T-Bone - L. Wilder Page 0,53
great. I can’t wait for you to come down for a visit.”
“Well, since you mentioned it, I was thinking I might come next weekend. If you’re too busy—”
“Next weekend would be fine. I have to work, but I’ll have some time to visit.”
“Great. Maybe Clay and Landry will be around so I can visit with them as well.”
“I’m sure they’d enjoy that.” I glanced down at my screen, and when I noticed the time, I said, “I hate to rush, but my break’s almost over. I better get back inside.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to you soon.”
After I ended the call, I walked back inside, washed my hands, and returned to my spot in the serving line. Usually, we were really busy and time flew by, but for whatever reason, on this particular night we were extremely slow, making the evening seem like it was dragging on forever. When we were at a complete standstill, I turned to Miguel and asked, “What’s the deal tonight? We’re so dead.”
“No idea. Might be a concert at the Forum or a Red Birds game. Whatever’s going on, I hope things pick up soon. I’m bored out of my mind,” Miguel complained.
“I can’t disagree with you there.” I looked over at the clock and groaned. “We’ve got another two hours of this.”
“Yeah, and Bisset’s bad mood isn’t making things any better. He actually blessed me out for being distracted. What the hell is that?” he fussed. “Why does it even matter if I’m distracted when we literally have no dishes going out?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure he’s just having a bad day.”
“We all are.” He shook his head with a shrug. “I’m over it. I just wanna go home.”
“Me too,” Jack added from across the room. “I’ve got shit I could be doing instead of standing around here with my thumb up my ass.”
I had to hold back my chuckle as I thought of an inappropriate comeback for Jack’s remark. Instead of teasing him, I simply smiled and said, “I think the same goes for everyone here.”
“At least we only have a couple more hours to go.”
“Very true. For now, we best get back at it before Bisset pitches a fit.”
“You ain’t lying.” When I turned and started back to my workstation, Jack called out to me and asked, “Hey, you still gonna be able to drop me off after work?”
“Sure. Won’t be a problem at all.”
“Great. I really appreciate it.”
“Anytime. Glad to do it.”
No sooner had we returned to our positions, a large group of people came into the restaurant, and in a blink, we were back to being busy again. It was a welcomed change, making the last two hours go by much faster, but there was one drawback: the unexpected rush caused us to run a little late, and it was well after eleven before Jack and I were able to leave. After we grabbed our things, we headed out to the parking lot and got in my car. As I started the engine, Jack asked, “Do you remember where you’re going?”
“I think so but keep an eye out in case I make a wrong turn.”
I’d picked him up that morning on the way to work, and quickly learned that Miguel was right. Jack did live in a rough neighborhood, but it hadn’t kept him from keeping his place nice. He lived in a small two-bedroom brick house with a tiny porch, and he’d planted monkey grass along the walkway, making it seem more inviting. Unlike several of the homes in the area, he’d also kept his yard freshly mowed and no litter scattered around the front yard. Seeing that he’d put such effort into making his place as nice as possible said a great deal about him. We’d only been driving for a few minutes when I turned to him and asked, “You’re off for the next couple of days, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll be back on Thursday.”
“You have any big plans for your time off?”
“Not really.” He shrugged. “I figure Tony and I will come up with something to do. I’m sure he’s got some project he wants to get done around the house or some crazy place he wants to go. Hell, I never know what the man has up his sleeve, but I always just go along with whatever.”
Tony was Jack’s boyfriend, and from the way Jack regarded him, it was clear that he was crazy about him. I found it endearing the way the two got along, especially considering