SNOW GLOBE (6 page)

Aja peeked at her score and smiled when she saw her grade: ninety-seven. She could see the only points off were on the essay section, where Mrs. Dempsey was able to offer her own opinion, and where Aja could read between the comments that she didn’t deserve this grade.

“So did you cheat, or what?” Aja heard a voice behind her. Her face burned, but she didn’t turn around. Instead, she flipped the test over with the grade on top and stared at the front of the classroom.

In between classes, Aja felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. It was a text from Walker.
Can I see you later?
She stopped in the hallway, forcing other kids to go around her, and texted back
. No, I’m working
. She snapped her phone closed and went to her next class. The phone buzzed again as she took a seat, but she ignored it.

Later, at work, Aja ducked into a bathroom and changed clothes. She only had the one outfit, and her shirt was getting gamey. She’d not had time to do laundry. As she laced her cheap shoes, Aja thought she felt another blister pop. She stopped by the mirror to put her hair up. She was so tired it showed in her whole body. Her long blonde hair was greasy, and her shirt had a chocolate stain from the cake she’d brought to the Jensen’s apartment the other night. She thought of Walker and his perfect, shiny girlfriend complaining about the brown salad leaves. Please, would Kendall’s hair even get dirty? She and Walker looked like they were meant to be together. The perfect couple. Aja stuffed her school clothes in her backpack and ran out of the bathroom.

“China girl, help me out here.” Mrs. Poston stood in the lobby of the residence home, holding a small box and a stack of mail. “Carry this to my room.” She handed the box to Aja.

“I’d love to help Mrs. Poston, but Janie’s expecting me.” Aja glanced at her watch. “Ten minutes ago.”

“Then she can wait a few more minutes.” Mrs. Poston walked ahead, flipping through the stack of mail. “You need to be more dependable.”

Aja sighed and dutifully followed the old lady, surprised at the spring in the woman’s step. Mrs. Poston’s hair was a helmet seared with a single flip of a curl in the front. Aja thought if she touched it, the hair would break into pieces. She wondered how she slept at night without messing it up—if she slept at all since she was always cranky.

“Bills, junk and catalogs,” Mrs. Poston said waving the mail. “You young people don’t write letters anymore. Everything is science fiction now. Phones that take pictures and computers that do your work. Lazy, lazy.”

It took a few minutes before they reached Mrs. Poston’s apartment, and Aja knew Janie was cursing her by now. “Here you go, Mrs. Poston. I really need to run.”

“You will excuse yourself properly
after
you put the box inside,” Mrs. Poston said with a raised eyebrow. The alcove to her door had a small table decorated with an eyelet doily and a fake potted geranium on top. She lifted the plant and took a hidden key from under it and opened the door. “Set it on the dining room table.” Mrs. Poston waved her inside and put the key back under the pot.

Aja ran in and placed the box on a table in a small kitchen. Mrs. Poston’s apartment was neat and clean, not a speck of dust anywhere, and it felt like the thermostat was set to a searing ninety degrees. “Okay, I’ll see you at dinner.” Aja dashed to the door.

“What are we having tonight?” Mrs. Poston asked.

“I don’t know yet.” Aja fidgeted, ready to sprint. “But I’m sure Janie needs my help. Bye.” She ran out before Mrs. Poston could say anything else.

Janie was busy filling water glasses when Aja ran into the kitchen. She looked at the clock, then at Aja.

“I’m sorry, Janie. Mrs. Poston held me hostage, and I couldn’t break away.” Aja grabbed an apron and took a bucket of lettuce from the fridge.

Janie sighed. “I’d hoped to bring the Jensens something before the dinner rush started. Mrs. Jensen’s not doing well and really should be in the hospital.”

“Then why doesn’t she go?” Aja asked.

“Mr. Jensen says he can take better care of her here, but he’s about to run himself into the ground.”

“His hands shake so bad he couldn’t even hold a spoonful of food steady when he tried to feed her the other night,” Aja said. She looked around the kitchen. “You go. I’ll take care of the soup and salad.”

“No, there’s too much,” Janie said.

“I’ll be fine. You’ll be back before the main course.” Aja grabbed a tray and a stack of salad plates. “What could go wrong?”

Chapter 10

After Janie left to go to the Jensen’s with dishes of food, Aja and Gabe, the cook, slapped lettuce on each plate and garnished each with tomatoes and carrots. She could already hear voices out in the dining hall. She grabbed a pad to write the orders down so she wouldn’t forget, heaven forbid, Mrs. Poston’s order. She grabbed two pitchers of water and headed into the dining room, where most of the tables were already occupied.

“We thought you’d deserted us,” Mrs. Poston yelled across the room. “What’s taking so long?”

“Coming,” Aja said, hastily filling water glasses. She got to Mrs. Poston’s table and filled her glass. A few drops splattered on the tablecloth. “Sorry,” Aja said.

“I want apple juice and decaf coffee,” Mrs. Poston demanded, blotting the water with her napkin. “And bring me a fresh napkin.”

Aja set one of the pitchers on the table to write the order. Mrs. Poston gasped so loud Aja thought the woman had breathed her last breath. “Are you okay?”

Mrs. Poston pointed to the sweaty pitcher. “Get that off my table. Where did you learn your manners?
Bad
manners, I might add.” The two women sitting with her squirmed in their seats. “Where’s Janie?”

“She’ll be right back.” Aja grabbed the pitcher. “I’ll get your drinks in a sec.” She ran to fill up the rest of the diners’ glasses.

“No, not in a ‘sec.’ Now.” Mrs. Poston glared at Aja.

“Here, let me help.” Aja felt someone take the water from her hand.

“Walker, this is not your job,” Mrs. Poston said.

“But it would be my pleasure to serve such a beautiful group of women.” Walker bowed. The two women giggled while Mrs. Poston continued to glare at Aja.

“Walker, don’t be gross.” Kendall came up behind him. “Don’t bring yourself down to this level. You’re not a server.”

The way she said ‘server’ made Aja’s skin crawl.

“I think I can handle pouring a few glasses of water.” Walker stepped away from Kendall and nodded at Aja.

“Thank you,” Aja whispered.

Walker winked at her and poured out water and charm at each table.

Aja got the rest of the drinks and began with the food orders. She stopped short when she noticed Freddy Kruger, in full uniform, his big gun holstered at his hip, take a seat with one of the residents. He smiled, an eerily sinister smile at Aja, and waved her over.

“Aja Harmon, right?” he asked.

“Yeah.” She felt defensive and scared at the same time. “Are you eating here tonight?”

“Yes, with my favorite uncle.” He waved toward an elderly man sitting next to him who didn’t respond much except to nod. The poor guy’s wrinkled, grimy button-down made Aja’s shirt look sparkly clean.

“What can I get you to drink?” Aja asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

“There’s not much here that I’d want.” Freddy Kruger sneered. “How about you and me go get something later?”

Desperately wishing she’d been serving steaming hot coffee so she could pour it on his lap, Aja ignored his remark. “How about you, sir?” she asked his uncle.

“What?” he yelled, cupping his ear.

Aja heard a high-pitched whistle coming from his ear and noticed a hearing aid. “What do you want to drink?” she asked loudly.

“Milk,” he wheezed. “Helps my peptic ulcer.” He patted his belly.

Aja took their food order and went to get the rest of the drinks. She’d have to hustle to get the salads and soup out. Where was Janie?

Walker stepped in beside her. “What else can I help with?”

“Really?” Aja turned. “Janie should’ve have been back by now. Can you help serve the salads?”

“Sure, show me what to do.”

Kendall appeared in the kitchen and grabbed Walker’s arm. “This is not funny. Don’t you think you should eat with your family?” She looked with disdain at Aja. “I mean, it’s not like you need to train for future life skills here. There’s no waiting tables in law school.” She flipped her silky, shiny hair as if to make a point. Aja got a glimpse of her psychic aura as a colorless blob.

Aja could practically feel the grease congeal in her own hair and noticed Kendall had on one of the new spring skirts from Abercrombie.

“China girl, pack my dinner to go. I don’t have time to sit here all night,” Mrs. Poston shouted. “I don’t pay for my meals to be self-serve. Hurry!”

Aja ran to the kitchen, where the cook had started serving the plates of food by looking at her order slips. “Thanks, Gabe. Janie’s still not back, and Mrs. Poston wants her food to go.”

He gruffly waved her off. “I’ll take care of her. Get these orders out.”

Aja grabbed a tray of food and ran out the door, crashing into Walker as he was coming into the kitchen. Food went everywhere, plates shattered to the floor.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Aja cried, grabbed a napkin and wiped blended roast beef off Walker’s shirt.

Gabe took a broom and swept the mess into one big pile. “Go get the next tray and serve. We’ll finish cleaning up later.” He set the broom to the side and took another stack of plates, dealing them on a tray like a deck of cards. “I’ll re-do this order. Go on.”

Aja didn’t have time to check on Walker as she took the food tray and began serving. After the third tray, she saw Gabe walk a box of food to Mrs. Poston.

“This is unconscionable. I pay too much money to live here to be treated like trailer trash,” Mrs. Poston said. “You can be sure I will file a complaint.”

“Sorry for your troubles,” Gabe said, as he placed the box on the table in front of Mrs. Poston.

Aja served the two women who were sitting with Mrs. Poston. “I’m sorry for the delay.”

“That’s fine, honey. They need to hire a few more girls, though,” one of the women said.

Aja smiled at her gratefully, then ran to serve Walker’s table. Walker was in good humor with a bib tucked into his stained shirt. Kendall, fuming, glared at Aja.

“Miss Stafford.” Mrs. Poston was suddenly next to Walker’s table, addressing Kendall. “Do you mind helping me carry my food and drink to my apartment? I need someone who can show some responsibility to help me.” Her eyes bore into Aja.

Kendall grimaced, obviously not willing to help.

“I’ll help you.” Walker stood.

“No, I’ll do it,” Kendall huffed, and threw her napkin on the table. “You’ve done more than enough for this place,” she hissed, angrily scooting her chair away from the table.

“Thank you, dear.” Mrs. Poston handed the box to Kendall. “You know, you remind me of myself when I was your age.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Kendall whispered to herself, but Aja heard. She wasn’t sure that Walker heard and was certain that the elders didn’t because no one reacted.

What an awful person, Aja thought as she left them and headed toward the kitchen. She felt a hand on her arm and turned smiling, expecting to see Walker. It was Freddy Kruger.

“My uncle wants more milk and his dinner.”

“Sure, let me get it.” Aja tried to wiggle from his grip, but he only held her tighter. “Let me go, so I can get your food.”

He took her by both arms and faced her and pressed his body into her. “You look like you need some help.”

“I can’t do anything if you don’t let go.” Aja did not want another scene, so she didn’t kick him in the balls like she wanted to.

“Do you do any nude modeling?” he said contemptuously. “I want to take pictures of you.”

“Well, look at that,” Aja heard Mrs. Poston say. “China girl, I don’t think you should be flirting with the guests, especially considering the disaster you served tonight.”

“I’m not.” She wrestled from Kruger’s grip, darted to the kitchen and tried not to cry.

An hour later, everyone had been served, and Aja was so exhausted and sore she could barely move. The kitchen still needed to be cleaned, and she felt obligated to help Gabe since he’d been so good to her during dinner. She still had hours of homework to do and would be up till 2:00 a.m. doing that and laundry.

Janie walked into the kitchen and took in the mess. “What happened?”

“Don’t ask. Where were you?” Aja asked, angrily rubbing her blistered feet.

Janie shook her head. “We had to call an ambulance to take Mrs. Jensen to the hospital. She didn’t look like she’d make it through the night. Mr. Jensen is beside himself, cried like a baby when they took her. I had to drive him to the hospital.” She grabbed a broom and began sweeping. “I’m sorry. I should’ve come by here first.”

“That’s okay.” Aja sighed. “You did the right thing.” She wearily leaned against a counter. “But I’m probably going to be fired after this.”

“Let me talk to them. It’s my fault.”

“Well, don’t get yourself fired. This place would fall apart without you.”