“And that’s not even the icing on the cake, I’m afraid.”
My friend laughed. It wasn’t a good laugh.
“Or course it isn’t,” spat Sawyer. “Why would it be?”
“The DOH showed up, too.”
“DOH?”
“Department of health.”
At that, Sawyer balked. “Carter, that kitchen is totally spotless. The way Gus keeps it, there’s no fucking way—”
“They didn’t care about the kitchen,” I cut him off. “In fact, they didn’t even go back there.”
His eyes narrowed in confusion.
“But they did receive a complaint we were running a kennel of dogs and cats in here,” I went on. “Several complaints, actually. Can’t do that while serving food.”
“It was just one day!” cried Sawyer.
“I know.”
“And it was for charity!”
“I know,” I sighed again. “Didn’t seem to matter. Everyone was adamant. They’re citing us, and that’s on top of everything else.”
Apparently Sawyer had nothing more to say. No more brushing off adversity, no more words of encouragement. It made me angry, in a way. Not at my friend, but at the fact he’d been so affected by this.
“Look,” I began slowly. “This whole thing is my fault. I’ve been trying to carry too much, and maybe this place has run its course.”
“Bullshit,” Sawyer grunted.
“I’m serious,” I went on. “The Refuge was built for a reason, and maybe that reason’s already been realized. Between my uncle and my father, it’s gone on way past its expiration date. At this point, there’s too many ghosts.”
“So you’re just giving up?”
The question wasn’t meant to be biting, but it was. It cut much deeper than he intended.
“You had a life before this place,” I told him. “Remember?”
“So did you,” he returned quickly.
Shots fired, the two of us fell even deeper into our own thoughts. A lot of things had happened, bringing us to the place we were now. Not all of them were good. Many of them were events that neither of us wanted to remember.
“Bro,” I sighed, laying a hand on his shoulder. “There are just too many holes to plug. Too many obstacles that need to be overcome. Even if we didn’t get shut down this morning, this place is on borrowed time. It’s fighting the tides of inevitability.”
The silence of the bar was slowly becoming uncomfortable. Without the life breathed into it by its patrons, it just didn’t seem natural.
“You know who did this, right?” Sawyer asked coldly.
I paused before nodding. “Of course.”
My friend’s jaw went tight. He was clenching the bottle so savagely I was afraid it might shatter.
“So are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Sawyer asked.
“Chinese, tonight?”
