While I wait for Mateo to cook the final lunch order, I bus tables, prepare checks, collect up the tips, and make sure no one’s watching as I pocket half of them. I’ve been doing it ever since Dean made me quit school and work full time at the diner.
My stepfather thinks he owns me, but he’s gonna get the surprise of his life one morning when he wakes up and finds me gone. I’m not working for his sorry ass the rest of my life. He pays me basically nothing and expects me to give him all my tips as well. Not only that, he demands that most of my wages are used to help with family expenses, so if I don’t pocket some of these tips just for me, I’d have nothing.
I don’t love that I do it, but it’s a necessary evil.
Smoothing down my apron, I head back into the kitchen, checking my watch as I go. Jackson will be getting home from school soon. I’ll head upstairs and make sure he’s had something to eat and done his homework. If he finishes in time, we might be able to sneak in an episode of The Amazing Race before my evening shift starts.
The thought makes me smile, and I actually deliver the order to Table Eleven with a bounce in my step.
“Well, you know I think Stewart just isn’t tough enough with that boy. He’s gonna run wild if they aren’t careful.” Hank leans back so I can place the food in front of him. “If I have to arrest him one more time for disorderly behavior, I’m gonna be telling Stewart to ground that boy until graduation.”
“If he graduates.” Mr. Abernathy snorts and looks at me.
I meet his pointed glare with one of my own. I could tell him, for like the hundredth time, that Dean made me quit, but he won’t believe me. All they see is a girl who dropped out of high school, just like her mama did.
Gritting my teeth, I force back the swears on my tongue and ask, “Is there anything I can get you?”
“Refill on the coffee.” Hank lifts his cup, catching my gaze before looking back to his plate of food.
I head for the pot and return to fill the cup, refusing to look at anyone, even when Mr. Abernathy tuts at me for spilling one drop of black liquid into Minister White’s saucer.
Wiping it away with a paper napkin, I leave the table, not missing the “she’ll end up just like her mama” taunt. It gets my hackles up every time, but the last time I let them know what I really thought, things didn’t turn out so great for me.
Clenching my jaw, I head into the kitchen, leaning against the metal counter and noticing all the spots Mateo forgot to wipe down before he left. Grabbing a cloth, I get to work, finishing up just as Celia breezes past me.
“That’s me for the day. I’ll see you in the mornin’, sugar.”
“Okay, Celia. Have a good night.”
She gives me a sad smile and slips out the back door without saying more. Like me, she misses Mama more than she’ll ever say. I think she’s pretty pissed at Dean for making me skip school, but according to Dean, she’s just a waitress and has no right to stick her nose in where it doesn’t belong.
Since being torn to shreds by my bully-boy stepfather, she hasn’t tried again. I think she’s worried he might fire her or something.
I wish he’d damn well fire me!
With a huff, I finish wiping up the kitchen, knowing I don’t really mean it. I can’t quit until I’ve got enough money to take my brother and get the hell out of this place.
4
God Gave Me You
I loiter around the kitchen, waiting for the men to finish up their meals. It’s a little rude, but I deliver the check to their table before their plates are empty. I justify the move with a plastic smile and a polite reminder. “It is past three. Just in case you weren’t aware.”
“You know your daddy doesn’t mind us staying a little later.” Hank smiles at me, but my lips flatline.
I shouldn’t say anything, but I can’t let that slide. He does it to me every time, and of all the people in Buckland Springs, he should know better.
“He’s not my daddy,” I murmur before moving away from the table.
Blood is pounding in my ears as I make two fists and resist the urge to scream every curse word I can think of. I hate this stupid town!
Punching open the back door, I step outside, sucking in mouthfuls of air like they’ll somehow save me from losing it. My little brother will probably be home by now. I should go up and check on him, but I just need a second to pull myself together first.
A car drives up behind the diner and I flinch—my automatic response to Dean’s arrival. Thankfully, it’s not my stepfather. My shoulders sag with relief, a smile tugging on my lips as I run to meet my best friend.
Franks.
Not Francine like what’s on her birth certificate. She always hated her name as a kid, and we tested out a bunch before finally landing on Franks.
She was real fussy about it and nearly knocked my head off when I told her Franks sounded weird.
“Well, that’s the one I like, so that’s what you’re gonna call me!”
All I could do was laugh at her, then give her a hug.
Leaning my arms on the side of her open window, I grin up at my friend.
“Hey, Miss Franks. How was school?”
She beams at me, pulling an assignment off the passenger seat and holding it up so I can see it. “Annie Bird, you got me an A.”
“Yass!” I squeal, my feet happy dancing as I grab the paper and kiss the big red A on the top. I read the glowing comments, my insides dancing.
“I wish I could hand in your work every time, but…” Franks winces.
I shake my head. “Oh, I know. I really appreciate you helping me out like this.”
“Here are the notes from today.” She passes me a wad of papers, and I hug them to my chest with a smile.
Last year, I was a junior at Lincoln High School. But then Mama got sick and she needed someone to nurse her, so I took the semester off to see her through the final stages of leukemia. She died just before the summer, and when my senior year rolled around, Dean told me I had to work full time at the diner. I argued as best I could, but he wouldn’t have it.
I cried my eyes out in Franks’s arms, and she came up with a plan. Ever since then, she’s been smuggling me her schoolwork so I can learn what I can. Maybe one day I’ll get my high school diploma online or something. But for now, this is what I’m doing and it’s enough.
“This is great. Thank you.”
Franks’s glittery eyes turn hard, her expression souring. “You’re too smart not to be in school. Dean’s an asshole.”
“I know. But thankfully God’s given me you, so I’m gonna be fine.”
Franks’s eyebrows pinch together, her big eyes filling with worry.
I touch her arm and quickly say, “Even when you go off to college. I’ll be fine. You’ll only be a text away.”
“But—”
“Have you got your letter yet?” I cut her off, unwilling to face this conversation again. Her worry is for nothin’. It’s not like I can go with her. And she sure as hell can’t stay just for me. I wouldn’t kill her dreams like that.
“No, I’m still waitin’.”
“It’ll come.” I jump up and kiss Franks’s cheek through the window. She’s kind of nervous. Her boyfriend scored himself a football scholarship, and more than anything, she wants to go to the same school as him. She’s applied for other places, but the University of Oklahoma is the one she wants.