The Runaway Shifter

2 – Cookies and Buns

WITH a smile, Jane removed the second batch of buns from the oven.

She inhaled the sweet aroma of the newly baked cinnamon rolls right after she placed the tray on the wooden table. Three more trays followed.

It was a family recipe. It was from her grandmother’s passed down to her mom and she was lucky enough to have the privilege of knowing it.

There is something with cinnamon that she always felt at home whenever she whiffed a fraction of it. Must be because she associated it with family and her second chance at having a home.

Her eyes went to the door when it suddenly opened.

Jane’s smile widened. The familiar face of the woman who gave her another chance of having a family entered the kitchen.

“Good morning, mom!” She greeted cheerfully.

She wiped her hands on the apron that she was wearing.

“Good morning, honey! Didn’t I tell you to come here by 7 AM?” The older woman said while putting on the brown apron that has TUDD’S PLATTER printed on its chest.

“I woke up earlier. I decided to come here to bake your favorite buns.”

A knowing smile showed on Ora Tudd’s lips.

“Have you been having those dreams again?”

She sighed.

Her adoptive mother must have seen the bags under her eyes. There is no use in lying to her.

“Yes, mom. A dream woke me up at three in the morning. I was not able to get back to sleep again.”

“And you have been baking since.”

“Baking kept my mind off things.”

“I know, right. What have you been doing then?” The older woman sniffed. She moaned. “Nothing beats the smell of the cinnamon rolls in the morning.”

“It smells home,” Jane muttered with a smile.

“Yes. That’s why I always wanted to have it on our table at home a few times a week.”

“I know, mom.” Her smile widened. Remembering her childhood at the Tudd’s residence. “I already made cookies. I think it has been on the display.”

“It’s gone, little lady.”

She and the older woman turned to the person who had just come in. It was Basil, one of the older wait staff.

Silver hair showed off in his temples despite the hairnet he has on. He was also wearing the same brown apron.

Basil has been working in the diner for a long time. He was already with the Tudd’s family when Jane was adopted all those years ago.

He was more than an employee. He is family.

“I made four trays.”

“A family made a takeaway earlier. Two others did the same thing. Our regulars got them with their coffee. They were still munching on it.” He explained with a wide smile on his face. “I swear, these people knew whenever you’re in the kitchen, little lady.”

And he has been calling Jane that nickname since day one. Others eventually did the same.

“That being said, these buns are really for you.” Ora Tudd said, pointing at the trays on the table.

“Happy to obliged, ma’am.”

He picked up one tray and left them.

“What do we do now, young lady?”

“Baked?”

They shared a laugh before going to the pantry where the baking ingredients are.

Right before lunch, they were done baking. Ora went to the kitchen to help with the cook while Jane relieved the staff at the register.

At this time of the day, more customers were coming to the diner.

It was after five in the afternoon when Billy visited. He is the biological son of the Ora and Wyeth Tudd. He is three years older than Jane’s twenty-four.

“Where’s mom, plain Jane?”

“She went home an hour ago. She and dad will attend Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair’s wedding anniversary.” She answered while cleaning the table.

He slid himself onto the chair of the table that she is cleaning. He rubbed his nose as he leaned his back. He made a face before sniffing a few times.

“Bring me coffee.”

She was about to leave when one of the waitresses told her that she will do it.

“I want a piece of that cinnamon bun, too. After all, it was my grandmother’s recipe. Right, plain Jane?”

She exhaled. She chose not to respond to him. She continuously scrubbed the stubborn stain on the table.

Since she was adopted by the Tudd couple, Billy has been picking on her. He always made sure that she was reminded that she was not really a member of the Tudd’s family.

His bullying extends in school. Together with his two other friends, they would either pull her hair when they got a chance or they would claim her lunch as their own.

Billy also declared in the school that she was just adopted by his family because no one really wants her. He also made up some lies about her biological parents.

It used to nag her. She even cried a few times because of the string of lies he said about her family. However, when she showed him that his words have no power over her, he become more annoyed and left her alone eventually.

His friends stopped bullying her when she was in middle school. That was the time when she fought back. That was also the first time that she was sent to the principal’s office.

She punched Billy’s friend in the face that he sported a black eye the next day. He went to school together with his parents to file a complaint.

The Tudds had a meeting with her ‘victim’s’ parent. When she and her bully were called in front of the principal, there was shock on her bully’s parent's faces as well as the principal's.

She did not understand what happened that time. In less than ten minutes, it was over. She left with her records clean and her bully was transferred to another school after a week.

The truth dawned on her when she turned seventeen. Apparently, her bully’s parents as well as the principal were familiar with the past that she left behind.

“Do you need anything else?” She asked when the coffee and breed has been served to Billy.

“Give me a hundred.” He sniffed again after he said that.

Her brows knotted. She faced her brother. To her surprise, he looked away.

“You already asked for money the other day.”

“It ain’t yours, sister. You owned nothing in this place.”

“I know. You should ask mom first.”

“You tell her. I’m sure, mom will have no objection since I’m their son. Their biological child.”

Jane released another deep sigh. Their conversation is going nowhere.

She finished what she was doing. She proceeds to the display of the pastry near the cash register.

The task of putting the slices of bread in order can take her mind off the things that Billy is trying to instill in her head again. She is no longer that little girl that was afraid to be kicked away from home if she made a mistake.

This morning, she and her mom made enough bread to last for the day. However, she will bake a fresh batch before she goes home so that the morning shift will have something to offer for the early birds.

“Don’t let him get to you,” Yana said as she passes by.

She sent the older woman a smile.

Almost every staff in the diner was older than her. She basically grew up with them so she need not to explain the situation. They had witnessed how Billy treated her over the years especially when their parents were not watching.

They liked the older Tudds but they disliked their only child.

Billy is a lot different from his parents. Ora and Wyeth were hard-working people. However, their biological child showed no interest in the small family business and treated their employees like he was above everyone else.

Adding salt to injury, he showed signs of substance abuse when he went to college. By that time, Jane already enjoyed learning how to bake with Mrs. Tudd.

A couple of years away from his parents, Billy dropped out. He tried working menial jobs but he was not able to sustain one for at least a year. There are times that he has to call for his parent’s help to pay for his apartment and other bills.

“Give me the money.”

Her hand went to her own pocket. She gave him a few bills.

She was about to put the rest back when he snatched it from her.

“Thanks, sis. You’re the best.” He is already standing when he said that.

Jane did nothing but followed him with her eyes.

Young Tudd was grinning from ear to ear as he saddled on his motorbike.

If she remembered it right, it was a gift from their parents on his birthday a couple of years ago. Actually, he asked his parents for it.

The couple planned to buy a car for Jane but when she learned of it, she refused. She told them to buy something for Billy instead.

Deep inside, she knew that it would be a huge problem if her brother learned that a car has been gifted to her by their parents. Jane did not want to start a clash with him.

“You gave him money again, little lady.”

“He needs it, Basil.”

“But you have been saving for your car.”

Her eyes went to the old man’s face. She told no one of her plans to get a car. Not even her parents.

“I overheard your conversation with an agent when I went to throw the trash. That was a couple of months ago.”

“I can manage, Basil. Trains and cabs exist.” She stated with a smile.

“What you gave him will only be spent on either gambling or illegal drugs.” Worry marred the older man’s face.

“It’s better that he gets money from me that stress mom and dad about it.”

Basil sighed.

“You’re a wonderful daughter, Jane. If I happened to have a family of my own, I would wish to have a child like you.”

She sent him a grateful smile. “Thank you.”

“Ora and Wyeth are lucky to have you.”

He patted her on the shoulders before going in the direction of the kitchen.

We’re lucky to have them, too. Said the small voice in her head.

Jane nodded in silence.