Page 10 of Tower
The scramble consists of frying up the meat product and then adding beaten eggs to the huge pan. Soon the early birds arrive for their breakfast, eating silently as they get ready for the day or conversing in small groups at the old restaurant tables. The former kitchen used to be divided from the dining area by a wall, but most of the wall has been taken down so the building is now one large space plus a back room that’s used as a huge pantry.
No one sits at the big round table closest to the stove and kitchen counters. I realize why about an hour into the breakfasttime when Dep strolls in, grinning as he leans over to give his mom a quick kiss on the temple before he grabs his plate and carries it to the big table.
The big table must be for the inner circle.
Interesting.
I keep expecting Levi to show up, but he still hasn’t. He must be taking an extra-long meditation on the rock this morning.
I get worried when the last panful of scrambled eggs is gradually depleted. There won’t be anything left for him. He’s a big man. He needs more than some overdone egg scrapings for breakfast.
The room is still full—as is most of the big table except one chair left conspicuously empty—when I ask Jen about it.
“He’s not picky about food. He’ll eat whatever’s left.”
I frown. “Is it all right if I make him a couple of eggs fresh? This stuff left in the pan isn’t any good. Is that allowed?”
“For Boss, it’s allowed.” She smiles at me. “But only for him. We’re not allowed to help ourselves to food around here.”
“Of course not. I would never even suggest it. I’m going to fix him something real quick. No more than everyone else got.”
I crack two eggs and find a couple of unused slices of meat product from a can. I fry up the meat in a small pan and then make a quick, neatly folded omelet. Eggs are easy. I made them all the time for me and my dad. But there’s a huge difference between well-cooked eggs and whatever was left from that mass-produced scramble.
I’m toasting his bread in the same pan when Levi finally pushes in through the door. He’s as no-nonsense and unsmiling as he was yesterday, and he walks immediately to the empty chair at the big table without greeting anyone.
He’s already gulped down a glass of water by the time I plate up his food and set it in front of him. I pick up his empty glass to refill it since extra water is always allowed within reason.
“Shit,” I hear one of the guys say as I walk back to the kitchen area. My back is to him, but I’m pretty sure the one speaking is the greasy guy who everyone calls Sick. “I gotta get me a princess who’ll fix me a breakfast like that.”
I flush but otherwise don’t react. I don’t even know why the comment embarrasses me. It wasn’t particularly crude.
When I return with the water, Levi is already digging into his eggs. He must like them because they’re disappearing quickly. He accepts the filled glass with a nod, swallowing down a few sips before he continues eating.
He completely ignored Sick’s comment.
He’s also completely ignored me.
Everyone at the table is waiting as Levi finishes eating. A bunch of the guys, including Sick, are obviously not in the inner circle but are positioned near the table so they can listen. I wait against the wall behind Levi’s chair, wishing it didn’t feel like everyone was staring at me.
When Levi’s plate and glass are empty, I step over to pick them up. For the first time, he glances up at me. “It was good.”
The brief mumble is all I get, but it provokes the weirdest flicker of pleasure inside me as I carry his dishes back to wash them.
Unnerving. The whole thing. That I would feel even a little pleased and proud about having made his breakfast.
Clearly the embedded hierarchy of these people is already having a perverse effect on me, shifting my natural responses.
Yes, Levi is the leader here, and that’s why I chose him. And yes, I promised him I’d act all sweet and submissive to cement his reputation. But still…
Levi might be Boss around here, but he’s not the boss of me.
Everyone was waiting for what must be a daily meeting in which they go over plans for the day and provide updates on potential dangers and issues in the region. I listen as I help clean up the kitchen, and it’s interesting.
Another gang in a nearby region has been testing boundaries.
Someone stole one of the Mayor’s trucks, and they need to help track it down.
There are rumblings of a drove moving through east of us. Those are huge groups of violent criminals and ruffians who lay waste to any area they hit, looting every resource and killing, capturing, or raping anyone in their path. They stick mostly to former big cities, using the large interstates to travel, so our position as a rural county of nothing but small towns is an advantage in that regard.
