Much as he didn’t want to, he sat. They sat. Kalista had homemade sweets and she set out a plate from which the boys, her boys, could help themselves.
Jimmy G ate. First time he leaned in to get something from the plate, his aunt slapped him upside the head, not hard, just firm and surprising. Jimmy said something to his aunt in Greek but she responded in English to the effect of saying she’d hit him any time she pleased, hard as she pleased. She thanked Bill, as she did often, for not complaining about Jimmy’s laziness.
“I only know you a little while,” Bill said, “but I hope you know I think the world of you. Anything for you, love.”
Kalista smiled. As she did so, she went over to the espresso machine and made espresso for them all. They sat. They drank. Bill smoked a cigarette.
Jo Ann came by first. She was still in her civvies. Seeing them sitting, she looked at the clock on the wall. “You all set up or not even started yet?” she asked.
“Not started,” Bill said.
“Gonna be ready?”
“Why not? We have time.”
“Don’t want to hear his mouth,” Jo Ann said.
“I take care of him,” Kalista said. “I make sure he no bother my boys.”
Jo Ann helped herself to a piece of the pastry. “Keep him off our backs too,” she said.
“I hold the keys,” Kalista said.
And she did. Everyone knew she did. Everyone there associated with The Falstaff Room knew she had the goods on Caesar and knew it had to do with that waitress he’d caused to quit. That waitress had confided in Kalista, mother figure that Kalista was.
Jo Ann looked great, Bill thought. She had on tight jeans and a low-cut top that hugged her enough to reveal some but not too much of her bosom. She wore heels and she moved about comfortably in who she was. She presented herself much younger than her age and was definitely attractive.
Jo Ann always liked Kalista’s pastries and did not generally miss an opportunity to have some. She stood by everyone and she would have stayed longer if Caesar had not come by. He was on his way in for the day, ever himself in that he did not bother to stop or say hello. He had his tux on but he carried his jacket over his shoulder. His shirt collar was open, no bow tie yet.
“We need to get started,” Bill said.
“Ya,” Jimmy G said.
Kalista shook her head. She didn’t say anything.
Jo Ann made a face, shrugged her shoulders, quickly walked through the double doors into The Falstaff Room after Caesar.
Kalista went to the main kitchen with her boys. She needed some things brought out to her pantry station and told the boys she was using their truck. Bill and Jimmy G didn’t care. Even if it meant making an extra trip they wouldn’t have cared.
Kalista was happy to see Victor and Jimmy Banquet Chef. She spent a lot of time talking with them in Greek. They were working on the potatoes for the breakfast in the morning. Bill noted that she would say something and then look over toward Jimmy G. That, he thought, did not bode well for his partner.
By three-thirty Jimmy G and Bill were just about all set up. They had carried out all supplies and set up everything that needed to be set. The only things they had left to carry out were some hot items. They also had to pick up the prime rib which was still cooking. Because nothing much was going on in the main kitchen, the rotary oven was not fired up and the rib was set in one of the conventional ovens. It still had a bit more to go.
“You guys all set?” the banquet chef asked.
“The Pope Catholic?” Bill replied.
“Got time to see your girlfriend,” Victor said to Bill.
