The dean Vs the manager
" The usual " .
Dean blinked , he was pretty good with faces and he was sure he had never seen this man before .
Yet he was asking for his usual .
Dean was not in the mood to humour some drunk ass .
" What would that be sir ? "
The man frowned , obviously displeased with Dean .
He must have seen the dead ass expression on Dean's face .
" A bloody Mary " .
Dean grabbed a glass to fill the man's order .
'' On the rocks ", the man called out .
Dean nodded , grabbed the ice box and filled the man's glass .
He slid the glass over the wide tabletop to the man .
The man nodded at him , the kind of nod you would save for your pals .
Dean did not return his nod , instead he went back to work .
He filled drinks , added ice when it was asked for and wiped the table down every couple of minutes , not because it was dirty but because he could not stand doing nothing .
He looked down at the wrist watch he had placed beneath the counter .
The owner of the bar had forbade having wristwatches while they worked so the customers would not ask for the time .
9 : 45 pm
He still had an hour and fifteen minutes till his shift was over .
He took a deep breath , he would get through this night too .
" Dean !"
He turned to see who had called .
Jimmy stood behind him , a frown on his face .
Dean frowned back at him waiting to hear why he had called him .
Jimmy did not like him enough to just call out his name for no apparently good enough reason .
" Someone's on the phone for you ".
Dean looked around , it was a Tuesday so there was not a lot of people that the other bartender , Kim could not handle .
He took off his apron as he walked towards Jimmy .
Jimmy's frown intensified as he drew closer .
The thing was Jimmy was an highschool student that was called in only whenever there was a lot to handle .
Their asshole manager had mentioned in front of them all that if any of them lost their jobs , Jimmy would be replacing them .
Jimmy had decided however that it was Dean's job he wanted .
He entered the back store room , the telephone hung unplugged .
He picked it up .
" Hello ".
There was no reply , only a distant rustling .
" Hello ".
Phone calls made him nervous , they were usually about his sister .
" Jaymie ? "
" No pretty boy , it's not your sister ".
It was Laura , she lived in the crumbling apartment complex that he and his sister lived at .
She usually kept his sister company .
" Laura , Is Jaymie okay ? "
" Sure are intuitive for a pretty boy . Yah I called about your sister , she's been all curled up like she trying out to be a ball and it's been hours ".
Dean's heart stopped for a second .
" Thank you Laura , I'll be there in a few ".
He ended the call and was about to walk out of the room when he heard the manager talking .
He was talking to Jimmy .
" How long has he been in there ? "
" It's been hours sir. He told me that he was going to be resting for a few minutes so I let him go in but he's been there so long and I even heard him making a call to a woman , probably his girlfriend sir ".
" That crazy lunatic ", the manager spat .
Jimmy's voice was coated with honey .
Dean could just imagine the managers
face , he had always hated Dean maybe because Dean would not call him ' sir ' but Dean had been here even before he was made manager , so he had not been able to find a good reason to fire him .
He opened the door and stepped out .
The managers face twisted into a very ugly look when he sighted Dean while Jimmy's smile stretched impossibly wider .
" You are getting it now . You are ..."
Dean did not let him finish , he interrupted what the manager had been about to say .
" I quit ".
The manager looked quite surprised even though Dean was sure that he had just been about to fire him .
" You ..."
Dean did not have to wait to listen to his s**t .
Luckily , he had received a paycheck just last week .
He walked past them and towards the bar , he grabbed his stuff from beneath the counter .
He turned to survey the bar and grabbed two bottles of Monet .
" My pay for the past three days ".
There was no point asking for cash , the manager was not going to give him .
He packed all of his stuff into his backpack and scaled over the bar top .
When he landed on the other side , he realized that everyone was staring .
He brushed them off and adjusted his clothes , he was going to really just leave but he could not .
He grabbed his apron , balled it up and threw it in Jimmy's face .
It had the desired effect , Jimmy stumbled into the manager and they both fell back .
Dean turned around and exited the building .
He ran all the way home , taking the bus was a luxury he could not afford especially now that he had just lost one of his jobs .
He arrived at their run down building in fifteen minutes , a new record .
The elevator had long since been written off .
They lived on the fifth floor , it took another two minutes for him to reach there .
They lived in unit Fifty - two but Laura stayed at Fifty - three .
He knocked once and walked in , running towards the only chair that Laura had that was not completely stained with alcohol and other undecipherable stains .
Jaymie lay there .
She was curled like a ball .
Her long blonde hair was in a messy ponytail and she had eyeshadow on her eyes .
" Jaymie ? Baby wake up , I'm here ".
She turned slightly to face him before opening her eyes , her extremely blue eyes .
She was an exact replica of their mum .
" You are here early "
She was also very observant , her blue eyes travelled about his body .
" Yeah , Laura called me . What's wrong ?"
She rolled her eyes , puckering her little mouth .
" Laura is a drunk and she's f*****g suffering from Paranoia ".
Dean narrowed his eyes , she smiled sweetly .
" Laura is not a very responsible adult ", she said .
" You like her ", Dean reminded his sister .
She scoffed .
" Liking someone does not mean you have to lie about what the person really is ".
Dean finally saw it , her hands were clasped .
His sister was very touchy but she had not touched him once since he walked in .
He could not bring himself to touch her , scared of what he would discover .
" The pretty young man is back , eureka ".
Dean turned to face Laura , she walked out of her room wearing a see through gown with nothing underneath .
" I'm pretty sure that's not how you use Eureka ", Jaymie said to her .
She ignored Jaymie .
" You lost your job , didn't you ?"
He turned back to Jaymie and grinned , she had always been perceptive like that .
" Oh honey , you got the quits? I could get you a nice job, Ya know ? "
Dean was about to politely refuse for what was probably the seven hundredth time when his sister beat him to the chase .
" Dean won't be working anywhere around you , go back to bed " .
Laura looked around like she had lost something .
" The rude brat is right , I best be going to bed ".
Dean quickly pulled out one of the Monet he had taken and placed it on the table .
" For you Laura , thank you for watching Jaymie ".
Laura clapped her hands and ran to him , she picked up the bottle to examine it .
" A Monet ? Just for me ? Tell me rude brat , why wouldn't I love your brother ? "
" Go to bed !" , Jaymie yelled .
Laura stood up with the Monet under her armpit and stumbled into her room .
Dean finally touched his sister , she was so cold , he exhaled .
She was smiling but It did not reach her eyes .
" It doesn't hurt all that much ".
Dean bowed his head , he was angry .
He was always angry .
Why did his seven year old sister have to go through so much pain ?
When he raised his head though , a smile was on his face .
" Let's go to Will " , he announced .
Jaymie rolled her eyes yet again .
" I don't want to go there , Will's a murderer ".
Dean sighed and bent to lift her into his arms .
" I can walk ".
He ignored her .
" You shouldn't call Will a murderer , he's been nothing but nice to us ".
Will was a doctor whose medical license had been revoked when a patient of his had died during surgery .
He looked at Jaymie once in a while and told Dean what drugs to buy .
Jaymie had a heart condition .
She had a hole in her heart and was constantly exhausted and in pain .
She had turned all her free time into time for making creative insults .
" Might as well get a piggyback ride if you're going to carry me ".
He did as she wanted , transferring her to his back and his backpack to his front .
" I got a calculus textbook today ".
" Should seven year olds be using calculus textbooks ?"
" Who cares ? "
Dean chuckled .
She did not go to school because of her heart condition but Dean was sure she was still better than the kids that attended the best schools .
Dean attended a part time college , he would have long since quit but that seemed to be the only hope he had to take care of his sister .
" If you were fired , does that mean Jimmy the goat got your job ? "
" I quit ", he told her .
She laughed quietly .
" Tell me you at least made a dramatic exit ".
" I did ".
She laughed again .
They had arrived at Will's equally run down house .
He entered without knocking , Will never did come to open the door when you knocked .
He went in and found Will asleep on the couch .
The house was a mess .
He kicked the Couch startling Will into a sudden awakening .
Jaymie laughed behind him .
Will opened his eyes .
" What are you two asses doing here ? "
Dean could already picture his sister rolling her eyes .
" I need you to have a look at her ".
Will sat up and observed both of them.
" Take her to a real hospital ".
Will did this every time they came over .
Dean nudged his sister .
She coughed once and then twice .
" Please Uncle Will , help , I think I'm dying ".
Dean frowned , that had not been part of the original speech .
Will rolled his eyes .
" How can you look like an angel and be as foul as the devil ? Take her to the observation room".
Jaymie yawned , bored .
Dean waited outside the observation room for them .
He had left the Monet inside Will's fridge , he would find it later .
He could hear Will ask her some questions and then see the light from one of the machines .
Will finally opened the door , his sister was sitting on the observation chair .
She was smiling but Dean could see just how exhausted she was .
" Take her to a hospital first thing tomorrow ".
" What ? ", Dean asked .
Will turned to him , his old face tired and full of worries .
" Dean , if you don't want to lose that foul mouthed child , take her to a hospital tomorrow morning ".
Dean's heartbeat slowed , everything around him slowed too .
And in this slowed down version of the world , all he could see was his sister's face as she smiled .
A smile that did very little to hide her pain .