FINMP09

Chapter 5: Welcome to the Family Business

I sat by myself in my shadowbox of a room sitting at the small wooden table that inhabited the little area. As I worked on my school assignment I could hear all of the hustle and bustle of the early bird rush in the kitchen. The clattering of the pots and pans sent vibrations through the floor as the twins dropped the materials again and again. Angry frog like croaks erupted from my Uncle Anthony's smoker's mouth as he scolded his sons. His scolds were so loud they triumphed my Grandpa Louis' expediting to the other cooks.

"I TOLD YOU BOTH TO STAY OUTTA THE KITCHEN!" Uncle exclaimed.

"THE BOTH OF YA HAVE BEEN CAUSIN' A RUCKUS ALL DAY! I'M TIRED OF IT! THE TWO OF YA, COME WITH ME!" I could hear my cousins whine at the order but I knew they would comply either way. They were too intimidated by their father to ever disrespect him. Anthony strongly resembled my grandfather a little too much it was a bit scary.

BANG BANG BANG!

A loud noise echoed off of the plywood door at the edge of the room. I knew what was coming my way. My uncle was going to try to hand off the duty of maintaining the annoying boys to me. I also knew even if he was aware of the earlier events between the three of us, he still was going to make me watch them. He would get his way either way: Anthony had a pushy personality like that. My uncle may look a lot like my grandfather, but he actually closely resembled a spoiled brat or more of a toddler to be specific. When he wasn't in what he refers to as "professional working" mode, he was what I like to call "a grown ass man who likes to put on a Batman mask and make Facebook videos for the giggles" mode. You may think that's hilarious but not when you have to deal with it for about six hours a day.

BANG BANG BANG!

"FINLEY, I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! OPEN UP THE GODDAMN DOOR!" Anthony croaked with his smokers voice. I just stared at that door as the banging continued on the door and I watched the doorknob violently shake with fury. The vicious banging on the door started to drive me to the brink of insanity. However at that moment I really would have rathered go insane from the banging on the door then to go insane from the two twerps hanging around me. I continued to work in silence thinking maybe if I was quiet enough and just ignored him maybe he would go away.

"FINLEY, I SWEAR, IF YOU DON'T OPEN UP THIS FLIPPIN DOOR I GONNA BRING IT DOWN!" he yelled. I groaned at the thought of having to sit and attempt to bond with Calvin and Jackson, but I guess I was willing to try considering my immature attitude early that afternoon. I got up from my seat and slowly walked over to unlock the door. The door immediately flung open slamming into the wall behind it with a large bang. That noise was really starting to give me a pounding headache. My Uncle Anthony stood in front of me panting with anger and a scowl painted on his face. His scowl seemed to burn holes into me much like the expressions I received from my cousins earlier. I was surprised to see my uncle by himself; all I could see behind him was nothing but the chaos that brewed in the kitchen.

"WHAT YA STANDIN THERE FOR, FINNY!? COME ON YA WAITRESSING!" he yelled once again. I started to realize that my Uncle Anthony's personality became more angry and stressful every waking moment he was exposed to the culinary world of our little diner. At that moment, I kind of wished he would put on that stupid Batman mask and act like an idiot. I was dumbfounded by the plot twist that I wasn't going to have to watch Calvin and Jackson. Even with these thoughts running ramped through my head I just stood in the doorway with a blank and boring expression that seemed to inhabit my face. That dumbfounded expression disguised my true feeling that I was really having an internal freak out. Like I had mentioned before, being socially interactive with other humans really isn't my forte. Even if I only attempted to interact with someone else, it made me sick just thinking of it. Not to mention I'm in a pretty serious relationship with the ground beneath my feet: we are practically best friends. Before I had anytime to issue a rebuttal to my uncle he had already shoved a pristine white apron into my face and grabbed me by the arm and threw me into the kitchen. As the cooks sprinted through the kitchen, they started to knock me back in forth like a pinball. I spun uncontrollably around in the mad insanity that was the kitchen until I was once again snagged away to another location of the diner. I was relocated now in the heart of the diner where the public was seated. The customers talked amongst themselves as I stood behind the counter looking naive and clueless. The magnificent white apron in my hands stared at me and whispered "It's time Fin..."

"Welcome to the family business Finny!" my uncle grinned as he patted my shoulder strongly. Then he turned around and went back to the kitchen.

"No, no, no! I'm not ready for this, uncle!" I exclaimed with a panicky tone to my uncle who was starting to disappear into the craziness of the kitchen area. I started to panic, my palms began to sweat, I became light headed and my legs started to feel like Jello. My anxiety was starting to set in, and I knew what would happened next. The intensity of the panic that overrided my brain would catapult me into an extreme panic attack. This wasn't the right time to freak out, but when that switch turns on there is no turning it off. I tried to control it but the emotion felt like an uncontrollable flame in my body. I started to feel like there was a pit of fire in the bottom of my stomach ready to engulf me. No matter the fact, I was still standing behind the counter with a dazed and confused look still displayed on my face. I could feel billions of colossal bullets of sweat pouring out of every crevice in my body. It was official, my body had flipped the switch. I started to tear up again, and felt like running back home to lock myself in my room. I just wanted to disappear back into my home of the shadows. Until my mother had swept into save the day and to more importantly save me.

"Shh, Shh, It's okay pumpkin. I'm back! Don't worry I'm here to help you!" my mother spoke with a soft and sweet voice that soothed me to a lower level of panic. She herself had a panicked and sloppy looking aura to her. My mom's strawberry blonde hair looked greasy and the elastic band that held it together started to cause it to droop to the left of her head. It looked like she had just ran The Boston Marathon due to her shortness of breath and the sweat I could see piling up on her forehead. Her typical uniform that she wore that was usually steamed and ironed every morning now exhibited what looked like a finger painting on a crumpled piece of paper. I knew something was wrong with my mother. Both of our anxieties just seemed to be going crazy today. Maybe it was just her motherly instincts being covered up by her normal jittery self. I decided to discard my mother's appearance and trust her. I mean if I was going to be forced to waste my life away for a couple hours working, at least I would have someone I could trust.

"Here..." my mother said as she handed me a menu.

"When you approach someone, just tell them this is your first day. They'll understand! If you can't remember something breath, then just check this menu! They'll be a bit lenient with you, so don't worry too much!" my mother then took the menu and apron away from me and set it down on the counter beside her. Her warm and soft hands clasped against mine as her crystal blue eyes stared at me with love.

"I believe in you, sweetheart" my mother said quietly. It felt nice to have someone who wasn't against me for once, who actually supported me.

"Great! The specials today are carrot and broccoli soup with collard greens, fresh squeezed lemonade and for dessert, pumpkin spice bread! Go get'em tiger!" she said as she took the pile of my essentials and handed them to me. I took a deep breath and looked at my mother with a half smile drawn on my face.

"Well, where do I start?" I said uncertain. I scanned the surroundings in search of the perfect first customer to welcome me to the work force.

"You can take the right side of the restaurant! Pick someone!" My mother then turned around and winked at me as she grabbed her tray and walked off into the seating area. I took my apron and flung it over my head trying to find the head hole of the uniform. i looked down at my new uniform and started to pat away the messy wrinkles that were all over the apron. As I began to pat down the apron that laid over my body, I noticed a small lump in the frontal pocket. I stuck my hand in the pocket and grasped the item. It was a smooth three dimensional rectangle that felt like metal. I then took my hand out of the pocket and discovered it was a name pin. In large bold letters printed on the smoothest side of the pin was my name "FINLEY"

"Welcome to the family business..." I repeated.

"Welcome to the family business..." I repeated once more as I attached the pin to my pin with hope

"Game time..." I whispered as I picked up my notepad with confidence and then ventured off into the swarm of people that crowded the seating area.