Chapter Seven

Ruby

As we drove to the diner after school, I glanced over at Luke and slowly shook my head. How had he done it so fast? And why?

People like Luke just didn’t exist. I had eighteen years of proof.

While my mind wandered, he looked over and caught me staring at him. I quickly looked away and may have blushed a little. Never a good thing, it doesn’t go well with purple hair.

He frowned and asked, “So, are you going to tell me why you took off on Saturday.”

My heart fell. How could I tell him that I hated his home? Everything about it made me feel like a total loser. I’d sat there in the silence, afraid to move, afraid I might break something. All the while, knowing I didn’t belong.

The longer I sat, the sicker I felt, until I just had to get out of there. Even if it meant going home.

No way I was telling him all that, instead, I shrugged my shoulders and said, “I had to deal with him sometime.”

Luke continued to frown but he didn’t ask for more.  I knew he knew I was holding back, but he was nice enough not to push the issue.

“So, any suggestions to working in a diner?” I asked, desperate to change the subject.

Luke laughed, “Yeah, it’s like juggling. Try to keep all the balls in the air. If one drops. Just start over and keep going.”

My stomach tightened up. I was nervous, but not overwhelmed. How hard could it be? You wrote down their order and you took them their food. Even I could do that.

When we pulled into the parking lot, my heart lurched as Luke let out a long whistle. The place was packed.

“I bet the pass is closed again. This always happens when they close it,” Luke said as he found one of the last open spots.

Great, just what I needed for my first day.

As Luke opened the front door, a blast of warm, French fry tinged air, washed over me. The din of noise was almost as powerful. Every table was full. Each of the counter stools had a big butt on it. It was like walking into a storm. My feet were screaming at me to turn around and run.

“There you are,” Meagan exclaimed from behind the counter. She looked like a pissed off squirrel having a bad day.

“That bitch Allison took off. Couldn’t wait to get to South Dakota. Who is in a rush to go to South Dakota?”

Pouring a coffee while she slipped the bill to another customer. Meagan shook her head and said, “Ruby, grab a uniform in the back. There should be something in your size. They’re all clean. Luke, get in there and help Jimmy before he shoots someone.”

I froze. What? Now? just like this?

Luke laughed, patted me on the back and hurried into the kitchen. I swear the boy was loving this. He rushed in there like he was rushing into a burning building to save someone. A smile that reached his eyes and a bound in his step.

I, on the other hand, I had never felt so alone.

“Come on,” Meagan said as she started another pot of coffee. “I need you. Hurry.” The frantic tone of her voice let me know this was serious and I should do as she demanded or pay the price.

Still, I couldn’t move. It was like I was standing on a tall cliff and someone was telling me to step off. But hey, I could do this, I told myself three times. It was only waitressing. And what was the worse thing that could happen?

I could make a complete fool of myself. I could get fired from the only job I was probably ever going to get. And yeah, I could end up on the street or back in a trailer with my scumbag step-dad. So no big deal. Right?

Taking a deep breath, I headed for the back.

It wasn’t difficult finding a uniform that fit. Have I told you that puke green and deep purple don’t exactly go together? Well, they don’t. Either I was going to have to convince Jimmy to change the uniforms or I was seriously going to have to consider a different hair color.

Oh, well, I’d had this purple for three months. Time to change anyway. Maybe fire-engine red. I’d look like a Christmas elf. Of course, that assumed I made it through the night without poisoning anyone, scalding them, or generally ruining Jimmy’s business.

Tying an apron around my waist, I stepped out of the back room and into pure chaos. People were talking, Silverware clinking on plates. Customers calling for Meagan, demanding her immediate attention. All of it, one solid wall of noise

She ignored the mayhem around her and walked up to me, handing me an order pad and a blue pen.

“Here you go honey,” she said with a sweet smile. “You take these ten tables,” she added, indicating which were mine. “And I’ll take the other ten, the counter, and the till.”

“But …” I was lost already.

She laughed, “Don’t worry about it. A hundred years from now. It’s not going to matter. You are allowed three mistakes. Then Jimmy will frown, shake his head, and you get another two dozen chances. So don’t worry. His bark is worse than his bite. Besides, it’s me you need to worry about, and I’m so happy to have you here, you could be slower than Quasimodo on a bad day and I’d be happy.”

“But …”

She simply smiled, patted me on the arm, then scurried off to grab an order from the kitchen window.

My heart fell. How had I gotten myself into this?

I don’t know how long I would have stood there, too afraid to move, but a voice kept hissing from behind me.

“Miss. … Miss.”

I turned around. A family of four in one of the booths. The father was waving at me like I was vital to the continued happiness of his family.

“We’d like to order,” he added.

I took a deep breath, and nodded. It was now or never.

Miraculously, I managed to get through that first one just fine. I got through the next one just fine. And after that, things sort of fell into a pattern.

Luke was right. It was like juggling. Just keep everything in the air.

Things had become a blur, when I noticed that first family scooting out of their booth and heading for the door. I watched as the father stopped to pay, then hurried over to clear the table and get it ready for the next customers.

There, tucked under the father’s plate was a ten dollar bill. My first tip. I quickly glanced up to make sure it wasn’t a mistake. But they were already headed out the door and onto the rest of their lives.

After that, the night became a blur. Taking orders, delivering food. Jimmy barking at me when he couldn’t read my handwriting. Luke shooting me a quick smile as he bussed a bunch of dishes from one of the tables. Meagan teasingly bumping me with her hip and telling me to be careful of Mr. Swanson and his roving hands.

I glanced over, the guy had to be eighty, skinny as a toothpick, and a solid five feet tall.

All of it a blur.

Finally, things started to slow down. The pass had been reopened. The diner rush was over and I looked around with nothing to do. All my customers were gone. All the tables set for the next group.

The air whooshed out of me like a popped balloon. I’d made it through the night.

“Take a break,” Meagan said as she pointed to a counter stool. “You’ve earned it.”

I glanced up at the clock above the kitchen door and was shocked to see it was almost ten. Six hours, I thought. It seemed like fifteen minutes.

“Hey, Ruby,” Luke said as he stepped out of the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. “How’d it go?”

I just looked back at him and slowly shook my head. “If you ever do that to me again, I will … I will …” I couldn’t think of anything appropriate and just slumped in my chair.

He just laughed and poured me a cup of coffee, “You hungry. Free meals come with the job, you want me to whip you up something. How about a cheeseburger with some fries.”

I shuddered. I swore I’d soaked up enough grease just from the air in the diner. I might as well have been shooting it straight into my veins.

“How about a ham sandwich and some minestrone soup,” he tried with a hopeful smirk.

My stomach rumbled and I shot him a quick smile. “Yes, that sounds great.”

“Hey, Jimmy,” Luke called towards the back.

“I heard, I heard,” Jimmy mumbled in response.

“Here you go,” Meagan said as she sat down next to me and slid over a jar full of bills and coins.

“What’s that?” I asked. My mind still fumbling to figure things out.

“Your tips,” she said. “From the till. When the customers pay with credit cards or just pay and say to keep the change. I just put your tips in the jar. It helps keep things separate.”

My heart lurched. “I thought they just left without tipping. I figured I had screwed up there order somehow.”

“No honey, it's all yours,” Meagan laughed as she started to count out her own tips.

My fingers trembled as I removed the money from the jar. It was unbelievable. With what I had stashed in my apron it had to be over two hundred dollars.

“It’s not like this every night,” Meagan said as she handed Luke forty dollars.

“What’s that for,” I asked. As Luke thanked her and accepted the money.

“Luke, for bussing the tables. He only does that when we are busy. It’s not really part of his job. But, hey, the faster I clear a table, the sooner I get a customer in. More customers, more tips.”

It made perfect sense, I thought, as I fished a couple of twenties out of the jar and held them out for Luke.

He glanced down at them for a moment and then into my eyes. For just a second I thought he might refuse, but he surprised me by accepting the bills and saying thank you. Just like he had with Meagan.

My heart skipped a beat. Just like he had with Meagan, I realized. He was treating me like I was just another waitress. Like I had a right to be there and wasn’t a special needs case.

Like I said, the boy was too perfect for his own good.

“So,” Meagan began, “One thing about that bitch Allison taking off and leaving us high and dry. You don’t have to crash on the couch.”

That’s right, I thought. I was her new roommate. I’d been so busy I hadn’t even thought of that. I wouldn’t be going home to curl up with a carving knife in my hand.

“Are you sure?” I asked. It was important that she didn’t think I was some kind of welfare case. “How much is the rent. I can pay some now and the rest later this week.”

She laughed. “Don’t worry about it, I know your good for it. If not. I’ll just have Jimmy take it out of your wages.”

“Speaking of wages,” Jimmy said as he stepped out of the kitchen with my sandwich and bowl of soup. “I’ve got a ton of paperwork for you to fill out. The government you know. You can bring it back in tomorrow.”

I gulped again as my eyes suddenly got all misty. No way was I going to cry, not here, not ever. But everyone was being so nice to me. Why? Did Jimmy know what was going on at my home? Hell, did everyone in the whole town know?

Glancing over at Luke, I shot him a questioning glare, but he totally ignored me and took a long sip of his coffee.

Let it go, I thought to myself. Face it, Meagan and Jimmy knew. So what, it wasn’t the end of the world.

I smiled at Luke, silently thanking him for using his super powers to save me. He just smiled back, as if nothing of any significance had happened. But then, That was Luke. Saving damsels in distress was just part of who he was.