Fuck.
My body straightened and I slid the rat into my pocket. “Just hang on. I’ll let you go as soon as I can. I just can’t have her seeing you,” I whispered down to it.
If Tawny finds out we have rats, she’ll burn the whole damn mall down.
My palm gently pressed against the pocket, feeling the warmth of the rat’s body, and I turned around to face my boss.
“You good?” she asked. I raised my hand and gave her a thumbs up. “Alright then, move it!” She waved me on and I quickly rushed past her. “I need you to cover the section over there.” She pointed. “Just greet the tables I sat, take their orders, and I’ll jump in as soon as I can. Oh—and we’re out of rootbeer.” I nodded and put my work smile on.
The rat wriggled around in my pocket. “You’ve got to quit moving around in there!” I gently tapped my costume pocket. “I know it stinks, but I’ll let you out as soon as I can!” My focus jumped to the table before me, now giving me odd looks. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Big Top Pizzeria, where everyone can run away from daily life and live out their wildest fantasies! What can I start you all off with?” The rat squeaked and a rush of fear hit my back. “Stop it,” I whispered loudly through my smile while tapping my pocket. The customers made concerned faces. I knew whisper-shouting towards my pocket would draw attention eventually, but I wasn’t able to let the rat out until they gave me their order.
Ugh, just hurry up.
The giant, fake smile plastered across my face strained while I waited for the family to order.
The mother wouldn’t look away from me, staring with wide eyes and a look of disbelief. My eyes locked with hers, hoping she’d just hurry up and order. “Oh my.” She touched her chest. “Kids, are yousurethis is where you want to eat?” she asked the two young children. “I mean…pizza-serving clowns? I don’t really see the appeal.” The kids argued and screamed at the top of their lungs, shouting how they weren’t leaving Big Top. The father rolled his eyes, beaten down and unamused, doing nothing to defuse the situation. And my patience was running thin.
“No one is holding you hostage here, lady. And I’m just doing my job. Drinks?” I motioned around the table with my white gloved hand.
She scoffed. “Well, okay then.” The woman sat back in the red vinyl booth with a smug look on her face, looking at her kids, then back to me. “I’ll have water, she’ll have lemonade, and a root beer for my son.” She pressed her lips together. “Hun, what do you want?”
“What?” The husband clearly wasn’t paying attention to the conversation happening right in front of him. The woman glared at him and it must’ve clicked. “Oh, I’ll just have a Coke.”
I scribbled the drinks down, remembering what Tawny said. “Oh. We’re actually out of root beer right now.” Before the words could even fully leave my mouth, the little boy immediately started screaming and throwing a fit.
What the hell?!
His screaming was a sharp, shrill sound that made it feel like my ears were bleeding…again. My hands covered my ears as I tried to block the sound, grinding my teeth as Zeth’s own groans filled my brain. My rat friend panicked and scurried from my pocket, running toward the back of the pizzeria. The mother’s screams followed as soon as she saw the rat, losing her shit. They were both so loud and caused such a commotion, I couldn’t handle it. Tawny came bursting from the back to find me now hunched over my knees while the family continued to scream, shouting that they saw a rat.
“A rat?!” Tawny huffed. “Bit Top Pizzeria doesn’t have rats! And we’ve never had a problem like this! I’m going to have to ask you all to leave. Now!” she demanded.
“With pleasure!” The mom scooped up her daughter and ushered her husband and son out of the booth. The family stomped away and stormed from the pizzeria while the rest of the customers whispered and murmured to themselves, watching.
Tawny eyed them all. “Everything’s fine!” The customers exchanged a few glances before eventually resuming their meals. My boss carefully helped me to my feet. “Come on, let’s go to the back. You look like you need a moment.” With her help, I climbed to my feet and followed her.
Tawny sat me in the back office. It was a small, dark room filled with static-ridden monitors stacked on top of one another and an entire wall made out of two-way glass. The old security guard practically lived in the room, watching the monitors from his feeble chair. Everyone knew of the old man, but he never spoke to any of the employees. Only Tawny.
I glanced at the tag he wore on his shirt, realizing I didn’t even know his name.
William A.
“Why don’t you take a walk, William.” The old man grunted, rising from the chair with a large stretch. His eyes were puffy and red from staring at the monitors so long, and his face was wrinkled and pale from the lack of sunlight. Tawny shook her head at his exhausted appearance. “Yeah, take a walk and grab a coffee. You spend too much time in that damn chair. Surprised you haven’t keeled over yet.” He blew her off and stumbled from the small security office. Tawny sat me down in his chair and I squirmed from how warm it was. She didn’t immediately drill me with questions. She just stood there with a concerned look. I felt embarrassed for being a part of such a headache, even if it wasn’t my fault. “Kid,” she sighed, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Why don’t you call it a night.” It was more a statement than a question. “I know things have been a little rough recently, and honestly, I think some extra time off might help.” I didn’t argue with her. “But Crissa, if things don’t get better soon, I’m afraid you’ll have to find somewhere else to work.” I just nodded my head, stood up, and walked from the security office to my locker and grabbed my bag.
I slammed my locker shut and banged my forehead into it, clenching my jaw while biting back a loud groan.
There is no need to harm yourself over something so mundane, human.
“Shut up,” I hissed at Zeth’s voice in my head. “Just shut up!” My body spun and I stomped to the employee bathroom
I splashed cold water from the dirty sink and washed my clown make up off, doing an absolute shit job. The employee bathroom was always a mess, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to go home. And I wanted this fucking clown face gone. I looked up in the mirror and I saw my reddened face from how rough I had scrubbed it. My skin was swelling and ached, but what pissed me off most was the white grease paint, still smeared throughout my eyebrows. There was a distinct ring of face paint still stuck around my hairline, and remnants of blue circled my eyes while the faintest tint of red caked around my dry, cracked lips. Tears slowly swelled within my eyes as I glared at myself. In all the months I’d spent working at Big Top, not once did I ever cause a problem at work. Now, I was on the verge of losing the only thing I had that would get me out of this damn town. “Fuck.” My head dropped over the edge of the sink. “Good job, Crissa…keep it up and you’ll never get to leave.” My palms rubbed against my sockets. “God, you’re such a fucking mess,” I cried.
Cris–sa.
Zeth’s voice returned.
Don’t cry, Cris–sa. Let me take your pain and turn it into something absolutely delicious.
My eyes raised to see his demonic presence in the dirty bathroom mirror. “How?” I asked.
