[i]
☼ ○ ▬
One night Margot appears out of nowhere in my room. She's drunk and hazy. It's understood we haven't seen each other in a long time, and we really haven't. She insists on sleeping over but Ana is here. This creates a stressful situation. Meanwhile I criticize Laron for not doing his dishes. I'm yelling and freaking out, raising my voice substantially. Eventually Margot realizes she has no place here and gets picked up by her friends.
Me: "Wait, are you sure you're going to be alright?"
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Waking up around 11:30 a.m.
All day shift at China Wok.
As soon as I arrive to the restaurant at noon we get hit with 5 orders. No time to sit and enjoy breakfast. So I pour myself a bowl of cereal (Honey Bunches of Oats) in the car, slurping it down while I drive.
Right from the start it's been busy but don't mistake that for a hefty profit. These shitty tips/stiffs are like repeated blows to the chest.
Mixed Nuts with Dried Apricots. Honey Black Tea.
The orders keep coming non-stop and the miles keep racking up. Every now and then I get a redemption tip, like $5 or $6, but they're a rarity.
Steve comes in to help with the dinner rush. We stand there waiting for orders to get expedited. Suddenly, Ling yells something in Chinese, obviously furious about something. As the situation progresses I recap the events to Steve, "Ling's mad at Ming for not listening and making the wrong food."
Then, Ling slams the container of food on the ground, fried rice and General Tso's chicken flung across the tile floor. Cecily shouts at Ling. Meanwhile, their 6-year-old daughter stands there smiling and laughing.
Me: "Now Cecily's mad at Ling for wasting the food. And the kid's just standing there laughing! Just one big happy China Wok family."
Steve: "Man, I miss this."
All in all this day has hardly been rewarding. It's funny how I delivered more orders and drove more miles today compared to yesterday. But today I made substantially less money. Doesn't add up. Checks and balances I guess. Bullshit.
Finally I'm off work and sitting in my computer chair – the bedroom door locked – breathing in the undisturbed air.
"Ah...yes. The moment I've been waiting for," I say out loud to myself.
It's Richie's birthday. All the monkeys went to The Office and got drunk, then went to Tapped and got even more drunk. Except for the few words shared with James Graves I stay holed up in my room hearing the boisterous sounds of things breaking and bouncing off the walls.
After letting my imagination run wild and pleasure myself, I'm off to sleep at 5 a.m.
[i] Cetin Yildiz.
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