“Kathy!” Janice’s shrill voice echoed through the diner from the kitchen. The Presbyterian church let out a few minutes before 11:30 a.m., hunger setting in. Church people knew Janice’s breakfast foods would be hot and ready to go in minutes. Janice knew well that a few of these ‘holy rollers,’ as she called them, would try ordering fried chicken, pork steaks, or worse yet, meatloaf. All before noon. Of course, she’d never say that in front of Pastor Theodore. But when was she in private, or when addressing her staff or any other attentive audience? She’d unload on how these same Jesus lovin’ people would come in here and treat her like ‘they’s was God’s gift to the world – nothin’ they say is wrong,’ even though the tirades about the food not being hot enough, the coffee being cold, the bacon fried too long or not long enough, or the hashbrowns being burnt or not crispy enough. “Ain’t tryin’ to please everyone. Youns wants to my food? Then youns gotta let me cook it my way,” Janice would say. The sound of Janice’s voice set people’s teeth on edge. Not Kathy. She let it slide, knowing the poor woman was overworked and loved serving others. No matter how rude they may be to her.

“Yes, ma’am?” Kathy shouted back. Kathy focused on the table in front of her. Three young girls, a husband and his wife, and her mother sat at the round table. The girls were all wearing sundresses in matching pastels, a trial run for Easter. The girls were quiet, listening to their grandmother talk about the sermon to their father. Beatrice wasn’t fond of Pastor Theodore, often commenting on his weight and how he should stop stuffing his face with sugar, pancakes, and bacon.

“The audacity of that man!” Beatrice spat. “To use me and Betty in his sermon.” The husband, a local car salesman, Henry Madison, dabbed at his forehead with his handkerchief. The diner warmed up in early spring, not yet hot enough for the air conditioning but warm enough to kick on the four ceiling fans, one of which was broken. The broken one hung right over their table, Henry sweating more now than in the small church across town.

“Kathy! We gots food waitin’ on our guests. Get the lead out!” Janice poked her head out the kitchen door long enough to bellow at Kathy. A smoke stuck to her lips, unlit, but Kathy guessed Janice was chewing on the end of it. Janice would, on occasion, spit out the tobacco stuck to her lips. Spitting, in Kathy’s mind, was grotesque, and a lady would never do that. Not that Janice considered herself a lady. No ma’am. She wasn’t about to let some man tell her what to do. Not after James stole and cheated on her. No sir!

“Comin’!” Kathy passed out the food like a blackjack dealer, starting with Beatrice, who had two pancakes and hash browns. It was not her normal order, but Kathy wouldn’t question the change. Beatrice was the same age as Kathy’s mother. Her daughter, Pauline, had two over-easy eggs and two pieces of wheat toast. The girls, Celine, Sheena, and Tabitha, all had one pancake each. Kathy couldn’t picture being pregnant three times and so close together! The girls were almost two years apart, exactly. Tabitha was four, Sheena six, and Celine, the oldest, was eight. Pauline didn’t let the girls eat any pork products, ignoring the fact that Henry ate bacon and sausage every Sunday. Skinny as he was, Henry ordered the same thing every time: four pancakes, four sausage links, four pieces of bacon, hash browns, scrambled eggs, and at least three cups of coffee to wash it down. Kathy was used to the heavy trays, carrying more food than Janice, having worked at the diner almost as long as Pauline was married to Henry. If there was one thing Janice could count on, it was the young lady’s work ethic: Kathy never called in sick. “Ms. Beatrice? Everythin’ good?” Beatrice smiled, nodding with her mouth full. A good Christian woman, she’d never be caught talking with her mouth full. Henry didn’t look up from his plate, gobbling his eggs first. But the three girls? They were slowly chewing and cutting up their pancakes after Pauline gave each girl’s pancake a splash of syrup. Celine, Sheena, and Tabitha gave Kathy the biggest grin, all nodding yes. Kathy smiled at the girls. “You know, ladies, each of those pancakes was made special. Just for you.” Celine stopped chewing, her eyes widening.

“Really, Ms. Kathy?” Celine asked. “Special for me?”

Kathy winked. “That’s right, Celine. Special just for you. And you, Sheena. And Tabitha? You too!” The girls giggled. Pauline leaned back, hands in her lap, blushing. Her girls weren’t like some of the other kids in Spiner. Her girls were well-behaved and proper. Even playing outside on the swings at the park, they took turns sharing their dolls and even shared in their chores, helping each other out.

Beatrice reached out for Kathy’s hand, giving a squeeze. “When will you find a nice man to marry, Ms. Kathy?”

Kathy shrugged, smiling. Her last date was with a cattle rancher, one of Jim’s hired hands, Trey, who showed up just for the paycheck. Having a conversation wasn’t a strong suit of his. Neither was romance. That was way worse. The one date with Trey ended when Kathy got a ride home from Spiner’s best watering hole with a younger gal she went to high school with, the only one not drinking. Kathy wasn’t a fan of country music but would tolerate it if a hot guy would dance with her. Trey’s one redeeming quality was his sexy body, and he wasn’t that bad of a dancer, even if he was boring. She kept smiling as she daydreamed of Trey and her dancing. Janice’s shrill voice snapped her out of it.         

“Kathy! Get yer rear in gear, girl!”

“Sorry, Ms. Janice! I’m a comin’!” Kathy navigated through the packed diner with the deftness of an Olympic skater, dodging diners leaning back in their seats, stretching their arms into the aisle, or waving their empty coffee cups at her. She never stopped smiling, no matter how busy it got. The next few orders included Doc’s, Jim’s, Pastor Theodore’s, and some folks from Hanover who only showed up on Sunday after church. Hanover’s church attendance dropped to less than five parishioners. The decision of the church board to close the doors of the Hanover church permanently was decided by the preacher, his wife, and two families in Hanover. Instead of not attending a church, they collectively opted to participate in Pastor Theodore’s church. First, Kathy took Pastor Theodore his pancakes, bacon, and eggs. Then Doc and Jim got their food. Finally, she managed to get the three families from Hanover their food.

With everyone happy about their food situation, Kathy snatched up both carafes of coffee, topping off some and refilling others. Now that all the coffees were refilled, Kathy could breathe for a second – until Henry, Pauline, the girls, and Beatrice stood at the register. Henry had his cash in hand, Beatrice tapping her foot like she was hurrying to Bingo. The three girls stood behind Pauline, each one holding a piece of her Pauline’s sundress.

“How was everything?” Kathy asked, taking the cash and the check from Henry.

“Coffee’s cold today, Ms. Kathy,” Henry’s normal voice would put a squirrel to sleep. It was deep, soft, and slow. She could picture Henry as an economics professor if Kathy had gone to college. His monotone voice would ramble about a tariff or an embargo threatening democracy and world peace. Thoughts like these kept a smile on the young lady’s face, reminding Kathy that life was too short to be unhappy. Mr. Madison made her smile.

“Mr. Madison, next time, I’ll do better and make sure you have hot coffee.” Kathy winked at him, knowing that Beatrice would disapprove. Janice taught Kathy to keep the ‘men folk’ happy if she expected to earn good tips. Kathy did better in tips than Kathy paid her, something continuing for years at Janice’s Diner.

“Good enough, then.” Kathy handed him his change. The girls waved at Kathy, Pauline giving her a sideways glance. Flirting with Henry wasn’t okay by her, even though he was in charge of their home. Outside in the public eye, he had the last word. But when they were alone? Kathy could guess that Pauline gave him a piece of her mind. It wouldn’t have surprised her if she got mad at him because Kathy winked at him!

Beatrice waited until everyone was outside. “Young lady,” she hissed, “that was inappropriate and downright rude. To do that in front of his wife! You ought to know better.” She crossed her arms, scowling at Kathy, waiting for her to apologize.

“It’s not inappropriate if I do it to everyone, is it Ms. Beatrice?” Kathy motioned for her to step to the side. “And how was everything for you folks today?” Kathy rang up a family of seven and gave them their change, all while Beatrice stood to the left of the register, still scowling at Kathy.

“Coffee was a little on the cold side.” The husband wore a white suit, black tie, and shiny black shoes, polished so bright you could see your reflection. “Don’t forget to tell her about the eggs, dear.” His wife was a short woman. Kathy pictured a serving tray balanced precariously on her head while she passed out plates. It made her chuckle.

“I’m sorry?” Kathy asked, holding back the laughter. “What about the eggs exactly?” She almost asked ‘eggs’actly, but at the last second chickened out, thinking the short woman wouldn’t have taken kindly to her quip.

“Wasn’t quite cooked long enough,” she answered for her husband. “Still quite a bit runny.”

“How did you order them?” Kathy asked, knowing the answer.

“Sunnyside up, Ms. Kathy. But you already knew that, didn’t you?” Kathy felt a fight coming on from the short woman. She’d have a few more run-ins with this woman. Kathy stopped banking at First State Bank of Spiner for that reason. The short woman worked as a bank teller, often making Kathy’s life miserable when she came to deposit her paycheck.

“Sir, did you eat all the eggs?” Kathy asked. She didn’t know that Janice opened the kitchen door, watching to see how her waitress handled herself with unruly customers. Beatrice was still waiting, impatient with the short woman and her too-tall-for-his-wife husband.

“No. My husband did not eat all his eggs. The plate is still on the table if you want to see it,” she pointed at the booth behind where Jim and Doc sat. Janice hired a teenage boy, Travis, to clear, wipe down, and reset the tables. It kept him out of trouble. Travis started working at Janice’s diner as a favor to Judge Olsen after the district attorney, Dallas Meadows, suggested the young man’s sentence included the discipline of working, giving back to the community, and also earning a paycheck. Judge Olsen concurred. Olsen figured Janice needed the help, and it wouldn’t hurt her if he eventually quit. Janice stood quietly at the kitchen door, smoking her cigarette, wondering how this would play out. Beatrice was getting more and more impatient, Kathy smiling through it all.

Kathy looked over at the table Travis had cleaned off seconds earlier. Janice watched the young man scrambling through the diner, cleaning, wiping, and doing an excellent job for his third day. Travis was getting the hang of working for Janice, understanding the words coming from her mouth, especially when she had a smoke between her lips. His dad talked the same way, through clenched teeth and a cigarette in his mouth. “What plate?” Kathy asked, pointing toward the table. Travis was in the back washing dishes, so the short woman never saw him clean off the table.

Short woman huffed at Kathy. “It was right there, and yous knows it!” she shouted.

“I need to talk to you, Ms. Kathy. We ain’t done yet,” Beatrice interrupted.

“Hold your horses, Ms. Beatrice. I’m speakin’ right now.” Short woman snapped back. “Yous is gonna refund us for them eggs.” Kathy’s face was turning red, and she was clenching and unclenching her fists, a trick her Daddy taught her to keep herself calm. It worked for her in junior high school when all the boys teased her. “It’s only cause they like you,” Jack said. She learned that he wasn’t wrong. But the first clenching worked.

Janice had heard enough. “Alright!” she yelled. “Enough is enough! You,” she pointed at Beatrice, “need to leave. Now.”

“Well! How dare you, Ms. Janice!”

“How dare you talk to my employee like that in my business. And yes,” she pointed at the short woman, “this is my business. You din’t like yous eggs, sir?” Janice was addressing the husband of the short woman.

“No, Ms. Janice. They’s was cooked just fine. The coffee was cold. That’s the only thing.”

“Well, now that we got all that sorted, Ms. Beatrice, we’ll see you next week. Kindly leave ‘fore I throw youns out myself.” Janice pointed at the door while Kathy rang up the short woman’s husband, counting back the change. “And youns? You complain about somethin’ every time you come in. How ‘bout this? Stop comin’ in if’n you can’t says somethin’ nice about my staff,” she pointed at Kathy with her half-smoked cigarette, “or the food.” Janice looked the husband in the eye, “And next you come in, and the coffee’s cold? Do me a favor. Says somethin’ for cryin’ out loud! Yous a man, ain’t you? Act like it! And you,” Janice glared at the short woman. “You complain about one more thing, and you won’t be welcome back, ya hear?”

Short woman and Beatrice were frozen, neither woman daring to say a word. “I am fairly sure that I told you both to skedaddle, din’t I?” Janice snapped, and both women ran, trying to push one another out of the way, afraid of what the owner might do. Janice had a temper, but running a diner for almost twenty years would do that to you. “I really need to retire,” Janice said, relighting her cigarette. “Kathy? Take a break. You deserve it.”

“We got work to do,” Kathy winked, grabbing a bussing tub and clearing one more table.

“Well, youns a hard worker. Ain’t no one gonna fault you for that. I see a lot of Jack in ya.”

Kathy smiled, piling dishes into the tub.