Love Is Where You Find It

Part 9

On Loretta's first day of work, nerves are bouncing in her stomach to the point where she can't force down the meager breakfast the rest of the family consumes. She puts on her best casual dress and tries to pull up her hair, but her head is aching within minutes. By the time she gets to the diner she can't stand it any longer.

A harried looking Norman is waiting for her while Henry is nowhere to be seen. Don't let me down, Norman says, but Loretta knows that she inevitably will.

"Here." Norman throws an apron at her. "Put that on and hurry up. The breakfast crowd is in."

The breakfast crowd in fact in- several tables are already occupied with patrons and a waitress is bustling about. She looks stereotypically like someone of her profession with her blonde hair pulled up in a high ponytail and a mass of make up on her face.

"Myra!" Norman thunders.

The waitress jumps, then comes rushing over. "Yes, Mr. Carpenter?"

"This is the new girl." He looks at Loretta. "What's your first name again?"

"Loretta."

"Loretta! Right, Loretta. Myra, show her around and tell her what to do."

Myra purses her lips- it looks as if showing Loretta what to do is the last thing she wants to do. "Doesn't she know?" Myra asks, confirming Loretta's suspicion.

"Myra!" Norman forces through gritted teeth. "You do what I tell you to. You worked here long enough to know that. I gotta get back in the kitchen." And with that, Norman skirts off.

Loretta stands there staring at Myra until Myra says, "Well come on. You can..." Myra looks around before settling on a task for Loretta. "You can get that table over there cleared off and cleaned."

"Yes," Loretta says quickly. "But do I...I have to wash the dishes too, yes?"

Myra groans. "Yes, of course you do." It sounds as though she should have known, but the place she worked for back in the day had special dishwashers. "And restock the napkins while you're at it," Myra adds. "And the guy over there wants his coffee scalding hot, it seems."

Loretta's head is spinning mostly because she doesn't know where to start. Her fingers are shaking as she ties the apron around her waist, all the while wondering which task she is supposed to tackle first.

"Waitress!" The man who wants his coffee scalding hot bellows. "Waitress!"

Loretta is thankful in a way because that certainly settles her dilemma. She rushes over and paints a smile on her face. "How can I help you, Sir?"

"I told the other gal already. That coffee ain't hot. I asked for it hot."'

Loretta glances at the cup and the steam emanating from it. Apparently Myra did not exaggerate even in the slightest.

"That's how it's usually served but if you want it hotter-" Loretta stops when the man lets out something she thinks is a snort, though it might be a laugh instead.

"Girl, you sure got an accent on you. Where the hell are you from?"

"Kentucky," she mutters.

"How the hell did you get here?"

"On a train," Loretta says briefly, lifting his cup by its handle. "I'll bring it back hot." And with that, she skirts away to the back, where she finds a balding man with a pot belly and unusually hairy arms. "Can you make it hot? Real hot?"

She is practically begging.

The man blinks at her. "And who are you?"

"Loretta Lynn. Mr. Carpenter done gave me a job here as-"

"Oh, yeah," he cuts her off. His gaze moves to the cup. "That's hot."

"That's what I thought but I guess the man out there don't. I reckon he wants it real hot so he'll burn his mouth."

"Customer is always right," Norman bellows in the background.

"Yes, Mr. Carpenter," Loretta says.

"Kissing up won't do it, Miss Lynn," Norman says. "Do the work and do it right. You don't have to stand here while Lou warms up the coffee. Did Myra give you anything else to do?"

"Yes."

"Then go."

Loretta scampers out of the room to clear the table. She stacks the plates on top of each other but dealing with both cups and plates seems too much to ask of a person as clumsy as her. Loretta decides to take the plates first and simply run back out to get the cups after.

"I got the coffee," Lou calls before she has gotten everything. She dumps the dishes by the sink and grabs the tray. The coffee looks hot enough to give her 2nd degree burns if she should drop it and miraculously, she doesn't.

"That's too hot!" The customer snorts when it is placed in front of him, apparently still not satisfied.

"It'll cool down," Loretta says without thought. The fact that this was a really bad idea doesn't hit her until he scowls at her.

"What did you say?"

"Well, sir, if it's too hot now it'll cool down in a little bit and then it'll be just right. I'm sorry it's too hot," she tacks on when his face acquires a red color. Loretta wonders just why her very first customer has to be this man when it could have been anyone.

"You're pretty fresh for some little girl from Kentucky, you know that?"

What Loretta would like to do is tell him off. Really, truly, tell him off. "Is there anything else you need, Sir?" she asks instead.

"Somethin' else for you to screw up? Not right now."

"When you need anything else just call." She loathes saying it more than she ever possibly loathed saying anything.

This day just started and already she is wondering how she'll make it through.

A few hours later, Loretta finds herself doing dishes in the back and for once she really doesn't mind because the alternative is a lot worse. Lou even gave her gloves for her hands, but they seem way too thick and make it harder to maneuver the dishes. She is constantly afraid that one might slip from her grasp and shatter. One dish doesn't cost that much but that it might cost her a job she just got.

A plate falls from her slippery fingers at the sound of footsteps, but by some miracle she manages to catch it again before it falls. Relief hits her when it turns out to be Henry rather than Norman.

"Ah," Henry draws out, a wide smile on his face. "Daddy put you in the back already?"

"Is that bad?"

"He'll get over it in time."

"You sure about that, Mr. Carpenter?"

"You know that Mr. Carpenter's my father. My name's Henry."

"But you are my boss. Kinda."

"Kinda. Kinda not cause it's my daddy's who's in charge."

"Miss Lynn!" Norman's voice screams from outside.

Loretta gives Henry a rueful look. "I better hurry."

"Miss Lynn!" Norman again. More insistent this time. "Come out here. Myra's on her break."

"Sorry Mr...Henry," Loretta says, remembering that he told her not to refer to him as Mr. Carpenter belatedly.

"Good luck out there, Miss Loretta," he calls after her and without thinking, she turns around to smile.

When Loretta gets home from work that day, Cissie throws herself at her and clings on as if she hasn't seen her mother for at least a full week rather than a few hours. Soon enough to rest of them come out to bombard her and she does what she must, pushes away her exhaustion and focuses on her babies.

At least she still has the job. At least it could have gone a lot worse than it did. So maybe, just maybe, they will be fine.