Page 121 of Driftwood Daffodil 3

“Why would I do that? I get a free sandwich for every ten purchases.” And I was not about to pass up free food.

“I’ll make you a sandwich.”

That free food however…

“Yeah…” my eyes dropped to the grease staining his shirt. “I’m not due for another tetanus shot for at least three years.”

“You’re awfully smart for someone who was late.”

“That wasn’t my fault.” I didn’t have my truck so Gio brought me to work, and we had to stop at my house for my uniform, which I had to sneak in to get so Maw Maw wouldn’t see me. That all took time.

Daryl blew out a puff of smoke, “one of these days, you’re gonna be late for something important.”

“Impossible,” I looked back at him. “I don’t do anything important.”

“Uh huh?” Daryl grumbled and went back to flipping burgers, leaving me to continue sugar coating the counter.

I wasn’tone for regrets, but having to send a text with a flip phone made me regret tossing my other one in Quackwater. Every try to watch videos on something with data slower than dial up? It wasn’t fun. One thing was for sure, I was glad I held onto Kato’s old MP3 player. Otherwise cleaning up at work would be really boring.

“Shake that ass,” I sang while shaking my ass and wiping down the counter.

Daryl gave me a few odd looks as I swung my cloth and continued to dance. He may have said something, I saw his lips moving, but my earbuds blocked out his voice. If it was that important he would’ve waved me down. It wasn’t like we had any customers. If that was the case, I would’ve taken out one of my earbuds. I had some professionalism.

Until then, I would enjoy my danceathon in the empty diner. Let’s face it, this was the most action this place had seen in years.

I twirled around the counter, skipped into the kitchen and flung the cloth onto the rack next to the sink. Clean-up was done. At least that was what I thought until Daryl arched a brow at me and pointed at a garbage bag by the back door.

Ugh, this job was exhausting. Well, at least I had the perfect song for this.

Scrolling through the playlist, I clicked on ‘Eye Of The Tiger’ and picked up the garbage bag like I was lifting weights. Which I kind of was. This thing was heavy and awkward. I had to use two hands to lift it, my hip to open the door, and every ounce of grace I had to maneuver it outside. And I still stumbled and fellout into the back alley. It was safe to say my attempt at a cool exit dance did not go well.

My back hit the pavement pushing out a huffed groan. That did not feel good in my already sore state. Not only that, but the heavy as fuck garbage bag slammed down on my chest, because apparently I needed to break it’s fall.

Daryl appeared in the doorway to give me a sarcastic clap.

‘Eye Of The Tiger’ didn’t feel like a kick ass song anymore.

I returned his clap with a fuck off finger before he closed the door, and pushed the garbage bag off my chest.

My uniform was going to need a good scrub after this. So was I for that matter. The only place that smelled worse than the alley behind Mae’s Good Eats, was the pit behind Simon’s house where his parents dumped roadkill. This area was shared with a bar and a bowling alley. The dumpster smelled like old shoes, alcohol, and rotten food. I’d rather stick my nose in Kato’s running shoes.

I peeled myself off the ground and got back on my feet, then I picked up the garbage bag and moved over to the dumpster.

It took some finagling to get the bag in there. I had to stand on my tip toes and use my shoulders for help, but it dropped inside with a loud bang that vibrated the entire dumpster.

Huh? That didn’t seem right. It was heavy, but not that heavy.

I popped out one of my earbuds.

Was that a groan?

That’s when I noticed the blood on the ground. It wasn’t old like the other stains. It was still bright red and fresh. Don’t tell me I walked out into a bar fight. I was not getting involved. I told myself to go back in the diner and ignore it, which was exactly what I did.

I walked back to the door, put my hand on the handle and…

“You’re one dumb son of a bitch.”

Romeo?

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