Rebel Yell

Chapter 1: The Four Roses

Here I was, twenty-one and finally on my own. I had just recently moved to Boston to live with my life long best friend, Bria, who had moved here over a year ago. We are both originally from a small town in Michigan. Ever since we were kids we've both dreamed about moving to a bigger city in a different state and becoming roommates and becoming hairdressers. Well, all of that came true except for the good job part...

"Amber! Get your shit together and get out there! Make some God Damn drinks!" My new boss, Sammy, the owner of this shitty bar hollered behind me. "Now!"

I rolled my eyes before turning to face him, "There's literally no one out there..."

Sammy scoffed and raised his pointer finger up, motioning me to come over to where he was standing. He nodded his head and pursed his lips as he picked up a sharpie marker from a cup of pens off of his desk. Casually, I leaned against the door frame to his office as I watched him sit down on his computer chair and wheel over to the wall where a pin-up girl calendar hung.

"You see this? Do you see it?" He asked pointing at the the calendar.

"Yes...?" I asked in confusion.

"Good. Do you see these blue circles around the dates? Those are the days you're scheduled to work." He explained pointing at the calendar and then staring up at me.

I shrugged, "Okay?..."

"Oh look, you're scheduled for tomorrow." He exclaimed in a fake happy tone. "Not any fucking more!" His tone changed, becoming angry as he scribbled over the blue circle that indicated what days I worked. "Are you working the day after? Oh look, there was your circle... not anymore!" He laughed hysterically before spinning around in his chair and throwing the marker down on his desk.

I closed my eyes as I sighed in disbelief. This was my first night working here and I'm already getting in shit and taken off the schedule for a simple comment that I now regretted making. I folded my arms and pressed my tongue against my cheek as I tried to keep my cool and not walk out of this shitty bar right now. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't as Bria and I were strapped for money and since I just moved here... I needed the money more now than ever.

Bria has been working at this bar, The Four Roses, since she moved here. She got me the job almost instantly, I didn't even have to come in for an interview. Bria just came home to our apartment this morning from staying at her boyfriend Joe's, whom I've yet to meet, to tell me that she pulled some strings at work and got me a job as a waitress. Little did I expect it to be at a grungy shit hole such as this. There was maybe four people sitting at the bar drinking beers while maybe two men were over at one of the pool tables drinking and playing. The bar was dead... maybe it was because the bar itself was located in inner city Boston, a rougher, poorer part of the city. I had been here for not even three nights and Bria had basically explained to me to make sure all of the locks on the door to our apartment were always locked at all times and that I wasn't out of the balcony late at night, since we were on the first floor, at least not without a weapon.

"Looks like you're not working at all this weekend! You can thank your fucking american woman mouth for that! Now get out of my sight before I send you to clean the shitter's!" He shouted at me as he stood up and shooed me out of his office. "Go see if Amanda or Bria have anything for you to do!" He added before slamming the door to his office shut behind me.

"Fucking asshole" I mumbled under my breathe as I stormed through the bar past a table with a group of nine men sitting at it.

I hadn't noticed that they were all staring at me as I made my way over to behind the bar where Bria was placing mugs of beer on her tray while the other girl, Amanda, made drinks and made small talk with the few men who sat along the bar. I picked up a dish towel and started to dry beer mugs as I tried to calm myself down from what just happened in Sammy's office.