Cold blood (first Draft)

The dead

Wilfred was an old man, even compared to my grandfather who was ninety. He insisted that he should both have a full-time job and work from six o'clock to ten at night, so it didn't surprise me that he had trouble sleeping. Only having four hours per night, going to bed at twelve and waking up at four to clean his own house. "May I take the rest of the day off sir? I need to head home and get some sleep, I'm too tired to keep working." I agreed, offering to pay him for the full day, but he refused stubbornly saying, "I will earn my pay, not have it handed on a silver platter." He adjusted his collar seemingly proud of himself and walked to the door. I had some time to myself so I decided to get dinner at Halborn. The day was warmer with the sun still in the middle of the sky. The paved streets were lined with lights and life, both in quantities, I have never seen before more alive than any day in my life. Though faces had a look of horror and death, suffering from a great loss. However, I didn't know what. I walked down the pavement past the people moving slowly to some unknown place. That detail confused me at first but I just accepted it and walked off.

I had reached Halborn and approached the open door to find Percy waiting in line. Quickly approaching him I asked, "You come here often, why?" He had not seen me, so he was slightly startled by my words, but he calmed down and explained, "I love the food here, maybe we could share a table. The food would be cheaper." He made a tempting offer so of course, I accepted. who doesn't enjoy cheaper food? The restaurant was not too busy, so we got a seat early. The layout had changed, the tables were still in an ordered pattern of full rows, but the tablecloth had a checkered pattern of red and blue. We were brought to a blue one with two seats. There were two menus, one meal, and drinks. I got a cup of tea as I was not in the mood for anything fancy, but Percy did not have the same thought ordering as per usual red wine. We both got one of the smaller meals, some chicken and chips. We waited for the server, the one we got was tall, pale, and had steel blue eyes, blond hair and a smile beyond his years. "How may I help you?" He had a rough dry voice that contradicted his appearance and the way he acted. We ordered our food and continued the conversation. "I had an interview with the news."
"How was it?"
"I hated every second of it." He nodded in agreement because he had been questioned by the news about a murderer he killed. They called him a hypocrite, the town called him a hero, I call him a liar. He didn't kill him like he told Billy, he has people who do that for him, mainly myself and before troubling times, Harry. Nothing speaks truer words than a higher badge and an increased paycheck.

Food arrived as well, tasting as every other night even if I did get less. The chicken had no skin or bones and the chips were long, thin and covered in salt. "How's Wilfred?" Percy asked due to the lack of an appropriate topic to talk about at a dinner table. Percy looked at his food and called over a waiter when one arrived, the person who served us first. Percy was disappointed, "This is not what I ordered, I ordered what he did." He said pointing at me. He offered to talk about it in a more private place and was lead to the manager, but I continued enjoying every bite of my juicy chicken and chips. The windows were opened and the wind knocked a few table clothes around the room past my table, and towards the door and on the floor. I watched with only a passing interest then I continued to eat bite by bite. It was taking Percy a long time to speak to the boss considering it was just a quickly escalated dispute about his meal. I stood up, approached the door that said 'Manager', and made my way slowly towards it. Opening the door with a creek I saw an office, red carpets, portraits on the walls, one window letting in streams of light and a Chandler hanging dangerously in the middle of the room. The manager was sitting behind the desk pointing a gun at Percy saying "When I first heard you frequented my restaurant I didn't know what to do with you isn't that right?"He was talking to Mary.