Page 28 of Run Away Home: Tempered

“California wrap with a side salad, and one cheeseburger medium-well.” I put the plates down.

“Can we get some ketchup?”

“I’ll bring it right out. Anything else?”

The two women at the table look at each other and shake their heads.

“I’ll be back in a moment.”

I get the ketchup out of the fridge, but I’m distracted. My boss is talking to fat boy by the grill. He looks in my direction and signals for me to come over with one creeping finger. Great.

“Yes?” I ask as I approach the two.

“Are you bothering Ralph as he’s trying to cook?”

“Yeah, after he called me a mick.”

“I called you that because the food for twenty-one was getting cold,” he retorts, as if he’s so rational. Yeah, right.

“I was on the phone taking an order, and you knew it.”

“Don’t touch his bell again, okay, Peter?”

“I won’t touch it.” I turn around and throw my hands in the air.

I grab tightly to the ketchup bottle, walk back to the fridge, and look up. There, I find the little porcelain ramekins we’re supposed to use for serving condiments. I get on my very tippy toes and reach, but I’m a little too short. To get the step stool, I have to walk past Ralph. I do just that, set it beside the fridge, and climb. Ralph snickers and goes back to cooking.

I hate my life.

Hayley

WHO KNEW THAT YOU NEEDEDto be employed before you can get unemployment benefits? It kind of defeats the whole purpose, am I right? I am definitely right. What am I going to do?

I turn the knob and find our apartment door’s unlocked. Tristian must be inside. I enter quietly and tiptoe up the stairs. Maybe I can surprise him. Scare the shit out of him. I giggle quietly at the thought. He’s not in the living room. I hear some noise coming from down the hallway, from Peter’s room. Maybe it’s not Tristian. Maybe Peter’s home early?

His bedroom door is open. I stand outside, unable to believe what I’m seeing. It’s Tristian. He’s taken everything out of Peter’s closet. Why?

“ARE YOU CRAZY?” I yell.

He jumps and holds his chest. “Fuck, Hals, you scared me!”

“What are you doing?”

“I was looking for cash.”

“So, you’re stealing from us?”

“No. Stealing fromhim.”

“You do realize he uses that money to pay our bills, right?”

“He’s hiding way more than you think!”

He lifts a round box off of Peter’s bed and opens it up. It has about eight rolls of cash.

“Each of these rolls is one-hundred dollars! I counted!”

“I can’t believe you, Tristian.”

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