Mary knew she had to do things. She knew she had children to raise and could not be unemployed. She knew she was maternal.
She knew lots of things.
She knew she could get a job quickly in any other kitchen, that she would not be unemployed for long if she lost this job. She knew she did not want to do that. She knew the danger for her was inconvenience, discomfort and the uncomfortable mess of change. But the danger for Drenovis was worse. For him the danger was that she might just walk out or force him to fire her. She knew the other cooks would walk out with her if he did that, so it was improbable he would do anything. She knew their unity was why she could talk to Drenovis the way she did. She knew their unity and Robert’s support were why they could all do the things they did, mostly with impunity.
“He better come down here and ask me to go back into that kitchen,” Mary said. “I ain’t going up there until he does.”
“Be a cold day in hell ‘fore I’d kiss your ass,” Henry Lee said.
“Not me,” said Bill. “I’ll kiss it right now. Turn around.”
Mary smiled. It was the first smile Bill had seen on her this morning except for the time they were together in the bathroom. Then, there, she had smiled several times. Of course he had smiled too.
“I don’t care if all the shit up there burns,” Mary said.
“It just might if you don’t go up there soon,” Bill said.
“Ask me if I care.”
“You care,” said Henry Lee. “That’s the problem.”
“Ain’t no problem for me.”
“It’s a problem,” said Bill.
“You go up,” Mary said. “Tell him if he wants me back at work, he better come down here and apologize.”
“Jesus Christ,” Bill said.
“Jesus Christ nothing. He’ll do it. Watch!”
Mary got a sly smile on her face. A mean streak Bill had never seen before appeared.
“You better do it,” Henry Lee said. “I seen her like this a couple of times. It really ain’t pretty and there’s no stopping her once she gets this way.”
“You owe me big time,” said Bill on his way out the door.
Upstairs Drenovis was on Mary’s station. He was looking at what was there and adjusting some of the flames on the stoves.
“Be best if you left all that stuff alone,” said Bill.
“Be best if Mary comes back into this kitchen and soon.”
“She won’t come back until you go downstairs and apologize to her.”
Drenovis looked at Bill as if he were crazy.
Bill went up and down the line of stoves. He readjusted the flames the way he wanted them and then checked inside the ovens to see where the rib and the steamship round were in their cooking.
“Don’t look at me like I’m crazy,” Bill said to Drenovis with his back to him. “I’m telling you what I know you need to do in order to get her back up here. You don’t like it, too bad. If you don’t get her back up here, it’s gonna get really bad.”
Satisfied everything was the way he could leave it on Mary’s station, Bill walked away from Drenovis on Bea’s side of the kitchen and over to where Bea was. He immediately copped a feel of her butt as he stood next to her. She was still washing lettuce. She did not shy away from his touch; he felt her press into it. Then he reached into the cocktail shrimp and helped himself to two shrimp. He dipped each one into cocktail sauce before he ate it.
From where he stood, he watched Drenovis. Drenovis lingered a moment on Mary’s station, more to show he was the boss than for any other reason. Then he headed off to go down the stairs.
