Errant Thoughts Story, Part 10

It was a slow evening; Danny paused in sweeping and glanced at his boss leaning against the counter, "Do you ever wonder why people still order pizza when so many other businesses have closed?"

"Of course. You know, I thought about opening one of the big name fast food places. Glad I didn't now. Pizza is special around here; it's a comfort and a reward. So, if someone is having a bad day and comes home to bland, cheap food, they decide to treat themselves to pizza. Or if dad gets paid, he celebrates by picking up a pizza for the family. There's a tipping point where the economy could get so bad that we won't be profitable, but as long as there are a few dollars on the SNAP cards, we should be okay."

They were interrupted by shouts and shrieks coming from the back door and they ran through the kitchen. There they found the delivery guy with his back against the door, clutching his hand and shaking. The girl who should have been boxing the next order kept screaming until the boss barked, "Shut up, Melody! Ben, what happened?"

As soon as she quieted down, they could all hear the snarling sounds coming from the alley. "Dogs, man! They were tearing open garbage bags but when I came by, they went for the delivery bag. One of them bit my hand." Ben held out the wounded hand but, as soon as he saw the torn skin and blood, he gave a little moan and fainted.

Danny grabbed the first aid kit and helped Melody clean and bandage the bite wound while their boss called the attack in. "Hooray for Mr. Barger, huh?"

Danny looked up in surprise, then laughed as he made the connection between what they were doing and the high school health teacher who insisted all his students learn CPR and first aid. They helped Ben stand up as their boss came back. "Okay, we're closing early tonight. Ben, you're going home now; I'll walk you to your car. You two finish that last order and start closing up."

Melody finished boxing the pizzas as the customer came in the front door. After she waited on him, she came back to where Danny was washing the dishes. Leaning on the counter, she said, "You looked disappointed to get off early. I thought we might go catch a movie."

"Oh!" He stared at her in surprise, "I wish I could. I can't afford it."

"Hmmm," she studied him with a lifted eyebrow. "Alright, then."

Mentally, he kicked himself as she went back to work. He kept stealing glances at her; he didn't know her well since she had only been working there a couple weeks and the school was too big to know everyone, but he was interested. "Hey! Maybe I should walk you home in case the dogs are still around."

"Maybe you should."

Danny turned back to the dishes with a smile. Today wasn't so bad after all.

Part 11