Tabbs

Chapter 15

The Saturn finally died. The crowned prince of hand-me-downs, heir to the shit mountain fortune had finally bought the farm, kicked the bucket, found its silver bullet and ate the end of the gun. Something Tabbs found out as she was rushing to work the next early morning. Completing her starting ritual in a rush, she wiped off the morning dew with a ratty white towel she kept in the back seat, cranked the engine once quickly then backed off, slapped her palm onto the mothball-covered dash twice, and finally cranked the engine a second time. Except there was no second time. It just sat there as stupid as Tabbs felt. She got out, repeated the process, but not even so much as a cough escaped from the Saturn. It sat as still as a corpse waiting for the coroner to declare its time of death.

Checking her watch, Tabbs could see she was already going to be ten minutes late at this point. She was opening with her manager Keith, which meant she still had at least another fifteen minutes before he would arrive. She rushed back up the stairs and pleaded with a sleeping Valentina to give her a ride. With a snort and a groan, the other girl pointed at the table and Tabbs spotted her keys. She obediently fetched them and was about to bring them back to her when Valentina waved one hand at the door, and clamped a pillow to her head with the other. "Go," she mumbled though the down-feathers.

Tabbs stared at her, eyes wide. "But I-"

"Just need to have the fob on you. Press the button and it'll go."

"But I've never driven-"

"I know you've at least driven a truck before, Tabbs. Now please... shut up and go."

Tabbs gave the other girl a quick hug, which she replied to with a snore, and darted back out the door. Clicking the unlock button on the fob, the Mercedes blinked on its bright LEDs and unfolded its side mirrors like a winged angel. Tabbs dumped her army surplus bag into the passenger seat and drove her finger into the igniting button. The console beeped loudly at her, as if it knew she were some sort of impostor. Tabbs flinched, half expecting the car's security system to pepper spray her. When she gathered the courage to open her eyes again, she spotted a crisp white text displayed on the console, instructing her to lay her foot on the brake and then to hit the ignition. She did so with an unsteady foot and finger and the powerful motor purred to life.

Twenty minutes later, Tabbs was behind the counter of the Sunshine Cafe. The stupid smiling sun logo on the center of her forest green apron was looking crisp and sharp as could be expected. And, more importantly, there were none the wiser to her late opening other then Mr. Deltoy, who was punctual if nothing else. The frog-faced old man stared at Tabbs as she had fumbled with the keys just minutes earlier and unlocked the front door for him. He stood there near the front door's threshold, sighing and tapping his foot as she rushed to get the lights on and everything running. When she had completed her morning tasks list in record time, she was rewarded for her efforts by Mr. Deltoy telling her she looked like a bat. Most likely some back handed comment on her new makeup, but Tabbs decided to take it as a compliment. It was at least better than been being accused of dying like Dakota had so aptly pointed out the other day.

Tabbs had just finished making Mr. Deltoy's usual when she spotted her manager's silver Toyota Camry pulling up in the front most spot. A spot that he was constantly harping on Tabbs and her coworkers not to use as it was supposedly taking it away from customers. A few minutes later, the man himself walked through the squeaky double doors, his fluffy golden locks pulled back into a brilliant coif, the collar of his baby blue polo poking over the top of a lime green windbreaker, which was tucked into a pair of pristine khaki pants to tie the look of 'manager' together. He greeted Tabbs with a chirpy 'Good morning' and ordered a peppermint latte with an extra shot of espresso before walking off to his office in the back.