Bill went into the men’s room to get dressed. He had not put on his used underwear from the day before, so he had no underwear on. It was, in the scope of things, just a minor inconvenience. He reminded himself, and he had meant to do this many times already, to put a full change of clothes in his car to have there.
When he came out of the men’s room he heard Bea and Mary talking. Bea was telling Mary that he had no drawers on because he went into the men’s room to change. Mary was telling her she didn’t care, that it was none of her business. They both had a good laugh at it. But first thing, Bea asked him if he’d been home. Bill said no, that he’d spent the night with Arlene and they should both get their minds out of the gutter because it was nothing like they were already imagining.
Bea guffawed.
Mary shook her head.
They all went upstairs, Bill walking behind Bea and reaching up her kitchen dress all the while up the stairs. He managed to cop himself a good feel, and when the feeling got good, Bea stopped and just stood there for him so he could continue feeling her.
“Damn, boy,” she said. “You all should have started that before we came upstairs. I’d have taken you into the party room and given you a party.”
“It’s never too late.”
“So let’s turn around.”
“I’ve got things to do. So do you.”
“Don’t think I won’t catch up with you later,” said Bea.
First thing Bill did when he got up on the kitchen floor was take a cup of coffee. Mary did that too and Bea was right behind her. Then they were all there, Bill and Mary standing on Bea’s station, Bea sitting on her stool like she always did and starting into reading the racing page in The Dispatch. Also like always, she asked if they wanted to play numbers or lay down a bet on the horses. Bill played numbers for both him and Mary, but neither he nor Mary made any bets on the horses. They never did.
While they stood there, Bill and Mary did an inventory of the things in Bea’s reach-in. They checked the chocolate pudding, the rice pudding, all the pies and the boiled shrimp. Doing so, they each made a mental note of what they needed to cook for over there. Bill knew that Mary was making a mental note because once she looked away she told him that they needed to make rice pudding. Bill replied that he thought the chocolate pudding would make it through the day. He also said that he thought they ought to run shrimp salad as a special to get rid of the old cocktail shrimp. Mary said that that wasn’t a bad idea.
And so it went.
When they finished their coffee, Bill and Mary headed to the back prep station. Bill looked in Mary’s walk-in where he could see the leftover round. He could see there was plenty to start off the day with, so he took a moment and went through the entire walk-in box to see what was there and what needed to come out to get used up. That done, a new mental note in his head, he came back out and headed down the stairs without saying a word to Mary.
He was speeding pretty good now. But he was still tired and he knew he needed to sleep. He knew sooner or later he would have to crash and that was never a happy moment. Before he got the round to carry it upstairs, he took himself a good, long swig of bourbon. Then he popped another black beauty, one he’d been keeping in his pocket.
