A Crooked Waitress

Chapter 5

Sun was up when Toby came out of his room. On his way to the kitchen, he saw Christina. She was eating some cereal in the living room. Her entangled hair framed her face, and her red eyes bulged out.

"What is it?" He sat down in front of her.

"We have to leave." She put another spoon, full of sugary grains, into her mouth.

"Go where? What's happened?"

"We have to leave town, today, tonight. Or they'll kill us." She dropped the spoon into the milk and splashed a few drops around.

"Who wants to kill us? What did you do?" He tapped on her shoulder.

"I played. I wanted to win big. I met this guy, and I took a loan..."

"And you lost the money," He completed her story. "I thought I was the imbecile around here. I told you don't go to that casino."

She pointed her finger at him. "Now is not the time for that. We need to run."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere. It's your mess; you fix it." He stood up.

"Don't you get it? They'll kill you. You're my brother. I have no money and I have to run. If I beat it, then they'll come after you. You pay for me."

"I get it perfectly. I'm staying put."

"What is it here that keeps you?"

"Nothing, I just don't want to run around the country with no money and end up sleeping on the sidewalks. Then some dude who hears voices and thinks I stole his favorite cardboard beats me to death with a piece of rock."

"You're staying because of Madeline." She picked up the spoon and waved it at him.

"She is none of your business."

"Do you want to end up in a grave because of a girl? You can't get laid six feet under!"

He went to the kitchen, picked up a juice box from the fridge, and returned to his room.

"Oi! I was talking to you." She yelled.

But he wasn't in the mood for a fight. He shut the door, looked for his little box, and found it under his bed.

After a minute, the door swung open and Christina burst inside.

"I'm leaving with or....What the hell?" She froze in her place.

Toby had tied a tourniquet around his arm and had a syringe in his hand. A bag of heroin sat in the small box on the nightstand.

"Can't you knock?" He shouted.

"I thought you quit."

He dropped down the syringe and opened the tourniquet. "Like you gave up gambling? If you quit again, it would be try, number four or five?"

"I'm good at gambling."

" Good enough to be trapped by a loan shark? Huh?!"

She blinked a few times and closed the door.

***

Christina was watching a documentary about penguins on the flat-screen TV that Claus, the owner, had installed on the diner wall. Something to attract more business.

She had served her few customers and from time to time, glanced at them to see if anybody needed anything. Then her mind returned to her dilemma.

She couldn't run because her stubborn brother wouldn't move. But she couldn't let him pay for her mistake either.