And it wasn’t. They had one more actual rush, a rush in that the tables leaving left kind of all at once and the tables seated were almost, not quite, like a fresh seating. So there was a lull and then the bang.
During the lull Edelgarde came over to Bill and asked if he had anymore espresso. Bill told her no but she could ask Kalista to make some.
“I’d give you beer,” he said, “but I’m not lifting the bottle over the counter. I’m still on probation.”
“Be right back,” Edelgarde said.
Jimmy G ran off to the bathroom and by the time he came back the espresso had been delivered. Kalista had made this one stronger, or it seemed that way to Bill as he sipped it. Edelgarde told him she’d sipped it before delivering it.
The girls ate on the run this day, or they ate on the sly. When they said they were hungry, Bill did a couple of things. He asked them what they wanted and made them plates which they picked up and took back to where Kalista worked. They left the plates on the bus station there and ate from them as they could get to them. Bill made plates for the bus boys too, only for them, he made them with more food.
For his girls Bill also cut a piece of prime rib and after trimming it he cut it into pieces and left the pieces on a plate under the warmer lights by his corner of the open hearth. Jo Ann happened by first and Bill showed her, told her it was for them. As they could then, they all ate prime rib.
Caesar would have gotten angry if he’d seen, maybe. The day was so long and so hard and so busy that maybe if he’d seen it he would have let it slide. Bill decided not for that, and in fact he would learn later that Caesar had seen and had said something to the banquet chef. Jimmy Banquet Chef let Bill know he knew. He let Bill know he had to tell the chef, which he would, but that given the day and the way things were going, the chef wouldn’t care. Even if he did care, it wasn’t anything that could in any way be job threatening.
“Kid,” the banquet chef said to Bill, “you’re a trip. “A good one all around.”
When he could, Bill made a special trip out to Kalista. He stood by her a moment and drank some beer. He surveyed all that was going on in the pantry area. He watched the comings and goings of the busboys and the pantry stewards who were delivering and hanging out to see if Kalista needed help. She needed it at times, but she was more than holding her own at the moment.
“And what do you want to eat, darling auntie,” he asked her.
“You good boy,” she said. “You very good boy. I want a nice steak with mashed and stuffing. Put some turkey gravy on it all, not much.”
“I’ll deliver it myself,” Bill said.
“I make extra espresso for you all.”
“Good.” Bill leaned in and did something wholly in the moment, completely extemporaneous. He kissed his adopted-auntie on her cheek.
“You good boy,” Kalista said.
“We’re getting slammed,” Rosie said to Bill soon as he was back in the kitchen, and they did get slammed, slammed almost like that first seating.
For this rush, which they all felt would be the last one of the day, it was all hands on deck. Jimmy Banquet Chef, only because he was younger, went alone to do the running. He was accompanied by his stewards. Victor stayed behind. He stayed as a utility man, to help Jimmy G and Bill and also to help Kalista. His staying turned out to be a smart move.
