Motley Memos

"You call that a bonus?"

I huffed as I practically dragged the ridiculously large trash bag through the back door of Tony's. That's the diner I worked evening shifts at, and received the most bullshit in my life. I stomached it because it's the nearest place I could immediately get a decent paying job in this small town. The work was pretty simple too: do the dishes, take the trash out and do some more dishes. I only needed enough to keep me on my feet till I found proper employment around there anyway.

It took way more effort than I anticipated to get the bag out the door, three feet to the right of the building and finally in the dumpster. Seriously, you'd think they filled the bag–which was actually full of mostly paper waste and leftovers–with those vainly heavy enamel dessert plates. It was probably my body sending me signals that I was letting myself go. I didn't really care. I had more important things to worry about at the moment than an acceptable summer body.

I wiped my hands on my apron and made my way back inside. We were closing up and I was glad the day was over. I grabbed a cloth from the kitchen and headed over to where Asahd was wiping booth tables. I chuckled at the nerd belting the lyrics to some AJR tune playing from his iPod. It was always a show, and I personally enjoyed the touch that his accent gave to whatever song he sang, although I made fun of that same accent every other day.

"What's this called?"

"Burn the House Down!" he cheerfully answered from on top of the table he was supposed to be wiping.

"You're doing a good job," I deftly answered right as Tony walked in bearing a smug look in respect of the day's event going smoothly.

"Boys," he clasped his hands, "We did it!" Tony's face morphed from glee into confusion before he commanded, "Rahul, get down from there."

The boy grumbled at our boss purposefully calling him the wrong name yet again. I was convinced he did it just to taunt him. Any other scenario and that would have seemed just racist.

"We have survived one year and today's celebration couldn't have gone better. That free sample idea was genius. Thanks, Tolu." I nodded at the acknowledgement. "As a token of my appreciation for all your hard work today, here's a little bonus." He slapped a couple hundred dollar bills on the nearest table in two piles, one for either of us.

"You call that a bonus?" Asahd mumbled as he approached us nevertheless. Tony held his head even higher and ignored the comment. I only liked him when he was fighting Asahd, it was entertainment. Guess he was in too good a mood for that.

Tony gave us both a once over and spun on his heels. "You also have the day off tomorrow," our ears perked at the words we never really heard.