Morbid

“Oh! Um... Hi!” Amanda said, awkwardly. “I haven't seen you in a while.”

Both Annie and Kelly had surprised faces.

“You remember us?” Annie asked. “We only ate here once and it was busy.”

Amanda let out a quick laugh and came up with the perfect lie. “You both packed away your food so fast that I didn't get to ask if you wanted dessert!”

Annie had to laugh at that. “That was so true.” She pat her currently flat belly. “I abused this poor thing quite a lot that day.”

“You ate all of this in one sitting?” Kelly asked and motioned to the huge hamburger platter.

“I told you it was good.” Annie said.

“Order UP!” Joe yelled from the kitchen.

“Oops! You folks enjoy your food and I'll be back to check on you later.” Laney said and practically dragged Amanda away from the table and back to the counter. “Amanda, what the hell was that about?”

“I... I can't say...” Amanda said and took the hamburger platter and delivered it. When she came back, Laney glared at her. She sighed and motioned to the small hallway off to the side, then more people came into the restaurant. They got back to work and took the people's orders, served them drinks, then the two of them walked off to the side for a bit of privacy.

“Josie was working that day, and...” Amanda started and told Laney about what happened that day. Laney stood there and couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was impossible that Amanda would do anything like that at work, not even on a dare or with the guy she was seeing. She would also never cheat on her boyfriend with a complete stranger.

“Good god, Amanda.” Laney said with a sigh.

“I see that accusing look.” Amanda said. “I didn't start dating Jason until two weeks later.”

“Oh, that's a relief. I knew you weren't a two-timer.” Laney said. “But... but, still... did you really...”

“Yeah.” Amanda said, her face a little red. “It's not one of my proudest moments.”

“At least you didn't go down on him.” Laney said.

“Only because he had to leave.” Amanda admitted.

“Wait, what?”

“I wanted to thank him for... well, it was fun. Really fun.”

“Are you crazy? He could have anything and he could have passed it on to you!”

Amanda's face went a little redder. “He wore a condom.”

“You know that's not a hundred percent effective.” Laney said. “I thought you were more responsible than this.”

“I am... really. I just... when I heard the term, I just had to see what he meant.” Amanda said. “Oh boy, did he show me what fun sex was.”

Laney shook her head. “Does Jason know what you did?”

“Hell, no.” Amanda said. “It happened before we started dating and neither of us has asked what we did with anyone else before that.”

“You're lucky, because I don't know if he would want to date you if he knew you did things like that.”

“It was one time. Never before and never after.” Amanda said in her defense.

“Order UP!” Joe said.

“Don't tell anyone else about this.” Amanda said, almost in a plea.

“If I'd known what it was, I wouldn't have asked you about it in the first place.” Laney said and they walked over to the counter. “I don't want this information in my head.” She said and took the two plates of food and walked over to one of her tables and delivered them and Amanda took the other two and delivered them.

*

“You're right, Annie. This hamburger is the best!” Kelly said and finished it off. “We have to tell my mom and dad about this place.”

Annie nodded. “It gets crowded at meal times, though.”

“Everywhere does.” Kelly said and picked at her remaining french fries that were only half eaten. “I can't finish these.”

“We can get a doggie bag I think.” Annie said.

“No, I doubt I'll eat it later.” Kelly chuckled. “Or eat at all for the rest of the day.”

“I hear you.” Annie said and pat her slightly bulged tummy. “At least I didn't wolf it down this time.”

“Barely!” Kelly laughed. “I saw you fighting your instincts.”

Annie snorted a laugh and the waitress came over to them with an empty tray.

“How is everything?” Laney asked and put the tray down on the table.

“It was great.” Annie said and Laney piled the platters onto each other on the tray.

“Are you interested in dessert?” Laney asked before she picked up the glasses.

“Interested? Yes. Able to eat it? No.” Annie said. “I think we're done for today.”

Laney nodded and carefully picked up the tray filled with dirty dishes. “I'll be right back with the check.” She left the table and carried the dirty dishes into the back and dropped them off, then went to the register and did up the check.

“Psst. Laney.” Amanda whispered. “Ask him what his name is.”

“Huh?” Laney looked at her in confusion. “Hold on a second. You don't even know his name and you did that with him?!?”

Amanda's face flushed completely red this time. “I tried to ask and he evaded the question.”

“Maybe he didn't want you to know his name for a reason.” Laney said. “If the blonde is his mother, then the girl has to be his girlfriend.”

“I... yeah, I guess she is.”

“If it was a one time fling, why do you want to know his name?” Laney asked. “It's over and done with, right?”

Amanda opened her mouth to say yes, then she closed it because she wasn't sure if it was.

“It's done with, right?” Laney asked, more pointedly.

Amanda sighed. “Yes, I guess it is.”

Laney turned and stood right in front of her. “Get your head on straight, girl.” She cautioned her. “No matter how fun it was, you can't be doing things like that. Not at work.”

Amanda opened her mouth to speak.

“Or anywhere else.” Laney said.

“Okay.” Amanda said. “Never mind. Don't ask him his name. It's not worth the hassle.”

“You're darn right it's not.” Laney said and walked over to the table and held out the check. “Here you go.”

Annie looked at it and counted out the right amount, then added a bit more for the appropriate sized tip.

“Thank you.” Laney said and pocketed the money. “You folks have a great day.”

“You, too.” Annie said and she, Kelly and Arnold stood up just as the restaurant door opened and three people wearing big yellow coats with a large red X on the front and back came in.

“Oh, no.” Kelly whispered and stepped around the waitress to take Arnold's hand. “Arnold, please don't do or say anything to them.”

Unfortunately, Kelly had made a mistake. It wasn't Arnold that needed to be told to remain calm.

“YOU BASTARDS!” Annie yelled and every single person in the restaurant stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her, including Brad, Kevin, and their supervisor. “How can you walk around like nothing happened when I lost nearly everything in my house because of you!”

“Oh, shit.” Kevin whispered.

The supervisor stepped around her two charges and put herself between them and the irate woman. “Ma'am, please calm down.” She said and put her hands up in a stop gesture.

“I lost all of my clothes, most of my son's clothes, my husband's clothes, the wedding dress I was saving, all of the furniture, the floors and walls in the living room and hallway, and even all of the pictures from my life which included my DEAD HUSBAND that I JUST LOST!” Annie spat at them. “I have NOTHING left! No baby pictures of my son! No family photos! NOTHING!” She yelled and her tears started to flow. “All you got for destroying the history of my family is community service, when you should be in jail for causing the loss of PRICELESS things that can NEVER BE REPLACED!!!”

“Ma'am, please.” The supervisor said halfheartedly, because she understood the woman's loss. She would be devastated if she lost everything in her life, too.

“They didn't even order you to pay for the damages, did they?” Annie asked, her face full of anger and soaked with tears. “Tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage done to my house and you don't give a FUCK about it! You don't even feel guilty, do you? DO YOU?!?” She took in a deep breath and was about to continue her rant when a strong pair of arms went around her and gave her a hug from behind.

“Mom, I love you.” Arnold said and kissed her cheek, because that was all he could reach.

Annie let out a sob and everyone in the restaurant felt very bad for her. “Do you even care how afraid I've been that you were going to come back and finish the job? That you were going to come after my son again to finish what you started?”

No one spoke and a lot of accusing stares went to Brad and Kevin.

“Let's get out of here.” Kelly said into the silence. “Despite the great food, I don't think we'll be coming here anymore if they serve people like them.”

Kelly took Annie's hand and Arnold let her out of the hug, then the three of them walked by Brad, Kevin, and the supervisor as they left the restaurant.

“Oh, my god.” Laney whispered. “That... that was...”

“Unbelievable.” Joe said from the kitchen.

“That was my fun sex guy.” Amanda whispered back. “He handled that like a real man, didn't he?”

Laney gave her a look that said maybe she wasn't crazy for accepting the blonde buzz-cut's offer of sex.

“Oh, damn. They're sitting at one of my tables.” Amanda said and looked at Laney. “Hey, do you mind taking them? I'll owe you big time.”

Laney sighed. “Fine.”

“I'll take over table six for you while they're here.” Amanda said as a couple came in and sat at the table, then both waitresses went back to work.

Laney took Brad's, Kevin's, and the woman's order and went back to the counter. “Joe, even though it's tempting, don't spit in their food.”

“I'd never deface my good food like that.” Joe said and grabbed two of the hamburger buns and rubbed them under his sweaty armpits. Laney held in her laugh as Joe hummed a little tune and made the hamburger platters for the two guys and Laney quickly did up the large garden salad for the woman.

*

Annie and Kelly sat in the front seat of the car and Arnold sat in the back. They didn't drive anywhere while Annie held onto the steering wheel and leaned against it and tried her best to calm down. Kelly slowly rubbed her back and would do it for as long as she needed to.

Annie took in a huge breath and let it out. “I can't believe I just did that.”

“Neither can the entire restaurant.” Kelly said.

“It's not a joke.” Annie said.

“I'm not laughing.” Kelly said. “Everyone heard what you said and nearly all of them gave Brad and Kevin the stink eye.”

“The what?” Annie turned her head to look at her.

“This.” Kelly said and squished half of her face up and closed that eye and widened the other eye.

Annie let out a chuckle at the sight. “Kelly...”

“They all looked at them with anger and annoyance.” Kelly said as she let her face go back to normal. “No one went back to eating while you talked, Annie. No one. They all listened to what you said and they all know what those guys did was wrong.” She kept rubbing Annie's back. “They also know that Brad and Kevin really don't care about what they did. They got away with it and that's all that matters.”

“I shouldn't have embarrassed myself like that... or you, for that matter.” Annie said. “I just... when I saw them, I... I couldn't stay quiet about it.”

“I know.” Kelly said. “I was so concerned over Arnold doing exactly what you did that I missed the fact that you would want to do that, too.”

Annie took another deep breath and sighed. “I'll probably have a restraining order issued against me for it.”

“Annie!” Kelly exclaimed. “We should do that!”

“Do what?”

“We should get restraining orders against Brad and his friends!” Kelly said. “We've been nervous about it since we learned they were out, so let's go get some peace of mind.”

“I don't know how to do that.” Annie said.

“Me, either.” Kelly said and then smiled. “Isn't the internet a wonderful thing?” She asked and quickly looked up how to file a restraining order. “It says we just have to go down to the courthouse and explain the situation, then they'll take care of the details.”

“At least it's not the police station.” Annie said and had to smile.

“That's the spirit.” Kelly said. “Do you feel up to driving?”

Annie nodded and started the car, then drove them partway across the town and went to the courthouse. There was a lot of available parking, so they didn't have any trouble there and went inside. They talked to the clerk and she was more than happy to help them file a restraining order... then she heard how many defendants there were.

“Are you serious? You want six of them on the same protective order?” She asked, astonished.

“They assaulted my house, did thousands of dollars in damages, and should have been sent to jail.” Annie said. “They are doing community service and I just ran into two of them at a restaurant.”

“It wasn't pretty.” Kelly said. “I didn't think of recording a video, though.”

“It wouldn't have happened if I had a restraining order against them.” Annie said. “They have to stay far away from me, right?”

“The minimum is five hundred feet and depending on the severity of the crime...”

“Let me tell you about it.” Kelly said and filled the clerk in on what happened. She was surprised, to say the least, and she was also surprised that every one of them had gotten off, especially the ringleader.

“It's unusual to have them on the same order; but, they seem to work in a group to do stupid stuff.” The clerk said and quickly filled out the order and added the names that Kelly gave her. She looked through her records to confirm it was them by their ages, then found their home addresses. “I'll set it at a thousand feet and I'll have the servers get copies out to the subjects immediately.”

“Can we have a copy?” Kelly asked.

“Of course. If any more of them come near you, you flash this at them and they have to leave you alone. If they don't, you call the police and report them. They'll be escorted away. If they make a fuss, they'll be arrested for violating it.”

“How much for...”

“The emergency one is free and lasts for about a month.” The clerk said with a smile. “If you want to make it permanent, you'll have to set a court date with the judge, then it'll be about four hundred dollars for the filing fee... that they will usually waive in most domestic violence cases.”

Annie looked at Kelly and then at the clerk. “I think we'll try the emergency one for the month. If anything else happens, then we'll make an appointment for the permanent one.”

The clerk nodded and grabbed a piece of paper from the printer. “Sign that, please.”

Annie, Kelly, and Arnold signed it, then she took it back and made several copies.

“There we go.” The clerk said and gave them three. “It's filed and is in effect. You can rest assured that if anything does happen, it will be taken care of.”

“Thank you very much.” Annie said in relief and they each took a copy and folded it up and put it in a pocket, then she realized something. “Wait, Kelly said that I needed a judge's approval for a restraining order.”

The clerk smiled. “You're looking at her.”

Annie and Kelly opened their mouths in surprise. “We thought...” They started at the same time.

The clerk chuckled. “Surprise! The normal clerk is home with her kids today.”

“Wow.” Kelly said, kind of in awe. “It's really nice of you to do this.”

“I'm glad you appreciate it.” She said. “I hope this brings you a little peace of mind.”

“It already has.” Annie said. “Thank you again.”

“I'm always glad to help.” The clerk said. “Have a good day.”