Maybe because she was so tired, maybe because on top of being tired she also felt weary, when Bea went downstairs to change she stopped in the hall by Bill who was sitting on the milk cases. Almost as if they’d never had that fight, she leaned over and kissed him on his lips and while she did so she reached between them to feel him up.
Bill was a bit surprised but he did not stop her. In fact, he took her hand and held it on him so that she did not take it away too soon.
“I am so slushy you could put a fist in there,” she said.
“Have to try it some time,” Bill said.
“Don’t think so.” Bea laughed, stood up and away from him. “That’s it for me. I’m done for the day. Tell Mary move her ass.”
That was it. A kiss, a feel, a comment, and Bea was on her way.
Bill had no intention of getting up and going into the kitchen to say anything to Mary. He had no intentions of doing anything other than sit there for as long as he could.
It was getting on toward seven now. Soon he would have to go in and do the grease if he wanted to get out on time. And he definitely wanted to get out on time because he had spoken with Arlene and they were going to her place after work.
He lit a cigarette, sat there smoking. They had done a few orders but nothing much to talk about between four and six. In the last hour though they’d had a decent rush, not one that required an expediter, but one that kept him and Jimmy busy for the whole hour. Now it was quiet again and they all thought it would probably stay this way until closing.
He was still sitting when Mary came out of the kitchen. She stopped by him to tell him that her station was in order like any other night and that all he had to do was close it up. She also told him she’d wrapped everything she could to make it easier on him. Then she leaned in and gave him a little kiss, nothing much, just a closed-lip kiss on the lips.
“Let’s go to the Upper Room this week,” he said.
“Boy, you getting married in about two weeks. What you doing?”
“It is what it is,” said Bill. “I’m going to enjoy my last two weeks of bachelorhood.”
Mary smiled, looked at him, turned her face slightly and looked at him some more. “I ain’t gonna be party to that,” she said.
“Course you are,” he said. “It’s precisely you I want to make love to.”
“You one crazy white boy,” said Mary. This was the last thing she said before she went on down the stairs.
Jimmy had gone outside and was standing leaning against the back wall of the restaurant. He was smoking a cigarette taking in the beauty of the evening, a gorgeous May evening in Columbus with the sun just beginning to make its way down from the sky. He didn’t figure on doing any more work for the rest of the night because it was just about time for him to be going home. He was waiting for Bill to tell him it was okay.
Arlene and the two new girls, Lily and Brooklyn, were closing. Victoria said she would stay as long as she was needed, but it didn’t seem as if she was going to be needed much longer.
Tommy was in and out of the kitchen every so often. He was busy out front closing out the checks from all the waitresses. He already knew but would soon discover for certain that the fifty dollars the kitchen help was getting, except for the dishwashers of course, was trivial compared to the money the waitresses made for having done so many covers.
