Lenore sat in the diner smoking her last cigarette and looking at an empty cup of coffee. The owner was wiping down the counter and kept on looking at the clock. "Hey doll, I have to close down for an hour to clean the kitchen before the morning cook comes to prepare breakfast. It is really late now and I will get an earful from her if the place is not set up. Good breakfast makers are hard to come by." Lenore looked up at the man and went through her purse to get a few coins out and then remembered her money in the top part of her dress. She pulled out three one dollar bills and yelled out "Damn!"
Milt saw the look on the woman's face and decided to see what was troubling her. He figured she was short on cash and although his wife hated it he would tell those to come back and pay later. They usually did, but sometimes it meant his having to go into his savings to order supplies. "Listen, dollface. I'll let you slide out of here if that is all the cash you got. I can get paid a few days later as I've seen you here before."
"Nah, you can have your money Milt. I just had a terrible day today and realized it just got a little worse. Have you had one of those mornings where you burn the toast and the coffee comes out weak? You then hope that is the worst of the day but you have that feeling something really bad will happen later on. I had one of those days." Milt sat down after getting the pot of coffee for her and a cup for himself. "Yeah, I've had a few days like that. I sometimes forget something and then realize it was the food order. Then I have to juggle what I have as I send some errand boy out to get what I need for the day. In the meantime the customers get up and leave grumbling that is the last time they come here. So, tell me about your day. The cook will get mad, but I can give her a few bucks in the tip jar."
"As I said, I burned the toast and the coffee for some reason came out too weak. I then missed the bus as I realized the alarm clock was set too late. I got to work and was asked to see the office manager. He told me I was fired and didn't even look at my face when he did so. That old goat hired me twenty years ago as a part time typist and hired me full time ten years later. I worked my ass off - oh, excuse my language - and that was how he repaid me. I was a few minutes late and he didn't even look at my face like he never met me or even knew who I was.
"I get home and find the house is quiet which is normal as the girls are at school and Tom is at work. Only when the girls are supposed to get home they don't. I call the school and realize no one would be there so I called up their best friends. They told me the girls didn't even show up that morning. I call Tom up at work and was told he had taken a few days off to move his daughters out of the house. They then hung up when they realized it was me. I called that old bat mother-in-law but she kept on hanging up once she recognized my voice. Why did my husband leave me and not even write a note telling me so? Sure, we had some arguments lately but that is normal for people married as long as we have been. Our Silver Anniversary was coming up too.
"Well, I'm extremely upset about that bit of news and low and behold there is a knocking on the door. It is the sheriff, a few deputies and the landlord. It seems that husband of mine purposely forgot to pay the rent and now I was being evicted. They moved the rest of the stuff out on the street so I had to have a quick fire sale. I got a few fives and tens out of the deal but the stuff was worth so much more. I then walked to the city wondering what I was going to do next when a rather scrappy man showed up and pulled out a knife. He demanded my money so I gave him the purse and he took out the bills. I thought I put the higher bills in my brassiere but it was the ones instead. I guess I was so upset I didn't pay attention to that.
"So here I am at a lonely diner with only $3 and some change to my name. No job, no home and no family." Milt felt sad and was about to go to his till and take out a few bills to give to Lenore.
"No, Milt. I won't take your money. You take what I owe you and a tip for yourself. I'm going to the W and finding a women's shelter to stay at until I can pick myself up from my feet. That desperate man who robbed me showed me how many have it worse than I do." Lenore then got up and walked out of the diner into the cold air of the night. She could see her breath and heard a siren in the background. Yeah, it was gonna be tough but Lenore was a survivor.
Subject: The Diner by Karl Kramer 
Mon Nov 11, 2013 7:52 pm
