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Work was only a few minutes away, in the heart of the French Quarter. I usually served the late crowd but I’d caught the midmorning shift this time around. Surprisingly, all the available tables were full by the time I entered through the front door, half of them purposely left empty for social distancing.
“Dori!” my coworker, Anthony, called as soon as he spotted me. His arms were full of plates loaded with pancakes, calas, grits, and sweet potatoes. “Thank God you’re here. We are hopping busy this morning. Whoa!”
One of the plates wobbled unsteadily in his arms, so I dived forward, calling, “Got it!” as I snagged it just before it toppled toward the floor.
Anthony froze a moment with his eyes closed before he blew out a breath and said, “Bless you, baby girl.”
“No problem,” I answered, relieving him of another plate. “This is what I do: serve meals and save the day.” Following him the rest of the way to his table, I assisted with distributing his load to bleary-eyed customers in dusty uniforms who looked as if they’d just gotten off a night shift.
“Enjoy your meal,” I told them with a smile, forgetting that they weren’t my customers.
One of the fellows perked up enough to give me a smile and a once-over, so I made sure to put a little extra bounce to my step when I turned away to stroll off.
It’d been almost a year since Alcée and I had split up. I needed to start putting myself out there as available again. The nights were starting to get lonely, and Leeva had her own life; she couldn’t be expected to keep me company as often as she did just because I was too gun-shy to trust myself with someone new.
“Dori!” the cook, Philippe, shouted from the back. “Are you on the clock?”
“Almost,” I called back and got my tush into gear, clocking in as quickly as possible, before adding, “Okay. Whatcha need?”
“Get some more rice from the supply room, will you, sweets?”
“On it.”
Time to save the day again. One bag of rice at a time.
I hurried to comply, then got to work, taking over for Babette, who was ready to go home.
Our café wasn’t one of the bigger-known establishments, but the locals were beginning to really enjoy what we had to offer. So I spent the next few hours on my feet, traveling from table to table, making sure everyone had what they needed.
It was satisfying work as long as the customers went away happy, so I usually made sure to shower them with the charm. The healthy tips told me I was doing a good job, aside from the few outliers that were impossible to please.
I was only about an hour away from the end of my shift when a commotion at the front drew my attention to a handful of people rushing through the entrance as if seeking a safe haven inside. More outside went flooding past on the sidewalk.
Pausing with a plate weighed down with a half-eaten meal, I asked, “What’s going on?”
“Riots,” one woman panted, out of breath as she clutched her diaphragm through each wheeze. “Over on Royal.”
Royal? Wasn’t that where Leeva said she’d be?
“No!” Setting the dirty plate on the side of a nearby table, I called to Anthony, “I’ll be right back!” And then I streaked toward the exit, chanting, “P
lease be safe, please be safe, please be safe.”
Most of the marches were peaceful, full of people with good intentions, but on those occasions that a bad seed entered the fray, they could turn scary and violent and life-threatening at the drop of a hat. I’d seen it happen. And I didn’t want my roommate anywhere near that.
Shouts and car horns sounded ahead as I raced down the sidewalk. My mask flew off as I sprinted, but I didn’t even pause to retrieve it. I had to find Leeva.
Flying around a corner, I skidded to a stop as I took in the chaos before me.
“No,” I breathed.
A mass of people surged one way, while another horde scattered, running in all different directions, protest signs waving madly in the air as they fled. Not far away, a car sat in flames, and glass broke in a nearby storefront as a brick sailed through it.
In the crux of it all, the police deployed smoke bombs and tear gas. I couldn’t say if the uproar had started because they had shown up, or they’d shown up because an uproar had begun. I guess it didn’t matter either way; this just needed to stop.
“Dori!” I heard a familiar shout.
Turning toward the call, I spotted my roommate rushing toward me, only half a block away, and relief flooded my veins.
