Page 37 of Grave Games

“Then call for a replacement.” The words burst out of me. They sounded hysterical even to my ears. “And Iamsick. I feel like I’m going to throw up. Is that what you want out there in front of your customers?”

Dubya made a sound of impatience. “What I want is for you to cut the dramatics and do… your… job. I don’t care who’s out there,” he went on when I opened my mouth to try to better explain that my personal demon was out there ready to eat my soul. “When you become an adult, there are times when you have to power through. This is one of those times.”

Oh, the condescending sonofa… “I’ve been living in the adult world for some time now, thanks.”

“Really? Because you don’t seem to know that if you can’t do your job, then… then you won’t have a job to do.” He huffed a bit, like that took a lot out of him. “There. I said what I said.”

I stared at him, stunned. “Dubya, I’ve worked here for four years and I’ve never missed a day. I’ve always come in whenever you needed someone to cover shifts, and I’ve never been a problem for you or any other employee. But the one time I have a crisis, you’re ready tofireme?”

“I won’t fire you if you get out there and get to work,” came the immediate reply. “And I feel I don’t have to explain my management style to you, thanks very much. It’s worked so far.”

“It’s worked because I’ve been here to cover whenever we were shorthanded. Just think how life will be around here without me to back you up.”

His eyes bulged behind his thick glasses. “Are you threatening me?”

Dear God, the stupidity. “Youare the one who threatened to fireme,Dubya, about five seconds ago, remember? I’m just pointing out what the consequence to my firing will be.”

“You’re not indispensable.”

“With a full house, I’m more indispensable than you think.”

“I’m done debating this,” Dubya said, his voice flat with finality. “I’m going to go out to the floor now and do my job, because that is my function. If you’re not out there on the floor in five minutes doing the same thing, I’ll know you’ve quit.”

Annnd, there it was, the ultimate reason he was in management. The dude really knew how to screw people out of unemployment. “I’m not quitting, Dubya. I just won’t go out into a room where a man who once kidnapped and raped me is sitting in a booth expecting me to serve him buffalo wings and coffee.”

Dubya’s lips practically disappeared. “If you think that… that deranged fantasy is going to pull your derriere out of the fire, you’re sorely underestimating me. Get out there. Now.”

I made a sound of pure frustration before I surged past him out the door, jaw locked. I’d go out there, all right, because at the core of it all, I refused to let that bastard Marvel chase me away. But I was done at Buzzby’s. If Dubya wanted to know what it was like to work a shift or two without me, he was welcome to it.

But first, I had to walk into the lion’s den.

Head held high while my mouth dried up so much it hurt, I kept my eyes looking straight ahead. On autopilot, I reached for my order pad, then glanced at last at the reception area. A shaft of relief went through me when I saw Marvel and Radar were no longer there, but that relief was short-lived when I swept my section. There they were, both turned in my direction and eyes trained on me, big shit-eating grins on their faces.

You bastards.

The damaged teenaged girl I’d once been cowered deep down inside, and it hurt. It hurt so much to remember that I’d been helpless and humiliated, and I wanted to throw up in the worst way. Just looking at Marvel drew that deeply buried well of poison he’d left in me to the surface, and suddenly I relived that nightmare all over again, hearing my screams for him to stop as he brutally penetrated me, laughing all the while. The pain of it was so intense, the need to bolt out the door grew until it was all I knew. Panic rose thick and heavy while my heart hammered so hard it made my eyes water. I glanced toward the glass diner door, wavering…

Stay put and don’t engage.

Romeo.

I wasn’t sure I could just stay put. Never in my life had I wanted to make a run for it the way I wanted to now.

There might be more outside, waiting 4 u to rabbit.

But maybe there weren’t. Maybe it was okay, and I could just leave. Leave this nightmare behind in the past where it belonged. I thought I’d already done that, but obviously I hadn’t run far enough. Not a problem. After today I’d run and not stop until I hit a freaking ocean.

B there soon.

An icy calm slipped through the panic, and my heart rate slowed to the point where it no longer deafened me. Romeo. He said he would be here soon. He was coming to make sure I was okay. He cared about me, unlike Dubya, who’d known me for years. Maybe Romeo saw me as nothing more than a means to an end, but he’d already made a meet-up between my brother and the Gravediggers happen, and he was still coming to the rescue. I didn’t know how I knew he would show up, but I did.

Romeo would be here.

I didn’t doubt it for a second.

With that thought wrapping around me like armor, I lifted my chin and headed straight for Marvel’s table.

“Good evening, rapist, welcome to Buzzby’s.” The words came out automatically, and it wasn’t until Marvel’s eyes widened a fraction that I realized I’d added a little extra sauce to the usual greeting. Oh. Whoops. “We have a new special this month in honor of Elvis Presley’s birthday, peanut butter and banana pancakes with a cream chee—”

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