Texas Baby

It was one of those mornings. No, Josie Whitford corrected herself as she poured another round of coffee into Mr. Benetta's cup, smiling even though she had a hammering headache, that was a laughable understatement. It was one of thoseyears. The ones in which you just couldn't catch a break, couldn't get ahead, couldn't even run fast enough to stay in place. Ones where you felt yourself stumbling, slipping backward, as if life were a treadmill set on the highest speed, programmed to cycle out the weak. Of course, the morning itself was lousy, too. Raindrops as fat as marbles, true Texas raindrops, bounced off the oily pavement, and the windows of the Not Guilty Cafeacute; had turned gray and runny. They reminded Josie of the last plate she'd carried to the kitchen, prune juice splashed into the remnants of over-easy eggs. For a minute, just remembering, she thought she might get sick. Oh, God, she wasn't finally catching that flu, was she? She'd managed to avoid it all winter, but lately she'd been so run-down, so damn tired. The splat of gravy on her apron, courtesy of the kid at table two, sent up a wave of odor, and the banana she'd had for breakfast rose in her throat. No.She clamped her jaw.Not on the customer.That would be the perfect excuse to fire her, the one Ed had been waiting for. She pivoted away from Mr. Benetta, breathing through her mouth to avoid the smell of bacon grease wafting from the grill. The Not Guilty Cafeacute; didn't use the best cuts of anything, but it had the benefit of a great location. Tucked into the shadow of Riverfork City Hall and courthouse for the past fifty years, the cafeacute; had become a tradition for the local politicians, businessmen and lawyers. For a minute, she just stood there, the coffeepot hot against her hand, the banana roiling in her stomach. She looked around, panicked, but oddly paralyzed. On a day like this, when the rain made a good excuse for arriving late to work, the customers lingered, and the cafeacute; was jammed. Where could she throw up without having to pay someone's dry cleaning bill? Nowhere. She felt sweat break out on her forehead even as a chill passed across her back, from shoulder to shoulder. She set down the coffeepot, which suddenly felt as heavy as an anchor. Oh, how she wanted to go home. She longed for a nap, for the soothing warmth of the expensive sheets Chase had bought her that day in the Galleria. Sometimes, when she snuggled down into the five-hundred-thread cocoon, she could imagine that Chase, with his hot hands and hisThat she wasn't completely alone. But shewasalone. And unless she intended to sell those sheets to pay next semester's tuition, she'd better stay put, chills or no chills. She needed every penny she could make today. And then some. "Hey, gal, come out of that trance. Is your blood sugar low? Table six is getting cranky. And you know Ed's watching." Josie snapped to attention, anxiety taking precedence over nausea. She tossed Marlene, her favorite coworker, a grateful grimace, then glanced toward the front register, where Ed stood, giving her the evil eye. The bastard. If she was exhausted, it was his fault. He'd been working her double shifts for weeks, seating all the most demanding customers in her section, riding her like a devil. No one could keep that pace, and he knew it. He would torment her as long as he could, for the sheer fun of it, and then he'd fire her. "Don't let him get to you, hon." Marlene leaned in, her shoulder warm against Josie's, her voice a raspy whisper. "You know he's just cranky 'cause he can't get into your pants." Josie nodded, though that wasn't exactly true. Ed was angry, all right. But he wasn't upset just because Josie always told himno. What made him positively rabid was that she'd told Chase Claytonyes. Fat lot of good that had done her. At least if sO'Brien, Kathleen is the author of 'Texas Baby ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780373714414 and ISBN 0373714416.