The Promise

Chapter 7

Cleanup was a bitch. Sadie was adamant about sanitation. Nothing was clean until she inspected it and it usually didn't pass on the first inspection. Luckily, there were four of us slaves, so the work wasn't totally oppressing. I washed hundreds of dishes, pots, and pans, a lot of them more than once. The floor was done twice. Sadie would find the grime in places Sherlock Holmes would have missed. She seemed to relish finding issues when I thought I was done. I think she took my volunteerism as a challenge. I sucked it up and by the time we were done, I would have confidently eaten off the floor.

I spent the next four weeks learning the hard part of running a soup kitchen while my back fully healed. Sadie began to trust me to manage the deliveries. She was hesitant at first and I don't believe she had ever allowed anyone else to do it in the past. The first time she watched me like a hawk. It was simple inventory control to me, but to her it was like lopping off an arm. Reluctantly, she began to trust I wasn't going to screw it all up.

We would receive both ordered goods and donated goods. The donated had a very short shelf life, the reason the grocery store donated them in the first place. It was a priority that these short-lived items find a place on the next day's menu and everything was visibly marked so nothing expired would ever find its way onto a plate.

I watched Sadie develop menus. This was something she would never relinquish control over. It was as much art as science. The expiration dates drove some of it and experience drove the rest. She worked up to five days in advance, solidifying a day's menu as it drew near. It was not something you could easily automate. There were food clashes that needed to be avoided and last minute donations that needed to be squeezed in. She allowed me to watch but laughed when I offered to help. This menu was her domain and it would take an army to drag it away.

The army arrived a week later in the form of microscopic soldiers. I walked into work to find Sadie, pale and sweating, slumped on a stool trying to work on the menus. Her eyes were bloodshot and I could tell she hadn't slept the night before. She looked absolutely miserable.

"Go home," I said compassionately.

"Can't, too much to do." Sadie covered her mouth with her hand when she spoke. Her voice was raspy like something was stuck in her throat.

"Give me the keys," I said forcibly, "and go home. You're going to get everyone sick." I think it was the thought of contamination that finally convinced her. Reluctantly, she handed me the keys.

"I promised Richard," Sadie said softly while looking around. It was important to her that I understood why she was here, as sick as she was. I understood, maybe the only one who could.

"I will make sure the promise is kept." I said it with conviction because I meant it. When Sadie's hesitant red eyes meet mine, I added, "I promise." Her eyes sparkled for a moment as she held my gaze.

"Thank you." Sadie moved off hesitantly.

I ran the City Kitchen for the next three days. I had to send Sadie home every morning those three days. I made it easy for her to leave, everything was in perfect shape and I was the picture of confidence. It couldn't have been farther from the truth. I had no idea how Sadie did it seven days a week. I felt like I was being pulled in ten directions at once. Workers didn't show, deliveries were late, menus didn't fit supplies, and cleanup ran later than it should. I screwed up the prep list on the first day sending the next two days' menus into turmoil. The days were long and grueling. Sadie had made it look so easy. With the help of some of the more experienced volunteers, we were able to pull it together at the last minute. "Sugar Magnolia" always played at 4 o'clock and people were fed. I was a stressed mess.

Sadie took back the reins on the fourth day. She smiled at the obvious relief on my face. I confessed it all, the problems, the botched menus, and the overall mismanagement. She walked around inspecting the kitchen as I explained the problems that still needed solving. She ended in front of me as I explained about the lettuce I had to throw out because I didn't use it in time.