Tessie D

Mr. Despare called me into work on Thursday night, so I didn’t get to go to the football game. Monica seemed pretty mad at me, but I didn’t know how to say no. He called when I was at school, and Momma had already told him I’d come in to work. 

I wish that Momma wouldn’t do that. I wanted to spend time with my friends last night. But, she reminded me that we needed the money and if Mr. Despare thought that I wasn’t dependable to come in when he needed me, he’d stop asking. I sulked the entire drive into town. 

Work was fine, I guess. I went in at 5:00 p.m. and stayed through closing. Tips were good — really good, actually. It was Eric and me on the floor, and Matt was in the back. We had a busload of high schoolers come in, so we were busy right from the beginning of the shift. The rush never let up and I had was table after table all night. When the rush was over, I must have walked a hundred miles. But, I made $60, which was the most I’ve ever made in a shift, so at least coming in was worth it.

Something felt off all night, though. Mr. Despare was… odd, like he was mad at me and wouldn’t tell me why. 

I wasn’t running out the food out fast enough. 

People needed their drinks refilled. 

I needed to bus tables quicker. 

My uniform was dirty.

I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything except “Yes, sir.” 

Later, when we’d slowed down and he was sitting in the back going through the receipts, I asked if everything was okay and if I’d done something wrong. But, Mr. Despare didn’t look up from the ledger and just told me that he was busy and to get back to work. 

So, that’s what I did. 

I don’t know what I’d done.

I work again tonight and tomorrow night. I’ll just work harder and faster to make sure that Mr. Despare is happy with me.

I can sleep on Sunday.