AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mr. Colby,” I say, greeting him with a smile.
He has grease up to his elbows from trying to fix the old Plymouth on his cracked driveway. The burnt grass fills the veined empty spaces. It looks like he’s been working on the car since I was nine from the chipped paint on the hood.
“How was work?” he asks.
I look down at my red-and-white diner uniform and then meet his brown eyes. He’s squinting at me from the sun's glare.
“Besides smelling like a cheeseburger, I’d say it's as good as any day.”
He hooks his thumbs in his suspenders with a line of dirt under the bed of his fingernails.
“I could get you a job at the hardware store if you’re interested,” he says, looking down at the ground like he’s thinking. “Maybe knock a hundred bucks off the rent on the trailer since you fixed it up and all.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I stammer.
A hundred bucks sounds like a great offer. Since the fall semester started, most of the customers at the diner are from Ohio State. I’m not making enough tips, thanks to the assholes on the football team.
I get discounted meals at the diner, which helps me cover meals, but I’m making less and less each day.
Mr. Colby smiles, his yellow teeth making an appearance, but there is a gleam behind his eyes like he’s evaluating my decision. I can’t be ungrateful and refuse his offer. It would be rude. Maybe he’s full of shit and can’t get me a job at the hardware store and thinks he can.
Once he tells them I’m turning nineteen with no retail experience, they probably will tell him they’ll think about it to be nice. If he does come through, I’ll have no choice but to accept.
“Alright, Mr. Colby. You got yourself a deal. If you can get me the job at the hardware store, I’ll quit the diner and take you up on the offer of rent being three hundred instead of four.”
“It’s Brock, and don’t you worry,” he assures me. “You’ll get the job at the hardware store. The afternoon shift until closing time,” he says with conviction. “I can guarantee you that. I know you got school.”
My smile falters a bit. I haven’t told Mr. Crosby that I’m not in school anymore.
“Will that be all?” I ask, placing the check on the table.
Silence blankets the booth. All four football players from Ohio look up. My heart sinks to my stomach. Instant dislike rises in my throat like acid. I was hoping they wouldn’t recognize me, but I’m not that lucky.
The one to the left picks up the check and scans it. “Aren’t you that girl who got Zack kicked off the football team his freshman year?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I say awkwardly.
The one with blond hair sitting across from him wearing the same Ohio State football hat smirked at me. “We know it’s you; it’s why we came.”
“You fucked up our season that year and the one after that,” the blond jock seated on the right accuses.
The person closest to the wall gives me an unwavering stare, their eyes penetrating into mine with steadfast determination. “You think you can hide from us? Zack told us how bad of a lay you were. It’s why he didn’t stick around for round two, and you know, had to get someone more experienced.”
My face flushes with heat, and a surge of frustration rises, urging me to scream. “You have me mixed up with someone else,” I assert firmly, my voice strained with indignation, before walking away.
It’s sickening how they cover up for each other. All they care about is their precious football season. I thought they would let it go after I didn’t report them for what they did.
“They keep giving you crap.”
I retrieve the ticket and load the tray for the next booth.
I give Dorothy a fake smile. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“You don’t have to put up with it, Melody. I could––”
“It’s okay, Dorothy.”
“They can’t come in here and harass you. If they do it again, I’ll ask them to leave.”
