Slices

by Tamara Black

  “That sounds fun,” I said, attaching the last strip of masking tape and writing a date on top of one of the tubs of cheese.

  “Not really," she said.

  “What websites?”

  “Oh, all kinds of them. I don’t get name credit for them as I'm a ghostwriter.”

  “That’s a shame.” I picked up a tub. “Grab one and follow me into the cooler.”

  “I bet you say that to all the women, huh?” she teased.

  I laughed, the tub bouncing against my hard abs.

  “Only the cute ones like you,” I responded, managing not to wink.

  After we finished putting all the tubs of freshly cut cheese into the walk-in cooler, I took her out back for a cigarette break before we prepared the store for the lunch rush.

  “I really need to quit completely,” she said, lighting up.

  “Yeah, me too,” I said, doing the same. “Especially during the winter.” I raised an arm. “Oh, that reminds me. Let me check your antifreeze.”

  “Would you? That would be great. It gets so cold. It’s not overheating at all.”

  “Yeah, you could have just enough to keep the engine cool but not enough to go past the heater core and heat the car unless you’re pressing the gas.”

  “Um, okay,” she said with a confused look on her face.

  “Get in, pop the hood, and turn the car on.”

  I checked her fluid levels as she ran the car in neutral and saw she was indeed low. After a quick trip to my trunk, I returned with antifreeze and poured it in to the cold fill level. I replaced the cap and turned it tight.

  “Should I turn it off?” she asked.

  “Leave it running a minute without hitting the gas and see if it heats up or not,” I said.

  “Get in here, then," she said, leaning over to unlock the passenger side door.

  I walked around and got in, rubbing my hands together, trying to warm them up.

  “Shouldn’t take too long,” I said then took a drag off my cigarette.

  “Good.” She rolled her window down an inch. “Do you smoke the other a lot?”

  “Oh, every night, I would say.” I laughed. “Probably too much, but I have a lot of stress in my life.”

  “What? A nice looking Italian guy like you with problems?”

  “You saying I look like trouble?” I teased.

  “Maybe.”

  We smoked in silence.

  “I feel heat,” she said excitedly.

  “Me too." I turned to her and smiled. "You should be good to go.”

  “Thanks so much. I didn’t have any money to take it into a shop.”

  “It was nothing, but they probably would have tried to talk you into buying a new radiator or something.”

  “You don’t know how everyone likes to prey on single mothers.”

  “My mom raised me herself, so I know a little," I said, still looking at her.

  “That gives me hope.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “You had a single mother and you turned out okay. Maybe my kids will too.”

  I grinned. We both stared at each other a moment. She looked away first.

  “So, were you up late last night smoking?” she asked.

  “No, I come in to deliver pizzas on some nights for extra cash.”

  “Oh? Really?”

  “Yeah, I need as much money as I can get.”

  “I hear you about money problems.”

  “Speaking of which," I said. "We should go back inside and get ready for the lunch crowd.”

  After she turned off the car, we got out. I unlocked the back door of the shop before we both walked in.

  “The others should be showing up shortly,” I said.

  “Others?”

  “Yeah, it takes about six or seven of us to handle all the lunch orders. We deliver to quite a few companies around here.”

  “Okay. What do you want me to do?” she asked.

  “Well, since you pretty much know how to do every station already, why don’t you try to run the whole place through lunch.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “I have faith in you. Run it from the cutting station. It’s easiest because you can see everything. Don’t be afraid to delegate. You got this.”

  “Where will you be?”

  “I have a splitting headache, so I’ll be in the office taking a couple aspirin and hoping they kick in before you guys need me.” I smiled. “Just come back whenever you can’t handle it, okay?”

  She nodded. “I got this.”

  I walked to my office and shut the door, wishing I could go home and sleep. After popping a couple extra strength aspirin in my mouth, I took a long drink of water out of a bottle on my desk. With a sigh, I sat down and leaned back in my swivel chair. I’ll just close my eyes for a second before I finish the schedule, I thought to myself. Within seconds, I’d fallen asleep. A knock on my office door jolted me awake. I stood and walked over, opening it.

  “Need me so soon?" I asked.

  “Nope,” Tanesha said, smiling. “Lunch rush is over. I’m leaving for the day.”

  “Oh, that’s good,” I said, hoping she couldn’t tell I’d been sleeping. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

  “Thanks again for the help with the heater," she said.

  “Don’t mention it.”

  She smiled, waved, and walked to the back door. I followed her to lock it then headed out to the ovens to survey the situation.

  “Where are we at?” I called out.

  Tom walked over. “I’m ready to take over for tonight. Are you coming back to deliver again?”

  Does he know something? I wondered.

  “Yeah, I’ll be here around eight this evening to help out with the special orders.”

  “How is the new lady working out?” Tom pushed his glasses up his nose.

  “Good,” I said. “She’s pretty much got everything mastered so far.”

  “You’re not going to give her my job, are you?” he asked.

  “You’re irreplaceable, Tom,” I said.

  He walked away with a smile on his face. I went home to eat something before having to come back to deliver pizzas and weed all night.

  THREE

  Tony

  Over the next two weeks, Tanesha took over most of my morning shift responsibilities. I began to get a lot more sleep, which improved my mood somewhat. The huge gambling debt racked up by my mother still hung over my head, but at least my life wasn’t getting worse.

  I drove down a back road toward a ranch compound out in the middle of nowhere. The tenants were crazy survivalists, but they loved their untaxed weed. More than once they had scared the hell out of me, but I had a half pound stuffed into pizza warming bags in the back of my car.

  My car emitted a noise I’d never heard it make before, one that terrified me. The Ford Taurus had more than two hundred thousand miles on the odometer, and she looked it. “Don’t do this now,” I said to myself, worried about getting the weed to the preppers on time.

  They did not like tardiness because of their overwhelming paranoia. If I failed to show up on time, they might refuse the whole order, thinking it was from a secret government program or some crazy shit. I never knew what to expect with them.

  Another loud clunk sounded under the hood. I lost all power. While trying to steer the tight wheel, I stepped on the brakes to park on the side of the road. I don’t need this now, I thought, putting on my flashers.

  I dug my cell phone out of the center console and turned it on. My car broke down so often, I had the Geico app. With a few taps, I sent in my request for a tow. A minute later, a friendly sounding female answered.

  “Hello, I’m sorry you’re having trouble. Are you safe right now?”

  “Yeah, thanks,” I said. “My car won’t start. I need a tow.”

  “We can do that for you Mr. Peterson. Let me contact the tow company, and I’ll call you right back.”

  “Thanks
,” I said.

  She disconnected the call. The hazard lights on my car blinked on and off, illuminating a field and part of the road. If a cop came by and found me with so much pot in the pizza bags, I’d be thrown in jail for sure. Every paid or headlights that approached terrified me.

  My phone rang.

  “Hello, Mr. Peterson?”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “The tow company is on their way. We tow the first five miles for free. I see that your destination is over thirty miles away. The company wanted too much money, so we’re going to go ahead and cover that for you.”

  “What? Are you serious?” I asked, not believing her.

  She laughed. “Yes, sir. We like to take care of our customers.”

  “I’m going to tell at least five people to sign-up for Geico,” I said.

  “Thank you, sir. Anything else I can help you with?”

  “When will the tow-truck be here?”

  “Within an hour. Does that work for you?”

  “Yeah, that’s fine. Thanks again.”

  “No problem sir. I hope your night goes better.”

  I disconnected the call then hit the number for Pizza Pizza. Tom, the night-shift assistant manager, answered.

  “Pizza Pizza, we put the pizza in your…”

  “It’s me,” I said, interrupting him.

  Everyone who worked at the place hated the phone greetings corporate made us say.

  “Where are you?” he said.

  “Betsy broke down.”

  “You need a new car, dude.”

  “That ain’t all I need. I’ll be back when I can. You got it?”

  “I got it covered,” he said then sighed.

  “Don’t be such a bitch, Tom,” I teased.

  “Whatever, Tony. Bye.”

  I turned my phone off and waited. One cigarette later, I heard and saw the tow-truck approach. He pulled in front of me and stopped. I got out of the car. The driver’s side door of the truck swung open and a man with a large body and ill-fitting tee-shirt stepped out.

  A battered khaki vest over the faded maroon shirt offered him little protection from the cold, but he didn’t seem to care.

  “Front wheel drive?” he asked.

  “I think so?”

  He frowned, leaning his head back lazily as he stared into my eyes.

  “Ford Taurus is front-wheel drive.”

  “Is that a problem?” I asked.

  “What’s wrong with it?”

  “It made a weird nose then just died.”

  “I see,” he said. “Let me get it hooked up.”

  “Hey, I have a favor to ask.”

  “Beyond towing you?”

  “Well, Geico is paying for that, right?” He nodded. “Okay, great. How about some free pizza if you drive me to my last delivery so I don’t lose my job?”

  I hated lying to his face, but I had no choice. The dope had to get to the client before midnight or I’d miss a payment to Bullet and get into massive trouble.

  “What kind of pizza?” he asked.

  “Pepperoni…”

  “I’ll do it,” he said then laughed, his belly bouncing in a jolly manner.

  “Great, thanks,” I said.

  “I’ll have you hooked up in a jiffy.”

  He walked to the back of his truck and hit a button, lowering the apparatus that lifted my car. I watched in amazement as he connected chains and a bar. A minute later, he had the front end of Betsy raised up in the air.

  “Let’s go,” he said. “And bring my pizza.”

  I went back to my car and grabbed the one pizza bag that held an actual pizza. The situation was not optimal, but it could be a lot worse. I climbed into the cab of the tow-truck.

  “Smells good,” he noted, turning a key in the ignition.

  The engine roared to life.

  “You want it now?”

  “No, I shouldn’t,” he said, then relented. “Fuck it, let me have a slice.”

  “Go to town,” I said, opening the bag and pulling out the box. “Here…”

  I opened the lid. He grabbed a slice of semi-warm pizza and devoured half of it in a single massive bite. Impressed, I sat back on the bench seat, wondering if I should buckle in or not.

  “Let’s roll,” he shouted as he put the tow-truck into gear.

  We lurched forward. I noticed him looking in the side mirror after we drove out onto the road.

  “You need the address for my last delivery?” I asked.

  “That might help.”

  He roared with laughter as he shifted gears. I turned and looked out the back window. My car bounced up and down as we sped down the road.

  “You sure it’s okay back there?”

  “Let me do my job, kid, and you do yours.”

  “More pizza?” I asked.

  He reached over and grabbed two slices at the same time. After slapping them together, he pushed most of them into his mouth. I turned away, looking out the passenger side window.

  “This is it,” I said as we pulled up to a driveway with a gate. “Just wait here.”

  I handed him the pizza box and got out of the cab. After retrieving the other pizza bags filled with weed out of the back of my car, I headed down the long driveway toward the survivalists’ bunker slash house.

  What would Tanesha think of me if she knew about this? I wondered as I walked, having to lift my feet high into the air to get through the unplowed snow on the gravel path leading to their compound.

  A coyote howled in the distance as I reached my destination. Before I could knock on the door, three bright lights switched on, and I heard the snap-action of a shotgun.

  “Hey guys, it’s me,” I said. “Tony.”

  “What’s the password?” a man asked in a gruff voice.

  “Look, I forgot. My car broke down. You need to get this so I can get back to the tow-truck driver and get out of here.”

  I shielded my eyes with my hand and saw a dark figure walk out of the light.

  “You got all of it?” he asked through his thick, brown beard.

  “Yeah, where do you want it.”

  “Just drop it here and step off the porch slowly.”

  I emptied the wrapped bundles of weed and slung the pizza bags over my shoulder.

  “What about the money?”

  “The money?” the man laughed.

  “Yeah, the money for the weed,” I said.

  “Are you wired?” he asked in a voice full of paranoia.

  “No, of course not. But I need the money.”

  “Here,” he said, handing me two huge burlap sacks.

  “What the hell is this?” I asked as my arm dropped three inches after I grabbed a bag.

  “It’s the money. All we had is quarters.”

  “You’re fucking kidding me, right?”

  “No, is there a problem?” He pointed the shotgun at me.

  “We’re cool,” I said, struggling to hold both bags full of quarters.

  They better be rolled at least, I thought as I turned and trudged back to the main road. After stashing them in the backseat of my car, I climbed back into the cab of the tow-truck.

  “Mission accomplished,” he said.

  I noticed he had devoured the entire pizza.

  “Thanks again.” I shut the door. “Back to my house.”

  “You don’t want me to drop the car at a shop?”

  “No, I have a guy that will look at it for me tomorrow. I just need to get home.”

  He put the tow-truck into gear and pulled back onto the road.

  “Here we go,” he said, speeding up.

  “You sound like you enjoy your job,” I said.

  “It’s okay, but it can be tough sometimes.”

  “Yeah? How so?”

  “The people I have to deal with,” he said bluntly.

  “Like me, huh?” I laughed nervously.

  “No, you’re fine. It’s the liars I hate.”

  He turned and stared into my
eyes. Does he know? How the hell could he know I lied to him about the pizza delivery? I cleared my throat as he turned his attention back to the road. We rode in silence the rest of the trip.

  As he drove off into the sunset, I stood by my dead car in my driveway and called Jimmy, the best backyard mechanic I knew. Well, the cheapest anyway. Even though I was flush with two bags full of quarters, I had to give that money to Bullet.

  I thought about calling my mother to tell her I was about to make another payment on her debts, but I didn’t want to get into a fight. After another long day, I just wanted to crawl into bed, get under the covers, and sleep.

  Before I could do that, though, I had to find a way to work in the morning. I called five people, all of whom said no in one way or another. The only other person I could think about calling was Tanesha, who had given me her number in case of an emergency at the store.

  “Hello, Tanesha?” I said after she answered.

  “Who is this?”

  “It’s me, Tony. From the shop.”

  “Oh, hey Tony. It’s late. What’s going on? Am I fired?” she asked.

  “No, no, it’s nothing like that. You’ve been doing great. My car died tonight, and I was wondering if you could swing by and pick me up in the morning.”

  “Yeah, I can do that for you. I mean, you saved me a lot of money by fixing my heater problem.”

  “Great. I’ll text you my address. About six thirty, then?”

  “Sounds good to me. I’ll send you a text when I’m on my way.”

  “Thanks so much, Tanesha.”

  “No problem. Thanks again for the job.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “What happened to your car?” she asked suddenly as if she didn’t want to hang up with me.

  “I’m not sure, to be honest, but I have someone looking at it tomorrow.”

  “Cool.” I heard a child scream in the background. “I need to go, okay? Goodnight, Tony.”

  “Night, Tanesha.”

  After she disconnected, I walked inside my apartment building and tried to rest up before my next full day of work and chaos. Tanesha was the only bright moment in my entire day.

  FOUR

  Tony