Chapter 9
The kitchen was hot, blistering hot, at least ten degrees hotter than it was outside, where the temperature that night hovered around ninety-six degrees, with humidity to match.
Henry was glad he’d been “promoted” after only a month on the job and was now no longer washing dishes, at least on a regular basis. He was—wait for it, his dad would be so proud—busing tables, filling water glasses, and if they were really slammed, delivering plates of food to the table. For this position, he got to wear black Dockers and a white button-down with a skinny black tie. He knew his parents would have been horrified to see him in the uniform, but he took pride in it, making sure the clothes were ironed before his shift and his black leather Converses were scuff-free.
The move up and away f
