©2009 Wanza Leftwich
This is part two of the Deli Style Series. Click here to read part one and click here to read the continuation of part one.
“Either you tell her or I will,” Klyde pushed a stack of hamburgers into the deep freezer. “She’s got to go.”
David looked through the box window. Esther brushed her eye for the third time in the two minutes. “Klyde, Esther is a good worker –“
“She’s late everyday, David.”
“Well, she has reasons and…”
“And I have my reasons as well. How can I become a millionaire with workers that are incompetent?” Klyde slammed the freezer closed. “Are you a manager or not?”
David paused before answering the question. His title said manager but his paycheck said busboy. “Yes, sir, I’m the manager.”
“Good. Then, as manager, it’s your responsibility to tell her. Today.”
“Yes, sir,” David’s heart ached.
Klyde retreated into the back office without another word.
David glanced through the window again. Esther blew her nose and wiped her eyes. David wanted to stretch out his arms and hug her from across the deli. He longed to wipe the pain from her eyes.
“Dave, we need you out front,” Maurice called over the intercom. “Pronto.”
David returned to the cashier’s desk. “What seems to be the problem, Maurice?”
“It’s Esther, she’s moving extremely slow today and the customers are complaining.”
“She looks fine to me.”
“Dave, you’ve got to tell her something. She’s off today…missing counts, messing up the orders. She’s stressing out Julio and the rest of us.”
“I’ll talk to her. You can go on break. I’ll relieve you.”
“Cool.” Maurice untied his apron, threw it on a hook and punched out.
David whispered a prayer, “Lord, please give me the words to say to Essie. I care about her and do not want to hurt her. I never thought being the head at work meant beating down the tail. God, le her understand that I have no desire to do this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
“That’ll be seven dollars and twenty-nine cents.” Esther handed the executive his tomato paste soup.”
“Ess…Esther, can I speak to you for a moment?”
“Sure, David, but there’s no one to cover me…thank you sir, your change.”
“Unfortunately, we can talk now.”
“Okay.” Esther sniffed and blinked her eyes.
David’s heart melted. “We need to talk about your lateness…welcome to Arthur’s.”
“I know I’ve been late a lot, but I –“
“Esther, pick up.” Julio called.
“The thing is…” she wrapped a ham and cheese hero in cellophane. “With school and everything, midterms are coming up and…five dollars even. Thank you, come again.”
“I know school is pressure right now, but it’s always going to be there.” David felt awful.
“I only have one more year, but I just don’t know what to do between working here and school.”
“Do you have to work?” David passed her the next order to bag.
“Of course! My scholarship only covers one class and…” Esther broke down. The tears began to roll down her cheeks.
“Ms. I ordered a bagel with egg and cheese, not cream cheese.” The impatient customer shoved the bagel back on to the counter and stormed out the door.
“Essie, take a break. Maurice is due back in a few. I can handle it until then.”
“Okay.” Esther removed her stocking cap, flipped up the counter board, pushed through the customers and exited.
David zipped through the mob of hungry patrons. With the increase of in tourists to the city and the new palladium built across the street, business was better than ever. The night end of the deli required Klyde to bring in two more cooks and another cashier. Business was booming and Klyde reaped the benefits. David hadn’t received a raise in two years, but continued to work six days a week. This was definitely not the life he wanted for Esther. He was determined to think of a way to change Klyde’s mind about Esther.
He wanted Esther to stay on break for the rest of the day. He needed her to stay on break or go home early. This way he did not have to tell her to take a leave of absence. Klyde said he wasn’t firing her completely. But how do you fire someone incompletely? A forced leave of absence is the same thing as being fired, isn’t it?
Wanza Leftwich, The Gospel Writer, is freelance writer, speaker and avid blogger. She loves to write Urban Christian Fiction and Bible Study courses. She resides in Brooklyn, NY with her husband Arthur and daughters Symphony and Lyric.
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