Mickey and Jim did not fight. Bill had a flurry of late orders, and it wasn’t until almost closing that Lorraine came in and asked him if he had anything to eat. She had never ordered her own dinner and told him she was hungry.
He was in the midst of changing the grease in that second fryer. He had emptied all the grease, spilled it into the barrel outside and was in the process of rinsing out the fryer. Almost all the food was wrapped and ready to be put into the walk-in. The food sat around back on Mary’s counter.
“I’ll cut you a piece of rib,” said Bill. He did not stand up. He kept working and didn’t even turn to face her. “I’ll put some veggies and a baked on the plate. You should eat it in here if you can.”
“I still have a couple of tables. But I’ll come in and out.”
“Give me a minute or two,” said Bill.
The dish machine was halted and the kitchen relatively quiet. It was the end of a long day for Bill. He was tired and the only thing keeping him going were the black beauties. In this regard, he was glad he did not have to drive all the way home. He knew he would sit with Lorraine, smoke a joint, have a drink, chill out. Lorraine was much like Mary, older, calmer, easier to please and eager to please him. She was softer, more curvy too.
When he’d finished rinsing the fryer, he closed the spigot. He took a moment to wipe down the inside of the fryer and the gas jets using dirty kitchen towels to do it. He tossed the towels, now finished, into a heap on the floor. They would go into the laundry bin when he went downstairs. Only then did he go around back to cut the rib for Lorraine. He brought a knife and plate with him. He used one of Mary’s cutting boards, sliced a nice piece of meat for her and plated it. Not wanting to go around front again, he used a male kitchen spoon to cover the rib with au jus. Next he grabbed a baked potato from the pan and using the same spoon dished up some veggies.
Lorraine returned a moment later. It was getting toward closing. The dishwashers were finished and had gone downstairs to change. She was carrying a beer which she put on the server shelf. Bill motioned for her to come around and left her plate for her on his cutting board which was atop his reach-in. She stood and ate while he sipped his beer.
“I have to put some things away,” he said. “And I still have to finish that second fryer. How much longer you working?”
“I still have two tables that are hanging around. They haven’t even had coffee yet and I don’t know if they’re going to want dessert.”
“Well, I’m closing down everything except the grill. I’m going to finish up and make sure everyone gets out of here okay. Mickey and Jim are at it again. Paulie is ever himself. Andy, well, you know Andy, he’s looking at you but because of that funny eye he’s only half looking at you. Won’t be but a few minutes till the van gets here to cart them away. I’ll be glad when it does. What’s the snow like out there?”
“Haven’t seen it in a bit,” said Lorraine. “It wasn’t snowing all that hard so I don’t think it can be too bad.”
Lorraine ate quickly. Every so often she reached for Bill’s beer and helped herself to it. Marie, finished all her work, was sitting on Bea’s stool in the corner of the kitchen by her station. Without the dish machine running and with most of the kitchen equipment shut down, the kitchen was relatively quiet. Bill lit himself a cigarette and went about finishing up.
