Page 15 of Tiki Hut Tragedy
“Then why didn’t you call it?” Wendy’s voice rose several octaves.
The room grew quiet, all eyes on the battling Belly Busters, the top contenders who stood glaring at each other. Things devolved quickly into a shouting match with each of them accusing the other of cheating.
Millie made a move to step in and smooth things over.
Astrid, who was in the back and on her cell phone, cautiously crept toward them. “This wasn’t a competition but merely an eating exercise. There is no winner.”
“There goes Astrid, changing the rules again,” Wendy griped. “We’re supposed to get points, and now we’re not.” She removed a crumpled paper from her pocket. “It says right here on our schedule we earn points for this morning’s exercise.”
The argument spiraled quickly with several of the contestants surrounding poor Astrid, talking loudly and arguing amongst themselves.
Millie had trouble keeping track of who was yelling at whom until the moment when Dixie, standing at her full almost six-foot height, towered over Wendy. “Back off before you get hurt.”
Wendy’s eyes flashed with anger. “Are you threatening me?”
“I’m warning you,” Dixie shot back. “Don’t start on me again.”
“Me start on you?” Wendy roared. “You’re the one who needs to watch it. It’s no secret you want me out of this competition because I’m going to win.”
“You wish you could win,” Dixie taunted.
Gail muscled in alongside them. “Stop fighting! Both of you before Astrid kicks us out of the group.”
Roxanne laughed out loud. “Mousy Astrid couldn’t fight her way out of a paper bag,” she smirked.
Crack.A loud cracking sound echoed in the dining room.
All heads turned to find Astrid standing on a chair, a metal pan and spoon in hand. “Knock it off! We’re better than this. We’re a team. Let’s start acting like one.”
Millie clapped loudly, proud of Astrid for finally stepping up and putting her foot down. Her praise was short-lived.
Out of nowhere, a meatball, with a piece of spaghetti wrapped around it, flew through the air and sideswiped Gail’s cheek.
“What the.” Her face morphed into pure rage. “Who hit me?”
Another meatball, this one aimed at Wendy, torpedoed across the room. The woman’s reflexes were spot on. She easily ducked, leaving Annette, who was in the line of fire, getting grazed.
From the back of the room, someone yelled, “Food fight!”
Millie felt strong arms grabbing her around her waist, dragging her beneath a table. Barty nudged her aside and crawled in next to her. “This went south fast.”
“No kidding.” Millie tugged her radio from her belt. “It looks like we’re gonna need some backup.”
Chapter 7
“Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Blue Seas Dining Room stat!” Millie replaced her radio and crawled out from under the table to assess the situation. Food was still flying…savory dinner rolls, a slice of roasted turkey, a dinner napkin and even a French fry.
“What is happening?” Barty asked.
“The food fight is still going strong.”
A shrill shriek echoed. Felix ran past. He dove under a serving station, a dinner napkin covered in a thick layer of brown gravy on top of his head. “These women are crazy,” he gasped.
“They’re making a mess.” Millie anxiously consulted her watch, praying the security team would show up soon.
From their hiding spot, she noticed Astrid standing as still as a statue on top of the chair while food whizzed past her. String beans struck her in the arm. One grazed her leg…and yet there she stood, stoic and unmoving.
A niggling voice in Millie’s ear told her this wasn’t the first time the group had fought with food.
