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myself in the window and sighed as an old man in red shorts jogged past.
    “Look at that ass.”
    I spun sharply to see a group of six ladies playing cards at a table. They were all old, old as dirt, so naturally I assumed I had misheard.
    “He has a fine ass on him. Did you ever bite that butt, Martha?” An old lady with dyed dark hair laughed. I was stunned. Dirty old ladies? Was this my job, serving dinner to dirty old ladies?
    One of them laughed, but it sounded off, and when she spoke, her words were like that movie my dad always watched about the mob. It was like she had a mouth full of marbles. “I would lose my teeth if I bit it now.”
    I laughed and they turned their faces, all but the lady with the marbles.
    A hawk-faced lady gave me a steely-eyed look. “What are you laughing at? Who are you?”
    I shrugged. “Finley Roze.” I turned and looked for Hattie, but she hadn’t emerged from the door.
    “And what are you doing here, Finley Roze?”
    I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
    “What’s with the bandage?” They all eyed me up, all except Marbles. She didn’t move. I felt like I was sweating. I didn’t know what to say or do.
    I shook my head again. “I don’t know.”
    “FINLEY!”
    I turned sharply to see an angry Hattie. “Move your ass.” She turned and went back in the door. I scowled, but the ladies started laughing at me.
    “You better move it, Finley Roze.”
    “Hattie is a mean old bat. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of her.”
    “Yes, move your ass and get us a drink!”
    I ran. Mean old ladies might have been an issue for me. I didn’t have a grandmother or a mother. All I had was Sheila and she didn’t scare me. She was ridiculous.
    Through the door, I found Hattie talking to a fat man in a chef’s uniform. He glared at me and nodded his head.
    “Fin, this is Mike. He’s the chef here. He’s in charge. You will be a server, you will work hard, and you will not sass him. Understood?” She turned and left the steamy kitchen.
    Mike smiled the minute Hattie was gone. “She’s a savage. Your dad must hate you.”
    I winced. “I think so.” I was playing cool, but he was right. My dad did hate me.
    Mike saw the reaction and put a hand up, with a huge knife in it. “I just meant she is so mean. He must be pissed at you to send you here. Where are you from?”
    My eyes never left the knife. “Spokane.”
    He nodded. “Cool. I was there once, nice place. It’s like a desert or something, right? Really dry? I’ve been to Washington a couple times. Once to go to Whidbey Island. I caught the ferry from Victoria. Intense security to get on and off that ferry. I’m actually from Vancouver Island, on the West Coast.” He didn’t look so scary and old as he had a moment ago. I imagined he wasn’t much older than I was. But being fat made him look older. He had thinning sandy-brown hair and dark-brown eyes. His lips were very plump, of course. Guys always had great lips, but fat guys always had fat lips. It was us skinny girls who were always lacking in the collagen.
    He nodded. “Wanna go see if anyone wants a bit of tea or coffee or a cookie? You could take a plate around, but if you see a thin purple bracelet, that means they’re diabetic. You have to give them sugarless cookies.”
    I was lost.
    “You know how to serve, right?” He laughed. “Hattie is a liar. You’ve never had a job before, have you?”
    I swallowed hard and shook my head.
    When he laughed, everything sort of jiggled about like it would on Santa. “Find Mae. She’s out there. She’s a Newf so she sounds Irish and is sort of like Hattie. Tell her you’re new and are to follow her for your first shift. She will get you a uniform and everything else.” He nodded his head at the door I had come through and then went back to cutting vegetables. “It was nice meeting you, Finley.” I was being dismissed.
    I walked back out to the room with the mean old ladies. They were still playing