Fight Club ⚣ ✓

12

The studio apartment was more like a closet. No bed meant that this was going to be another night on the floor, which also meant another morning of pain. I had tried to look at a few places online, but the delivery seemed to be just what I thought it was: an arm and a leg for me right now.

I thought about how long I could make it sleeping on the floor. Maybe I could hold off until my next paycheck? That wasn't going to be for another few weeks though taking into account the pay schedule and when I started...

As I crawled into that sleeping bag that night, there was one thing I didn't necessarily regret:

Getting away when I did.

Sure, Texas had a bed, and a home with hot water...

But it also had pain. Abuse. The stares. My father.

Him.

I would sleep on the ground in a back alley before even the slightest thought of returning crossed my mind. This was home now. All I could do was take the bad with the good and try to survive.

-

When I arrived at work the next morning, Howard was already in the back working on paperwork. As soon as I noticed him, I realized something:

Kassie was right about my nose.

Even though the ice had brought down the swelling greatly, Howard still had a puzzled look on his face when he welcomed me.

"What a jab." Was the first thing he said to me. I wasn't sure if that even counted as a good morning.

"Yeah, it's a long story." I replied.

Howard shook his head. "As long as it didn't happen in here, it's not my problem."

Well, technically it had happened right outside of Tidal Wave, but if Howard wasn't trying to be concerned, then I decided there really wasn't a point in concerning him. Before I even had the chance to say anything else, Kassie joined us in the back room.

"Well good morning everyone! Hey Howie." She chirped. Howard flinched at the nickname but said nothing as he acknowledged her with a head nod. "We've got a busy week coming up here with end month. We need to work on the menu and new inventory for the next month." She spoke to Howard.

He nodded again.

"We also need to incorporate Dante in a new set schedule."

Another head nod from Howard.

"I also wanted to work on some new ideas to spruce up the place, and get our customers involved. I was thinking we could-"

"I trust your judgement." Howard stood, cutting Kassie off completely. "Do whatever you want. I'm going to take a smoke break." That was the last thing he said before he left Kassie and I alone in the back.

"What a charming guy." I muttered to myself. Kassie unexpectedly broke out into laughter when she caught my words. "He's an alright person but a shitty manager. The nice thing is is that if you just talk a lot, he'll agree with whatever you ask."

That made me chuckle. It was now clear as day who the real manager was here.

"What I was going to say before Howard decided to take his second break this morning-" Second break? I glanced up at the clock on the wall just to double check, and sure enough, it was still barely passed nine this morning. The day technically just started. "Was that I wanted us to think of things our customers could be involved in. Maybe a raffle? Or bingo?"

I thought about the regulars and semi-regulars I had the pleasure of meeting this week, and I genuinely thought that Kassie had some good direction with this.

"Maybe trivia?" I proposed. "On our busiest nights, we could throw up a trivia question and the person who gets it right can drink for free that night."

Kassie's face lit up at that idea. "That perfect!" She exclaimed. "We could have different categories during the week, and maybe even make that extra chalkboard in storage the trivia board? This is some good stuff!" She had already started scribbling things down in an open notebook on the table. "Do you think I could put you in charge of getting that started? You can work on it just whenever you have some down time." She rushed that last part out.

I gave her a nod. "Absolutely. I'll let you know what I come up with."

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