Avery Razorback MC Book 4

2

GEMMA'S POV:

I woke up to my alarm and groaned before turning over. Three more days and I get to sleep in until 7:45a. I rolled over, got up, and flipped on the light. I grabbed my skirt, my tights, and then my red emblem shirt. I got dressed, went into the bathroom quietly and brushed through my hair. I got to the other end of the small house we lived in and peeked out front.

I didn't see any sign of the neighbor, so I went to get my phone, unplugging it and messaging her first before going to get my sister. She was sound asleep, and I went over, kneeled, and ran my hand over her forehead and kissed her cheek. "Time to wake up honey." I whispered and kept rubbing from her forehead back until her little eyes opened it. "Good morning. Let's get you fed." 

She sat up and rubbed her eyes and whispered good morning back before I got up and left her alone. She would get up and dress herself, hopefully she would brush her teeth as soon as she was done. It wasn't often Monica needed to be told to do it, but she was only 7 so she needed to be reminded to do some things.

"Sissy!" I dropped the toast onto the paper towel and walked around the corner to see her in the bathroom and pointing at something. "Spider." I almost eeked, but I remembered that she had to have a brave outlook, and I took a deep breath as I turned and grabbed my boot. 

I walked around her, smashed it hard, and smiled at her. "All better." I kissed the top of her head before turning now and shivering as I tossed my boot and went to finish her oatmeal. That had given the water just enough time to boil.

I heard the water running and I knew that she was either washing her face or brushing her teeth. I set the oats in the water and started to stir, moving it around fast so it didn't stick and create a mess.

"All clean." She showed me her pearly whites and I smiled. She sat down and took a sip of her milk. I scooped the oats into a bowl and but a bit of milk in it before a dash or two of cinnamon before giving it to her and a spoon before turning and cleaning the pot I used right away.

I ate my toast, made her lunch, and set to work on brushing my own teeth. I slipped on my nonslip shoes and started to make sure my bed and her bed were made. I got my phone and saw that my neighbor said she was up and walking. Which meant when I was ready, I can take Monnie over.

She finished her oatmeal, drank the rest of her milk, and hurried to get her shoes and backpack on. I put her water bottle and lunch in her small part, and we were out the door, locking up, and getting her to the house next door and knocking.

"Hi there. Come on in. Do you have time for a cup of tea?" Sabrina, the older, retired, woman asked me, and I shook my head. "Running late?"

"No, just on time. You have a good day; I will pick you up from school." I told Monica and she nodded and made sure that I knew she was listening. "Be good and listen." I reminded her and she smiled before getting into the house and I waved.

"Thank you so much Sabrina." I waved as well as I jogged down the stairs, then down the street at a fast pace so I could make the bus. I was there just in time to see it turn the corner 3 blocks down and I could catch my breath.

I sat down in the open seats in front and worked my ankles, knowing today would be a fast-paced day. Being Monday, it would bring a couple of people in just for a to-go breakfast. Always happened, and it was always welcomed as long as the tips kept coming.

I got inside, smiled at Brianna who was my co-waitress most mornings. She let me in, and we started setting up for counter customers first, filling salt, pepper, and napkins. Sometimes the late shift did it, but most times we ended up double checking and finding faults. It didn't really matter to us since we usually had super clean tables, chairs, booths, and floors from them.

At least the place wasn't an infested disgusting diner. Everyone who worked here helped take care of it. I started my clock in process when the phone rang, and I grabbed it as my little paper slip printed out. "Hometown Diner, this is Gemma, how can I help you this morning." I added a bit of pep in my tone and waited.

"Hi, I was just calling to see if you were open already."

"Yeah, we're open from 6:30 am to 8:30 pm." I answered and he thanked me before hanging up.

I went back to opening shift prep work and when people started to come in, we started to get busy. I took orders, field coffee cups, wrote out receipts, and served food to more than 100 guests. I was taking my first break when I saw we were going through another rush, so I went and started working again. I poured coffee, collected small dishes from the counter, and I was dead on my feet at 2pm when I clocked out. I went home, changed into black jeans, a grey tank top, and my boots before walking to the school Monica went to.

I waited outside of the gate and got as much sun as I could before hearing the bell. This school only let parents and guardians come in after the bell. I got Monica, collected her lunch from the bin outside and held her hand on the way home. She told me about her friends in school today, and what she learned.

I listened, and then we got home, and I helped her with her math, her English, and writing, and then we heard the knock at the door. "It's Felicity." I gauged her reaction and went to open the door. It was the 15-year-old from down the street that would take $10 an hour for a couple hours for me to work at the strip club.

She was nice, she knew how to warm things up in the oven and she was good with Monnie. I got ready to go with just a few things tossed in my purse for snacks and then I went around and got the good bye kiss I never leave without, and I headed out to the other bus stop the a block away.

I got on the bus, waited the three stops and got off, heading into the strip club, I wasn't surprised to see it in full swing. "Hey! Gemma." I looked up and over at Avery who was near the back of the bar. I stopped walking to clock in and walked towards him.

"Hi, did you need me for something before I clock in?"

"Well, actually you need me to sign you into the new program. And I need to walk you through it all." He told me, and he kept talking super-fast as he turned away and waved at me to follow him. I could barely hear him and when he got to the back door I knew what he meant, we were now issued ID cards for the door and he pushed it open and handed over the one that he used. "Don't put that near your phone." He told me and I nodded and kept it in my hand as he moved me to a new machine on the wall. It looked kind of like one that I used to clock in on at a grocery store.

"Is this like the ID number and a finger?"

"And your thumb, but yeah." He told me and he put his in, then he grabbed a notepad from his back pocket and flipped before he added my ID number and we were both scanning my thumb for the best angles and then he ripped the paper with my ID number out and handed it over. I took it, wrapped it around my new key card, and he started to tell me the way they were keeping track of drinks.

AVERY'S POV:

I watched her enter her thumb and she seemed to have a couple bad runs; I was going to tell her to wash her hands so we could try again when she surprised me. "This happens a lot. I have been told that my thumbs only have arches, and most scanners pick up swirls and triangles." I didn't know much about fingerprints, but we were sure that some fingerprints were hard to read because of the way things went. 

"Might also be because you're young." I told her hoping to get her to smile and not be so nervous. I could see her other hand 

"I thought it would be harder when you're older. You know... wrinkles and lots of paper cuts." She laughed and she ended up biting her lip as her last swipe of her thumb was finally approved. As soon as she clocked in properly, we were heading out and I started to tell her about how we would get a tally of drinks and things.

We got behind the bar and she was immediately thrown into the counting process, getting the lowdown on names and where they were sitting if they came up to the bar. We were set up to help with any lightweights who got angry, but we did post five new signs about the limit.

The girls had been dancing since noon, and we were making a lot of money from just being open again. Apparently, some regulars had saved up their money and were spending it tonight on their favorites.

"I think I got it. We are technically making sure we card people unless they're regulars. I know most of their names. I write them down on the new whiteboard thing and tally mark them." She nodded and looked at them and then up at me and I nodded. Simple really. "Easy. Thanks Frank." The other bartender I was sure was drinking on the job, nodded, grabbed his 'water bottle' and moved to leave. 

"See you tomorrow Frank." I nodded to him and as soon as he went around the bar and I saw her turn, grab a clean rag, and start to clean up. I just let her do her thing and went towards the cameras we had set up. If he was filling his bottle with alcohol, he would be getting his severance check tomorrow.

I looked over at the bar and saw that Gemma was handling two new guys who came up to talk to her. Her little smile was cute, and her quick hands seemed to be less nervous now that I was away. I really hope I wasn't scaring her. I was used to being the Gunnery Sergeant, but those were to men and women who went through boot camp with others like me. She was young, small, and seemed skittish. I'd just have to get her to relax and be comfortable around me.

 I walked in and saw Marcus on the books still and I knocked to interrupt. "She here?"

"Yeah, and he just left." I walked over to where the computers were set up and went right to the other side of desk and punched in the login and started to look through videos since we opened now.

"Let me know what you see." He was still adding and working on the books and barely looking up. I went through the videos, saw him adding more drinks to the customers, and then erasing or not even marking the tallies. Then his bottle came up, and he filled it all the way up with some pretty pricy vodka. Didn't ring it up, just took it and kept drinking. That wasn't even at 1pm.

He filled his bottle with water, and then vodka, and then did it again and again before we were basically out of a whole bottle of good vodka. I tallied it up by the bottle and the ones he wasn't marking and charging some guys were drinking. I also saw one of the bouncers take a shot when he came in, snap, clap, and take off to the back where I knew he met me.

"So... looks like one bartender, and a bouncer will be let go." I told Marcus and he looked up and over and saw what I did since I had it playing back. "That when we were installing the security?" He asked and I nodded back. "l guess this is going to come out of his pay."

"Yeah." He agreed and we were adding it all up and he got it set aside so he could get the checks made out tomorrow morning at the bank before coming in. Marcus and I made sure we were on the same page when it came to who we fire, and how we train people. Anyone technically stealing was gone, anyone who was messy, was gone. Anyone who didn't live up to the expectations were going to be gone or asked to step back on swing shifts or as a backup.

As of tomorrow, the only person we would have as a bartender would be Gemma. I made a mental note to call her in the morning to see what time she could come in. Or I could go out there now and see what her plans were.