The Day Before Cookie Gets Fired

Kathy hated the day-to-day business side of the diner. She looked into hiring a full-time bookkeeper and business manager on more than one occasion. But after looking at the books recognized that wasn’t an expense Janice’s Diner could afford. There were more important things she needed to worry about. The least of which was the old walk-in and the air conditioning unit that was over forty years old. Twice a year, Kathy needed to have an HVAC repairman inspect and double-check the possible freon leak. And twice each year, she heard the same thing: You will need a new unit. You might make it through this year, but it’s doubtful. And it was always the same speech, the same rhetoric. And Cookie, as helpful as he was, started to get on Kathy’s nerves.

It started out small, with Cookie saying something like, “Naw. I ain’t doin’ that. Get (whatever the name of the newest minimum wage person she hired to clean) to do it. I been here’s too long to do that type o’ work, dontcha, think, Kathy?” She didn’t exactly disagree with him, but Kathy also didn’t agree with the attitude.

After taking over Janice’s Diner, Kathy quit her job at Emulsion Plastics shortly after Janice died. It was too hard to split her time between being at the diner from open to close, balancing the books, and making sure everything was clean enough to open the following morning. She didn’t realize Cookie was an invaluable part of that process. Invaluable with small cash injections, Kathy didn’t ask about, and Cookie didn’t share where it came from. A few hundred dollars was one thing. But when the amounts were triple the number of their customers, she wondered why he was so concerned with her keeping the diner open.

“Because I care,” was the answer Kathy got. And it was always the same answer. It never changed. In six years, she heard him say it the same way. Then, one night, while Kathy was at home watching television, the news came on about a Portland gangster, Rin Zaterelli, who was tied to several prominent corporations, including a possible tie to Emulsion Plastics. Emulsion is what caught her attention. Until then, she was happy focusing on completing her crossword puzzle and drinking her tea, her back facing the television. But the words Emulsion Plastics and Zaterelli’s statement to the question of why you invest in big corporations, his answer was, “Because I care. I care about families and hard-working, middle-class Americans. It’s all because I care.” She almost knocked her tea off the kitchen table to turn around. Zaterelli’s logo of his Italian restaurant matched a tattoo she’d seen before. It was tattooed into Cookie’s arm, just above his wrist. In ten seconds, she put it together. He was working for the Zaterelli family! That’s where the cash came from! That’s why he was so concerned about her keeping the diner open. Kathy would’ve told Janice if she was still alive. As it was, she had no one left to talk to except Floyd. Floyd and Jim. Those were the only two left in Spiner and still alive. Everyone else moved away to be closer to their grandkids or passed away.

Kathy looked straight at the television, staring at Zaterelli’s face. “Cookie’s gotta go.” She took a deep breath, exhaled, and picked up her crossword puzzle, the teacup, and the saucer it sat on and took all of it into the kitchen. Except for the cup and saucer, the sink was empty. The counters were clean. Kathy listened to the newscaster rambling about the authorities having a good case and a few witnesses. Then, the sports segment came on. That’s when she shut it off. Shaking her head, she turned off the lights in the kitchen and headed out the front door. Kathy refused to smoke in the house, even though Jack did. She hated the smell embedded in the walls and carpet. A few years back, Kathy repainted the whole interior herself. Doc helped her find the right contractor to refinish the floors and carpeting. It didn’t cost as much as she thought it would, Doc negotiating the price for her. It was fair to his friend and to him. Kathy didn’t remember his name, only that he did exactly what he said he would do and didn’t take longer or require more material than his initial bid. That’s why Doc said she should trust him. Ever since she refused to let anyone smoke inside. Including herself.

But now, right before bed, she wanted a smoke. Kathy needed to think through how she would let him go and her reason. Thankfully, Iowa was an at-will state, meaning the agreement between employee and employer was at-will – either party could give zero notice for terminating their arrangement. You could quit in a fit of rage. Or your employer could fire you without cause. If Janice had heard that other states required a reason to terminate or documentation proving just cause on the employer’s part, she would’ve faced multiple lawsuits.

Lighting up, Kathy felt the nicotine rush to her head, making her lightheaded for a second. Sitting on a wooden chair outside the trailer, Kathy listened to the crickets. The air was still peaceful. Gazing up at the stars, she took another drag, hearing the sound of a car descending the gravel road to her trailer. She saw the headlights first, then the black SUV pulled up to the trailer. The driver and passenger left their doors open, but a third man stepped out of the Escalade – Floyd Patterson.

Lawson saw they startled her so he instinctively raised his hands, showing her he had nothing in them. Something about people in trailers having a shotgun close by made him uncomfortable, probably from his first encounter with firing his weapon. “Ms. Kathy Hanover?” Kathy nodded, taking another drag. “My name is Detective Barry Lawson, and this,” he pointed to his partner, “is my partner, Adam Murray.” Floyd, walking hunched over, limped to the front of the SUV.

“Floyd? This about youns?” The scowl on her face was unmistakable, shifting the tone of her voice. “I seen youns a few times in town. Whatcha want with me?”

Lawson stayed in front of the SUV, his partner and Floyd standing on his right and left sides. “All we want to do is talk. May we come inside?”

“Talk is cheap. We can talk right here,” Kathy pointed at the ground in front of her trailer. “Where you from, Lawson? Ain’t from around here. I’d know youns family, or at least kin connected to ya.”

Lawson put his hands down and leaned against the grill of the Escalade. “No. I’m from the West Coast, born and bred in the Pacific Northwest. I live in Portland, as does my partner.”

“Long way from home, ain’t ya?” Kathy asked. “Floyd, whatcha gotta do with these gents?”

“These men saved my life. And now they are gonna save youns life too.”

“Ha! My life tain’t worth savin’. I own a diner that’s run with the Zaterelli’s money. How’s I gonna run away from that, Floyd? You tell me.” She finished her second cigarette, crushing it into a tall ashtray positioned within arm’s reach of her chair. “How come youns didn’t tell me that Cookie is workin’ for Zaterelli, Floyd?”

“I didn’t know ‘till tonight, Kath, I swear it.”

“Ms. Hanover,” Murray said, “We weren’t sure that Zaterelli was connected here until the three-million-dollar loan that Patterson’s business associates took out to launder money through Heaven Sent Dairy. If it hadn’t been for that, we wouldn’t know there was any connection. Your friend, Floyd? Zaterelli wanted him dead, loose ends tied up, and all that jazz. My partner and I kept him alive and safe in Portland, knowing that Zaterelli wouldn’t bother looking in his own backyard for Floyd. Why should he? Floyd is a countryman who loves the fields and simple country life. Isn’t that right, Floyd?” Floyd nodded yes.

Kathy lit another cigarette. “So he’s back in Spiner. I’m a guessin’ the person tryin’ to a kill him is dead now? Or in custody – isn’t that what you police folk say?”

“No. Not in custody.” Murray answered.

“He’s dead,” Floyd said without thinking. Both detectives rolled their eyes. “That’s why I got to come back. Ain’t got no one else to look for me if that person is dead, right?” He looked at the detectives.

“We have no reason to believe that anyone else is looking for or wants anything to do with Floyd,” Lawson said.

“No one else is gonna come lookin’ for hims?” Kathy squinted at the three men. She shaded her eyes from the lights on the SUV, bugs swarming in front of the lights. “Think youns could turn off them lights? It’s blindin’ me up here.”

Lawson walked back to the SUV and turned off the engine.

“Think you could let us have a seat inside?” Floyd asked. “My legs is killin’ me, Kath. Come on, now.”

Kathy put out her smoke, waving the residual smoke from her face as she stood up. “Well, come on now. We don’t need more bugs in here, that’s for sure.” She held open the door, letting all three men inside.