“Reggie. Barry called in. We need you here in fifteen minutes,” my boss, George, said.
“This is my first day off in—”
“I don’t fucking care. Get your fat ass into work. You wanted extra hours. I’m giving them to you. Get the fuck here or don’t come back at all,” George interrupted before disconnecting the line. The douche canoe didn’t even let me reply.Fucking hell.
“Reg, are you ready?” Zeke’s voice filled my headset. “Reg, you there? Don’t tell me you went AFK.”
My heart sank, and I pressed my mic. “Sorry, Z. Guys. My boss called.”
Groans and curses filled the channel. I knew they knew what that meant. I often had to leave at a minute’s notice because of the dickhead.
“Tell the blowhard to go fuck himself,” Zeke said.
“I can’t, guys. I’m sorry. I really need my job. I can’t lose it,” I said.
“I can get Hansel. We should’ve had him to begin with. We don’t need you, Reg,” Nav said angrily.
“Nav, cut the attitude. It’s not Reg’s fault,” Zeke said.
“He does this all the time. Every time—”
“Nav, shut the fuck up. Reg has a job and pays bills; he doesn’t live in Mommy’s basement like you. We understand, Reg. Don’t worry. We got this covered. We’ll talk to you later,” Zeke interrupted.
The weight of disappointment pressed on my chest. I hated letting them down. I sighed again and replied, “I’m sorry, guys.”
I disconnected and dropped from the server. I looked at my phone and noted the time. I only had a few minutes. I rose from my seat and hurried to my dresser. I only had ten minutes to change and leave. I pulled off my shirt and stared in the mirror. I ran my hand over my stomach.
I knew I carried an extra ten, okay, fifteen pounds. I was always, as my mom would say, “husky.” It was part of the reason I had no friends. All through high school, kids made fun of me. The words and taunts destroyed all my self-confidence. Especially when they found out I was gay—even my family didn’t accept me and began to call me names.
I shook my head, put on my work shirt, and ran out the door. I needed to get to work, not wallow in my crappy life. I shivered, exiting my apartment building. Chicago was still cold in the evenings. Sure, it was spring, but the chill was still in the air. I kept my head down and walked down the sidewalk. I cringed as I saw the golden arch. I was twenty-two years old and working at a fast-food place. I hated it. I wanted to do more with my life but refused to go into debt for schooling.
I pulled open the door, and I smelled the odor of burning grease. Fucking Barry, calling in. Barry was the golden boy of the restaurant and got whatever he wanted. George loved him and gave me the shit jobs all the time. I knew nothing would happen to him.
“Bout time you showed up,Gordo. Get back there, the garbage needs to be taken out, and the grease trap changed,” George barked.
I looked around, and the regular customers chuckled at the nickname. It was the way George called me fat when customers were around. But when they weren’t, he stuck to fat ass. I hated him so much. Especially since he was bigger than me, he was short, round, and balding.Yet I was the fat ass, I thought, rolling my eyes.
“Are you just going to stand there?” George asked through clenched teeth.
I shook my head and hurried to the time clock. My coworkers, Lindsey and Justin, laughed and played on their phones in the break room. I groaned. They were the worst team to work with. They were the laziest employees next to Barry. Justin looked up and smirked. The bastard knew I got screwed out of my day off.
“Hey,Gordo,” he sang.
I pressed my lips together. The one time I tried speaking up for myself, it ended with George docking my pay. I tilted my head in acknowledgment before heading to do as George instructed.
The restaurant was dead. There were no orders and only a handful of customers in the dining room. George was with them, bullshitting and overseeing his tiny fiefdom.
I turned back toward the kitchen, and the place was filthy. Paper and food littered the floors, pots, and pans filled the sinks, and trash overflowed from the bins. It looked like a bomb had gone off. Tonight was going to be hell. I knew all the cleaning would fall to me, and the idiot phone twins wouldn’t lift a finger.
Groaning, I grabbed the garbage can and rolled it toward the back before kicking the metal security bar on the back door. I hefted the cans over the threshold and entered the back alley. I started toward the dumpster when a snide voice called out.
“Hey,Gordo!”
I twirled around. I was stunned, speechless for a moment before I replied. “I thought you were sick.”
Barry smirked at me and gave a fake cough. “I am sick.”
Rage boiled within me. He’d done this on purpose and caused me to let down my team. I steeled my spine. “I’m going to get George. This is bullshit.”
