his hip with hers.
