Steel & Ice by Emily Eck Read Free Book Online Page B

were three days we dreaded most: Mother’s Day,
Valentine’s Day, and fucking Black Friday. We opened at ten in the
morning to a line of customers. By two o’clock, I was not only
cooking, managing the tickets so the food came out together and on
time, but I was also running interference as the guys got grumpy.
This was soooo not in the job description: calming down grown men
acting like babies over some stupid steaks and French fries, and
their inability to manage a little stress. We weren’t creating
world peace. We were flipping burgers for fucks sake.
    In good form, Larry was bucking up for the
most part. He was on the massive grill, one of the most challenging
places to be on the line other than running point. I asked Jesse,
on the fryers, for a chicken tender platter and he started to lose
it. I called to one of the servers to see if Aaron could come cook
for a few minutes so we could get back on track. Thankfully, Aaron
showed up promptly, and not too high to help Jesse. I told him to
drop twenty chicken tenders and two baskets of fries into the hot
grease right away.
    I walked over to the fry station, and put my
hand on Jesse’s shoulder. Using my calmest voice, I told him,
“You’re doin’ great man. Just hang in there. Two more hours and our
shift is over, and I’ll buy you a drink at Checks. Aaron’s gonna
make that chicken tender platter and a few chicken tender baskets.
You work on salads, and we’ll be out of this in no time.” I looked
at Aaron to make sure he caught that, and his head nod told me he
was on top of it. Thank god! Despite the length of the tickets
handing off the printer, I gave Jesse a reassuring slap on the back
and walked back over to my station.
    “ OK gentlemen,” I yelled,
clapping my hands together. “Let’s do this shit. Larry, hook me up
with six burgers, one with cheese. José, plate ‘em up and make sure
to look at the specs cuz one is no onion and one extra tomato. I
got four steaks coming up, one medium and three well done. Larry,
toss a couple more chicken breasts on the grill for now, and I’ll
tell you what to do with them in a sec. Aaron, make sure you got at
least four orders of mozzarella sticks in the grease and some extra
chicken tenders. Jesse, you just keep at it with the salads. Ya’ll
good?” They grunted in unison, and I took that as a yes.
    Everything came together. I handled a few
disgruntled servers, but all in all it wasn’t a bad day. I’d seen
worse Black Fridays. The night crew started coming in at quarter to
four, and we all gave a ‘hallelujah’ shout. It had been a long day.
I was off the hook for my usual Friday night shift. Larry worked a
double shift, so he wasn’t getting off work yet. That meant it
would just be me and Jesse at Checks.
    “ Hey. Hook me up with some
nuggs?” Larry asked, as I was getting my stuff around in the back
to leave. I took pity on the poor guy. I had gotten out of Friday
night because I agreed to work the day shift and come in early to
prep extra stuff for the busy day.
    “ Jesse, you ready?” I asked.
He nodded.
    “ Alright. Larry, lets hit my
car up real quick and I’ll pack one. You trynna puff,
Jesse?”
    “ Fuck yeah,” he huffed.
Jesse didn’t get high often, but after the day we’d had, I knew he
would want some. He did good after I talked him down. He deserved
it. Dear god, I’d been reduced to placating adult men and rewarding
them for good behavior with weed. What the fuck?
    As we walked past the managers’ door to exit
through the back, I knocked on it. “Thanks for the help, Aaron. You
got a sec to help me move a keg?”
    “ I got you, chica.” There
was no keg. That was code for ‘are you able to come get high with
us?’
    “ Can you get someone to
cover the grill so Larry can come out?” I asked Aaron.
    “ Yeah, I’ll take care of it
and be out in a second. Don’t have me comin’ out there and you pass
me a cashed bowl,” Aaron teased.
    “ I’ll make sure