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    " I just don ' t understand how you knew, " said Dave. " I mean, it ' s just your first day. Mr. Martin told me you worked in a restaurant, but how could you know exactly where everything goes here? "
    " The place I worked at used to be a Wild West Steakhouse, " explained Larry. " It was down in Virginia. Company sold it a couple years ago, so it ' s not Wild West anymore, but it was laid out almost exactly like this place. "
    " Ohhhh, " nodded Dave. " I see. "
    " That was one of the reasons why Tom Martin gave me this job so quick, ' cause I could just jump right in and start working. Plus, I ' m a friend of Tom ' s. Known him for years, so I guess he was doing me a favor. "
    " Well, I ' ve gotta ' tell you, " said Dave, " I ' m really impressed. I mean, thanks. Thanks for doing all that stuff. "
    " No sweat, " grinned Larry, reaching out to give Dave a friendly swat on the shoulder. " Just doing my job. "
    " I really thought I ' d have to train you, " smiled Dave, " but hey, this is great. Maybe we can get this place caught up, after all. "
    " That ' s the plan, Stan, " laughed Larry.
    At that moment, a door crashed open, and the busboy stumbled in with another overflowing load of dishes and slop. Dave ' s bout of surprise and gratitude abruptly ended, and he snapped back like a rubber band to the urgent reality of the rush.
    *****
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    By six o ' clock, the rush had mostly run its course. All the senior citizens had evacuated the steakhouse and wandered back to their bus. Business dropped off substantially, returning to the low, steady level which was more typical of a Monday evening. In the home stretch at last, Dave and Larry continued to slug away at the mess, clearing tables which they knew wouldn ' t fill up immediately, washing dishes which wouldn ' t boomerang back to the dishroom quite so quickly as before. By seven o ' clock or so, they finally finished the post - rush cleanup, and everything settled down. The flood of bus pans slowed to a trickle, the counters and shelves were bare, and the two guys actually found time to take a breather.
    Leaning back against the counter, Dave wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of one hand. " Man, " he puffed tiredly, gazing around the dormant dishroom. " What an evening, huh? "
    " Sure was, " sighed Larry, sipping from an amber cup full of cola. That was one of the few benefits which came with working at the Wild West Steakhouse: soda was free for the taking.
    " I thought this was going to be an easy night, being Monday and all. If I ' d known a bus was headed our way, I would ' ve called off sick. "
    " Aw, it wasn ' t so bad, " Larry said with a shrug. " Nothing we couldn ' t handle. "
    " Nothing we couldn ' t handle, " Dave said wryly, " but if it had just been me the whole time, forget it! Before you got here, I was about ready to throw in the towel! "
    " Why didn ' t Tom call somebody in to give you a hand ? " Larry asked with a slight frown. " I ' m sure he could ' ve gotten someone to come in for a few hours. "
    " Well, " said Dave, catching himself just as he was about to launch a verbal assault on Mr. Martin ' s character, remembering that Larry had said he was a friend of his. " I really don ' t know. I guess maybe he figured the rush wouldn ' t last long, so we wouldn ' t need an extra person. Once that bus came, I guess he was probably too busy to make any phone calls. "
    " Or maybe he ' s just an asshole, huh ? " grinned Larry, slyly raising one eyebrow.
    Surprised, Dave bugged his eyes wide and laughed. " Well, that ' s possible, too, " he agreed.
    " Not just possible, " declared Larry. " It ' s probable. "
    " Well, that ' s true, " grinned Dave. " I didn ' t want to say it, with you being an old friend of his and all, but that ' s definitely true. "
    Blowing out his breath, Larry rolled his eyes and dismissively waved a hand through the air. " Aw, don ' t worry about that ' friend ' business. I said I was an old friend of Tom ' s, not a good one.