Living Life A Bit Differently, chapter 5
Jess and Deefer sat at one of the tables, they conversed quietly, a few laughs now and then. Kit grunted at the two, as he was wiping down the counter. It wasn't his job, and he wondered why he let them keep theirs.
"There was this real hot girl in a magazine I was reading... What was her name... OH YEAH! Lindsay Lohan, that girl. There is no way her boobs are real, they're HUGE, how old is she, sixteen? They're huge...!" Deefer rambled until Jess cut him off.
"You know what, Deef? Cheese." Jess challenged, she leaned on the table with her arms.
"Oh yeah? Chedder!" Deefer answered.
Jess gasped. "Well... Swiss!"
They continued this contest to see who could name as many cheeses until Kit interrupted angrily, "Cheese off! Now Jessilyn, get a mop and clean the floor, Deefer, get behind me and start fixin' up some burgers, or it's both your asses!"
The two employees stood up abruptly and walked in opposite directions.
"Mozarella." Jess whispered before walking towards the bathrooms.
Deefer rolled his eyes and jumped behind the counter, recieving a frustrated glance from his boss. He smiled innocently and turned on the rust-covered grill.
***
Two hours later, as the clock neared twelve in the afternoon, Billie Joe walked in, smiling, as usual. The employees, as well as the customers turned to see Kit rushing up towards Billie, his face red.
"Why the hell are you late? You know it's like bumper-to-bumper traffic in here on Friday's! We need the most help we can get!"
"S-sorry, I was talking with Ms. Nesser and I forgot-"
"You forgot about your job? Look, Bill, I know I can't expect perfection from you, but at least try to be a little respectful of my business, please? Come to work on time, that's all I ask."
Billie nodded, his head hanging as he walked away, the equivalent of a dog with its tail between its legs. Kit sighed and turned around, unexpectedly colliding with Jess.
"Shit, ya scared me, Jessilyn." remarked Kit.
"First of all, don't call me Jessilyn. Second, why are you so harsh on him and not Frank? You're angry with Billie Joe because he's late once in a blue moon, but Frank is late every single day! He's not here now, is he?" Jess said.
"I know, I know. But I practically spoon-feed Bill, and Frank is family-"
"Since when did you give a second glance towards Billie Joe, except when he does something wrong? People have a right to be wrong, especially him. And, just because Frank is your cousin, twice removed, doesn't mean he deserves special treatment."
Jess was clearly sick of Kit's behavior towards Billie Joe, and she wasn't going to let him off easy this time.
Kit turned his head towards the long line of customers, impatience crowded his features, "Look, Jess, it's Friday, there's a lot of people on line-"
"They can wait, but I think Billie has waited long enough for this torture from Frank and your blindness towards it to end. Either speak with Frank, or you just lost another employee, because I'm sick of seeing Frank be such an ass towards my best friend."
***
"He fired me" Jess told Billie after his shift had ended.
She wasn't angry, she wasn't sad, she was blank. But Jess found a reason to be sympathetic towards her friend. Now that she wasn't working with him anymore, who was going to protect him? Deefer was oblivious behind the counter, grilling artificial meat products, and fuck if Kit was going to do anything about it.
"But... Why?" Billie asked, upset his best friend of ten years was out of a job.
"I really don't know." she lied.
"I can talk with Kit tomorrow, if you want me to." Billie offered, his legs swinging idly while he sat on the counter in his kitchen.
"No, no. It's okay, but thanks. I'll ask Aunt Milly if she can get me a job in K*Mart, or something."
"Okay." he answered.
He glanced towards the pile of birthday gifts he had recieved the previous day, most of them cards with gift cards for various stores.
"Ms. Nesser says I'm going to get smarter." Billie remarked, matter-of-factly.
"Sure, Bill, we're all hoping." Jess answered in a low monotone.
"She said I'm going to have a surgery and get smarter." Billie announced, mis-pronouncing 'surgery', so it came out sounding like 'sergy'.
Jess looked up at her friend, she couldn't believe it. She wouldn't.
"Bill, I know it sounds good, but are you sure it'll work? Surgery?"
Billie shrugged and continued to kick his legs through the air, finding it was hard to stay still.
"I dunno. Ms. Nesser said I was gonna get smarter by surgery," he made sure he pronounced it correctly, looking towards Jess to make sure, she nodded, telling him he was correct.
"Billie Joe, do you even know what surgery is?"
"No."
"Jesus... You go to a hospital, and the doctors put you to sleep-"
"How are they gonna do that?"
"By a kind of gas, you get tired and go to sleep." Jess answered in the most understandable way possible.
"Oh..." Billie didn't quite understand this, but he let it go.
"Well, anyway, they put you to sleep, then they cut you open and mess around with things, then you wake up and are fine, it could hurt a little, but they help with that."
Now Billie looked like he was going to have a panic attack.
"They're gonna cut me open!? Will it hurt?"
"No! You'll be asleep through the whole thing, you won't feel a thing." Jess answered, trying to calm him down.
She pat his back, trying to comfort him.
"I don't wanna be cut open... How will they close me?" Billie asked worriedly.
"Stitches, probably. Like when someone closes a hole in a sweater."
Billie Joe squeaked and rested his head on Jess' shoulder, she continued to pat his back.
"I don't wanna have surgery. Can I get smart another way?"
"It won't be that bad, trust me. I've had surgery a lot of times, it's nothing, you'll be fine. I'll make sure I'm there when you wake up, okay?"
Billie nodded, still nervous, but he felt better now that Jess was going to be there.
"There was this real hot girl in a magazine I was reading... What was her name... OH YEAH! Lindsay Lohan, that girl. There is no way her boobs are real, they're HUGE, how old is she, sixteen? They're huge...!" Deefer rambled until Jess cut him off.
"You know what, Deef? Cheese." Jess challenged, she leaned on the table with her arms.
"Oh yeah? Chedder!" Deefer answered.
Jess gasped. "Well... Swiss!"
They continued this contest to see who could name as many cheeses until Kit interrupted angrily, "Cheese off! Now Jessilyn, get a mop and clean the floor, Deefer, get behind me and start fixin' up some burgers, or it's both your asses!"
The two employees stood up abruptly and walked in opposite directions.
"Mozarella." Jess whispered before walking towards the bathrooms.
Deefer rolled his eyes and jumped behind the counter, recieving a frustrated glance from his boss. He smiled innocently and turned on the rust-covered grill.
***
Two hours later, as the clock neared twelve in the afternoon, Billie Joe walked in, smiling, as usual. The employees, as well as the customers turned to see Kit rushing up towards Billie, his face red.
"Why the hell are you late? You know it's like bumper-to-bumper traffic in here on Friday's! We need the most help we can get!"
"S-sorry, I was talking with Ms. Nesser and I forgot-"
"You forgot about your job? Look, Bill, I know I can't expect perfection from you, but at least try to be a little respectful of my business, please? Come to work on time, that's all I ask."
Billie nodded, his head hanging as he walked away, the equivalent of a dog with its tail between its legs. Kit sighed and turned around, unexpectedly colliding with Jess.
"Shit, ya scared me, Jessilyn." remarked Kit.
"First of all, don't call me Jessilyn. Second, why are you so harsh on him and not Frank? You're angry with Billie Joe because he's late once in a blue moon, but Frank is late every single day! He's not here now, is he?" Jess said.
"I know, I know. But I practically spoon-feed Bill, and Frank is family-"
"Since when did you give a second glance towards Billie Joe, except when he does something wrong? People have a right to be wrong, especially him. And, just because Frank is your cousin, twice removed, doesn't mean he deserves special treatment."
Jess was clearly sick of Kit's behavior towards Billie Joe, and she wasn't going to let him off easy this time.
Kit turned his head towards the long line of customers, impatience crowded his features, "Look, Jess, it's Friday, there's a lot of people on line-"
"They can wait, but I think Billie has waited long enough for this torture from Frank and your blindness towards it to end. Either speak with Frank, or you just lost another employee, because I'm sick of seeing Frank be such an ass towards my best friend."
***
"He fired me" Jess told Billie after his shift had ended.
She wasn't angry, she wasn't sad, she was blank. But Jess found a reason to be sympathetic towards her friend. Now that she wasn't working with him anymore, who was going to protect him? Deefer was oblivious behind the counter, grilling artificial meat products, and fuck if Kit was going to do anything about it.
"But... Why?" Billie asked, upset his best friend of ten years was out of a job.
"I really don't know." she lied.
"I can talk with Kit tomorrow, if you want me to." Billie offered, his legs swinging idly while he sat on the counter in his kitchen.
"No, no. It's okay, but thanks. I'll ask Aunt Milly if she can get me a job in K*Mart, or something."
"Okay." he answered.
He glanced towards the pile of birthday gifts he had recieved the previous day, most of them cards with gift cards for various stores.
"Ms. Nesser says I'm going to get smarter." Billie remarked, matter-of-factly.
"Sure, Bill, we're all hoping." Jess answered in a low monotone.
"She said I'm going to have a surgery and get smarter." Billie announced, mis-pronouncing 'surgery', so it came out sounding like 'sergy'.
Jess looked up at her friend, she couldn't believe it. She wouldn't.
"Bill, I know it sounds good, but are you sure it'll work? Surgery?"
Billie shrugged and continued to kick his legs through the air, finding it was hard to stay still.
"I dunno. Ms. Nesser said I was gonna get smarter by surgery," he made sure he pronounced it correctly, looking towards Jess to make sure, she nodded, telling him he was correct.
"Billie Joe, do you even know what surgery is?"
"No."
"Jesus... You go to a hospital, and the doctors put you to sleep-"
"How are they gonna do that?"
"By a kind of gas, you get tired and go to sleep." Jess answered in the most understandable way possible.
"Oh..." Billie didn't quite understand this, but he let it go.
"Well, anyway, they put you to sleep, then they cut you open and mess around with things, then you wake up and are fine, it could hurt a little, but they help with that."
Now Billie looked like he was going to have a panic attack.
"They're gonna cut me open!? Will it hurt?"
"No! You'll be asleep through the whole thing, you won't feel a thing." Jess answered, trying to calm him down.
She pat his back, trying to comfort him.
"I don't wanna be cut open... How will they close me?" Billie asked worriedly.
"Stitches, probably. Like when someone closes a hole in a sweater."
Billie Joe squeaked and rested his head on Jess' shoulder, she continued to pat his back.
"I don't wanna have surgery. Can I get smart another way?"
"It won't be that bad, trust me. I've had surgery a lot of times, it's nothing, you'll be fine. I'll make sure I'm there when you wake up, okay?"
Billie nodded, still nervous, but he felt better now that Jess was going to be there.
