"I know," said Skye. "Why did you let this happen, Maddie?"
"Why did I let this happen?" Madeline repeated. "I didn't know she got a job when she got the job. She told us all about it at the same time."
"Yeah, but you could've stopped her. You're supposed to be the smart one."
"How are you gonna blame me? We're all here. You should blame yourself. We should all blame ourselves."
"Thanks for making me feel bad," said Debra.
"What kind of restaurant has a playroom?" inquired Skye. "This is like Fifty Shades of Grey, but with food."
"And I can't believe that waitress took that man into that room," said Andrea. "And he smelled like beef when he passed by."
"I think I'm going to be sick," said Madeline. "I gotta go to the bathroom. Anybody want to come with?"
"To watch you throw up?" asked Skye, crossing her arms. "I don't think so."
"Whatever." Madeline stood up. "I'll tie up my hair myself. I have a rubberband."
"Neat-O," Skye said sarcastically.
Madeline made her way to the girls' bathroom.
"Forgive me for my language but this place is trashy," said Debra, almost in a whispering tone.
"I'd never thought I would ever step foot in a brothel," shared Skye. "And it'd be disguised as an eatery."
"We should've saw it coming," said Andrea. "They called it 'an eatery'."
"Wow." Skye's eyes were in a different direction.
"I know. That was kinda corny."
"Not what you said. What I'm seeing right now."
"What are you seeing?" asked Debra.
"That girl over there."
Andrea and Debra looked where Skye was looking and found a waitress. She was a bit short and seemed younger than the other waitresses. She had short red hair and innocent blue eyes. She was talking to a customer with a big wad of bubblegum in her mouth.
"She's sixteen years old," Skye informed.
"How do you know?" questioned Andrea.
"Before we graduated, she was a freshman at our school. Her name is Lucky. She was in my programming class. That's a nerd class."
"So you're a nerd?"
"No, I just always wanted to understand coding. What I don't understand is how Lucky is working here."
"Oh, I feel like I'm in Taxi. Or Taxi Cab."
"It's Taxi Driver."
"Thank you."
Soon, Madeline came back with a stunned expression on her face.
"What's wrong, Barfie?" Skye asked her.
"Somebody's having sex in the bathroom," said Madeline in a slight deadpan voice.
"What?" said Debra.
"Are you sure it was the bathroom and not the playroom?" asked Andrea.
"Yes, I'm sure, Andrea," Madeline hissed. "There were toilets and sinks and a waitress waiting to give me mints or whatever she was going to give me."
"Why are people bonking in the bathrooms?" Skye questioned. "I know people do that all the time but there's a room where they can do that."
"They were also holes on the stalls."
"You know what? Let them bonk in the bathroom."
"Why are there holes?" asked Debra.
"They're for--"
"Don't tell her, Skye!" Madeline interrupted her.
"I'll tell you later," Skye whispered to Debra.
Lizzie arrived to the girls' table with a tray of food in each hand. "Here are your meals," she announced with a grin. She set them down on the table and started passing the plates.
"Lizzie!" Madeline called. She gave her a squeeze. "Just the girl we wanted to see."
Lizzie giggled. "Sorry I've been gone. I was busy waiting tables and getting your food."
"No, this is not the noodles and balls right now," said Skye, pointing at her plate. It was full of cooked spaghetti noodles with two big meatballs lined up on top. Projecting from between the meatballs was a long, ovoid-shaped pile of tomato sauce.
"Yeah, it is. That's how we make it for the girls."
"What if a guy asks for it?"
"Oh, instead of putting the sauce on the spaghetti like that, we put a drop of it on each of the meatballs."
Skye sighed. "Of course you do."
"Lizzie, do you know where you are right now?" asked Madeline.
"Uh, I'm at a restaurant called Tidbits," answered Lizzie. "I work here and wait tables. Like I'm not that dumb, you guys."
"Lizzie, this is more than just a restaurant," said Debra.
"It is?"
"This is a brothel."
"You mean, like soup?"
"Not a broth," said Andrea assertively. "A brothel. A whorehouse."
Lizzie looked around. "This doesn't look like a house."
"It doesn't matter, Liz'," said Madeline with her eyes closed. "The point is you need to stop working here."
"No way! This is my first job. I'm making money-cheddar."
Madeline opened her eyes. "It's money or cheddar. Do you know what that door is for?" She pointed at the door for the playroom.
"Yeah, that's the Night Owl room. It comes with the Night Owl Special."
"Yeah, but do you know what they do in that room?"
"Yeah, I heard there are toys in there. Funny how I never see any kids go in that room. I guess some adults still like to play with toys."
"So you never had to do anything... strange with a customer here?"
"No, not at all. But I was told if one of my customers ask for the Night Owl Special, I'm supposed to go in that room with them."
"Nuh-uh," uttered Debra, shaking her head. "Uh-uh, uh-uh. No, no. Lizzie, you don't want to go in that room."
"Yeah, especially right now," said Skye. "You ever stuck your Barbie doll in a blob of Play-Dough?"
"Yeah," Lizzie replied.
"That's what going on in that room."
"There's Play-Dough in there?"
"No, esta loca!" uttered Andrea, "This is a whorehouse, Lizzie! The waitresses are making whoopee with the customers here."
"Yeah, and if you keep working here, you're gonna be a hooker," added Skye.
"Oh, that don't sound like fun," said Lizzie with wide eyes.
"You know what?" asked Madeline. "I want to speak with the manager. Let me see your manager."
"Okay, I'll go get him." Lizzie walked off.
"Are you sure you want to speak with the manager?" asked Debra.
"Yeah," Madeline responded. "This is not what America is about. You can't just run things like this and think you're doing nothing wrong."
"Maybe they know they're doing something wrong," said Skye. "They're just doing it because they can."
"Well, I'm not going to stand for it."
Before long, Lizzie came back with a man. He had on black sunglasses over his eyes. He had short, brown hair and a five O'clock shadow. He even had on a navy blue suit.
"Oh, some fine girls looking for a job, I see," he said.
"Oh, no," said Madeline with her arms crossed. "We're not looking for a job."
"Then why are you here?"
"We were eating," answered Debra. "Or about to eat."
"Oh, I never really see any girls dine at this restaurant. But we are welcome to lesbians."
"We're not lesbians," clarified Madeline. "We all have boyfriends."
"Oh." The man looked at Lizzie. "Next time, get some straight guys to come here instead of straight girls."
Madeline chuckled. "No, there's not going to be a next time. Lizzie is not working here anymore."
"Why not? I need girls like her."
"No, you don't need girls like her. You want girls like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman."
"I do want pretty women."
"I see, but you don't need Lizzie. She's a good girl."
"I know. She does a good job here. I expect her to do more, though."
"But see, she's not gonna do more because she's not working here anymore."
"Are you her mom?"
"I'm her best friend. Obviously."
"Then you don't speak for Lizzie, do you?"
"Excuse me, what's your name?" Andrea asked.
"I'm Butch, the general manager."
"Nice to meet you, Butch, the general manager. I don't want to sound rude but can you take off your Pitbull sunglasses so we can see eye-to-eye?"
"Listen, you don't have to be here." Butch took off his glasses. He had a little bit of crow's feet coming in.
"Lizzie invited us here," Skye said.
"So why are you complaining?"
"You're running a whorehouse," Madeline replied.
"And?"
"And? And you should stop! It's illegal."
"Not really."
"Well, I can sue you. My dad has the money to do that."
"So you're just gonna rat me out? Don't be jealous of my success."
"Jealous? Butch, please! My life is way too pleasing for me to be jealous of you."
"Is that a titty cake?" asked Skye, standing up, looking at a customer's table.
"It's somebody's birthday," Butch responded.
"Ever heard of birthday cake?" asked Andrea.
"That's too boring."
"Look, I'm not gonna let you get away with this," said Madeline. "You're encouraging my best friend to be a floozy."
"Look, I get that you girls are tense," said Butch, putting his hands out. "I can fix that. Lucky!"
The waitress that the girls were eyeing earlier approached them.
"Take them to the Night Owl room," Butch told her.
Lucky put her hand on Andrea's arm but she flinched. "Girl," Andrea said, getting up. "You better back up or you gonna need another nose job."
Lucky made a face of confusion.
"Lucky, why are you working here?" asked Skye.
"Oh, hi, Skye," Lucky said. Her voice was a bit shaky. "I'm just making some money, that's all."
"For what? A fur coat?"
"Will you stop bullying my employee?" demanded Butch.
"I know your employee."
"Do you want to ruin the youthful population?" asked Madeline.
"Hey, these girls are at least eighteen or older," said Butch.
"Lucky is sixteen," corrected Skye.
"Well, she's almost eighteen."
"This is an outrage," said Madeline. "You're a sick man and I wouldn't mind if you got locked up."
"The nipples on the titty cake are candles," stated Skye.
"Do you know what society we are living in?" asked Butch. "Do you think anyone would listen to you? You're just a little girl."
"Hey, don't talk to my friend like that," ordered Andrea, walking towards Butch.
Debra got up. "Yeah, she's a smart woman," she added.
"A little boy is blowing out the candles," noted Skye.
"Madeline is more than a little girl," said Andrea. "She's more than the little girls you got running around here with their buttholes all out."
"Hey, the skirt on this uniform has the length of the average miniskirt," said Lucky, putting her hand on her hip.
"Yeah, in porn world."
"Listen, you guys obviously have a problem with my restaurant," said Butch. "So I suggest you get out or I'll make you get out."
Andrea glared at Butch. "Man, pfft!" She waved her hand over his face, faking a slap only to make him flinch, which worked. "I can escort myself out here. Muchas gracias."
"Whatever. Lizzie, your friends are obviously not going to eat so you should definitely clean all this up." Butch pointed at the girls' table, which was full of untouched food.
Lizzie glanced at the table then glanced at her friends. She looked right into her manager's eyes. "No," she said.
"I'm sorry. What?"
"I said no. I'm not going to clean that up because I don't work here anymore."
"You're quitting?"
"Yep. You know what? I was so elated to get a job. I didn't think anyone would hire me. But I rather be jobless than get hired for my looks and my coo-coo."
"Did she just say, 'coo-coo'?" asked Skye.
"If I stay here, my future is not going to look so bright. I'm so glad I have friends who care about me and are great influences to my life. So, yes, Butch, I'm quitting."
"Fine," said Butch, curling his lip. "I don't need you. You wear big underwear anyway."
"Hey, don't talk about my girl's underwear," Andrea demanded.
"Whatever." Butch rolled his eyes. "Just go."
The girls grouped together.
"We're on our way out," said Madeline.
"Wait!" said Lucky. "Can I come with you?"
"Lucky!" Butch called.
"I don't want to work here anymore. The Night Owl room is so scary. And the bathroom stalls have holes."
"Of course you can come with us, Lucky," said Skye.
"Lucky, you can't quit," said Butch.
Andrea lifted up Lucky and threw her over her shoulder. "She just did," Andrea said, holding onto Lucky's little legs. "You don't own her."
"You don't have to carry me," said Lucky, lifting her head up.
"Hey, I want to."
"See ya, Butch!" said Lizzie in a deep voice, putting up the peace sign.
The girls walked through the aisles towards the door.
"Can we hurry it up?" asked Debra. "Everyone is looking at us like dog food."
"Well, we are at a place full of dogs," said Madeline. "Dogs! All of you! Dogs!"
"You just love being the center of attention," said Skye.
The girls exit the restaurant with Andrea being the last out. Before she left, she turned around, swinging Lucky's body.
"Goodbye, girls of Tidbits," she declared. "I hope your dads are okay with this. And if you don't know your dads, they're probably here having beefcake."
No comments:
Post a Comment