The Onion Festival is less than a week away.
“The Onion Festival is less than a week away.” A.S. had finally deigned to step within Mt. Zen Cafe and she was badgering Angie. It was all Curly could do to turn her stuck-up little butt around and push her out of the place. He concentrated on slicing cheese with careful precision. The hum of the slicer eased his anger at his wife’s former friend.
“Angie, I need your help on this. When my dad found out that we didn’t have the Onion Festival last year, he ’bout freaked out on me. We gotta put something together, even if it’s a small thing.” Curly saw Angie washing off the tables of the cafe. She was doing a deep cleaning like she does when things are quiet. Nothing Angie hates more than sticky tables.
Except maybe for A.S.
“A.S., we’ve tried to help you. When you became mayor, we came to you to help you through all the planning and it was YOU that let things slide. Now it’s time to deal with the consequences. I woulda thought the embarrassment of not havin’ the Onion Festival last year woulda been enough for you, but that just slid off ya like it was nothin’.” Curly turned off the slicer and placed the wax paper between the slices. A.S. blew out a puff of air in disgust and it was all Curly could do to focus on the cheese.
“Helped me! All you guys did was scold me and send Elvis over to scare me!” He watched his wife scour the tables with more vigor than he had seen in a long time. “Seems the only one who scares you is your daddy.” Curly’s hands were hung in mid-air. Was that an insult? He couldn’t tell. It was well-known around Merriton that A.S. was a daddy’s girl. Was Angie picking a fight with A.S.? Guess all that matters is if A.S. took offense. Curly felt as if time was standing still. It was as if he could see every blood vessel in A.S.’s face flush a bright red. Didn’t matter if Angie meant to insult her now. Insult was taken and A.S. was taking off the gloves.
“Well at least I gotta daddy!” Curly could feel his hands setting down the cheese. It felt like an eternity had passed. A.S. dragging Angie’s deadbeat dad into the conversation was a low blow. His wife wasn’t gonna sit long for that sorta abuse.
“You’ve never done a lick of work in your life, you deadbeat! I’d rather be homeless than live in a house my dad bought me!” Curly placed his hands on the swinging door between the kitchen and the back counter. The last time these two girls fought, it took weeks for Curly’s scratched face to heal. He was gonna nip it in the bud this time.
“You almost ARE homeless livin’ in a trailer like you do!” Curly pushed past the ordering counter and tripped over a chair that Angie had left out while the table dried. Time was moving too quickly and he couldn’t get to them quick enough.
“IT’S NOT A TRAILER! It’s a modular home! I GOTTA BASEMENT!” He pulled himself up from the floor and slipped on a little water, trying to regain his balance while the two of them raged at each other the way only former friends could.
“Sure, a basement full of weights and drug addict husband!” Curly was shocked at the pain of her words. He felt at a loss to defend himself and his frantic run to interfere in the fight was stopped short. Angie came to his defense quick enough.
“Curly’s been clean for YEARS! I’m not the kinda girl that just throws a man away when she gets sick o’ him! There’s no way we coulda run Mt. Zen Cafe if he wasn’t clean!” He felt vindicated. She was right. He HAD been clean for years. With all his tossing and worrying about Ricky Townsend, Curly had forgotten the fact that he had stayed clean all these years.
“Hmpfh! Mt. Zen Cafe! A stupider name I never heard! Why don’t you two just give up and admit that there is no way you can survive without Andy James?! He was the business guy and you two are just runnin’ this thing into the ground without ‘im!” At the hurtful words, Curly regained his senses. He walked right over to A.S. and lifted her up by one arm. Only one of her feet was touching the ground as he escorted her to the door. He swung it open and pushed her outside.
She could insult his wife. She could insult him. But Curly would be damned before he’d let A.S. insult Mt. Zen Cafe within its walls. His surprisingly calm voice placed a final verdict on her, “You’re on your own with the Onion Festival.”