Koon Chai Cafe

Chapter Twenty-Seven - Somewhere Sunny

Sunny

"Here's one pork bibimbap bowl, japchae, kimchi jiggae and your selection of side-dishes." 

"Please let me know if you need anything else!" I lied, giving my widest, fakest customer-service smile. Nothing on earth would have possessed me with the desire to spend any more time than I had to with table six. They were loud, obnoxious and exactly the kind of customer to give the lousiest tips. 

I swiftly crossed the floor of the restaurant, avoiding making eye contact with any of the many demanding customers asking for refills. It was small and cramped inside, the air thick with the smell of sizzling onion and spices from the kitchen. There were only a dozen or so dark, polished tables to serve but they were still quite enough work for me and Mike, the only other server on shift. 

Safely behind the restaurant counter, I pushed open the swing doors into the dark, stuffy supply closet at the back and slumped down onto the floor next to this weeks shipment of cabbages. This entire shift had been an absolute nightmare. New customers seemed to be getting ruder and ruder and even our normally cheerful regulars seemed to be more blunt than usual.  

I let out a long, irritable sigh and nudged the tankard of cooking oil in front of me with my foot and watched the contents slosh around inside. The general atmosphere both in the restaurant and at home had changed since Park left. It was suffocating. 

Neither Mom or Dad were acting like themselves since he left. It used to be a rare occasion when either one of them shut-up but now Dad barely spoke and Mom was not much better. She would occasionally bark orders at the rest of family and we had to be careful to walk on eggshells around her lest she have an emotional outburst of rage at a small mistake or missed chore. 

When school starts each morning, it's actually a relief to leave the apartment in the freezing cold and catch the bus, something I thought I'd never believe myself. 

More than anything, I missed him. There was a Park shaped hole in our home that everyone was trying to ignore, but I just couldn't. I missed my friend. 

Suddenly, the door beside me swung open and hit me square on the elbow. "Ow!" I yelled, rubbing my now throbbing elbow with my hand. "Watch where you're- Oh, hi Dad." 

Dad looked down at me from the doorway, clearly exhausted. "Sorry, I didn't know you were there." He replied in a horse, croaky voice. "There's a customer waiting for someone to take their order, sweetie." 

The faint light of the restaurant behind him illuminated his thin and sunken face. Dad had taken Park's departure the worst out of all of us physically. I may have lost a few pounds here and there but Dad's clothes hung to him loosely, now several sizes too big for his thin and fragile frame and his once round and rosy face now felt like a stranger's it was so gaunt. 

"I'm on it." I groaned, lifting my now bruised body off of the floor. Without another word, he turned away, letting the door swing shut behind him plunging the room back into darkness.  

The lady sitting by the window wasn't a regular customer. On the contrary, she stood out as someone who was wildly out of place at our small, cramped family restaurant. 

She wore a silky scarlet pantsuit that looked more expensive than both of my kidneys could sell for on the black market. Around her neck sat a stunning silver plaited necklace, embedded with small shining gems that might be actual diamonds and the large Channel logo on her handbag spoke for itself. 

Suddenly aware that I had been staring at this woman for a little too long, I hastily pulled out my notepad and pen and flashed her my best customer-service smile. There was only one thought in my head.