Taking care of the pizzeria was a lot of work. It was a pretty grueling pace for Dan. All in all, he didn't have much of a break during the day. His time during the few quiet moments was spent with the accounts, ordering supplies, and taking care of the thousands of other little details that went with owning a business. He was working thirteen hour days that began at 9:30 in the morning and ended at 10:30 at night.
It wasn't just the time spent working that wore him down. There were a lot of things to worry about when running a business. He looked at the employees and thought about how they depended on his ability to run the business for their livelihood. A few bad decisions on his part and they would have to look for new jobs. A small decrease in the number of customers could drive the pizzeria through a long painful death.
He wondered how the end of the school year would affect his business. That was still a month away, but that didn't prevent him from worrying about it. The business was progressing better than he had expected. He was pulling in almost thirty dollars a day more than he had planned. That didn't sound like much, but it added a thousand dollars a month to his sales.
He looked at the sales curves and wished that he had a year long history on which to base his decisions. There was the rest of spring, summer, fall, and winter. He knew that the seasons would affect sales, but he didn't know how they would affect it. He glanced at his calendar and realized that it was time for him to file his taxes. He frowned at the thought of how much time and money that would cost him.
It was time to make the work schedule for the next week. Everyone had fixed schedules except for the delivery folks. The main reason for that was Diana. She tended to work when she wanted and expected him to arrange everyone else's schedule for her convenience. She came and went as she pleased. Even when she was at the pizzeria, she did half of the work of everyone else. He was half tempted to get another driver and give everyone a fixed schedule. He sighed and said, "If she wasn't my sister, I'd fire her."
Diana sat across the cafeteria table from Steve thinking that he was a nice guy, but he didn't really stimulate her mind. Still, he took her nice places and treated her well so she didn't have any grounds to complain. She asked, "Where are we going Friday night?"
"I can't go out Friday night," Steve answered putting down his sandwich. He wasn't looking forward to this discussion. It seemed to him that Diana didn't always react too well when her plans were interrupted.
Frowning, Diana asked, "Why not?"
"I've got something that I have to do with my family," Steve answered.
Diana wasn't too pleased with having nothing to do on a Friday night. She studied Steve for a minute before she asked, "Can I go too?"
"No. It is a family thing," Steve answered. They were going to visit his grand-aunt in the nursing home. Her health had taken a slow but steady downward spiral. His father was particularly upset about it. His uncle had come down to see the older woman before she passed away. No one expected her to live out the month.
"I'll be happy to go," Diana said.
Shaking his head, Steve said, "Not this time."
"Okay, be that way," Diana said crossing her arms and glaring at Steve.
Steve frowned and said, "Look Diana, this is a rather private family matter. I was hoping that you would understand that."
"No that's alright. I understand," Diana said thinking that he could have included her if he had wanted. She felt that he was just making excuses to get out of seeing her Friday evening. She decided that if he didn't want to see her, then that would be fine with her.
Knowing that she didn't understand, Steve said, "Some things are meant to be kept within the family. The rest of my family won't understand if I bring a stranger along."
"So now I'm a stranger," Diana said looking at Steve with a frown.
"Yes, to the rest of my family you are a stranger," Steve replied.
Diana rose from her chair and said, "Okay. I'll see you around."
"Diana! Wait!" Steve watched Diana walk off thinking that she had become a whole lot more selfish the past few months. He didn't exactly like the person she had become.
The grueling pace had begun to wear Dan down. Working thirteen hour days and seven days a week was very draining. He might have a lot of pride in his pizzeria, but it was a lot of work. He couldn't say that he hadn't been warned. He stepped into the apartment happy to be returning home from a long day at work.
He had just closed the door when he was tackled. His back slammed into the door and he saw stars. He didn't even have time to react when a woman was kissing him all over his face. Off balance, he slid down to the floor and the woman kissing his face followed him on down. He was having trouble making out who it was until he realized that the mass of brown hair in his eyes belonged to Ann.
He hadn't even seen Ann approaching him. Once the stars had cleared and she had calmed down, he asked, "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that about?"
"I got the article today," Ann said. She proceeded to kiss him some more. It didn't matter to her that she was kissing his chin.
Confused, he asked, "What article?"
"The one written by Donald Watson," Ann answered. She attacked his face with more kisses.
"What article?" Dan asked when she had pulled back to take a breath.
"The one in the New York paper that describes my mural," Ann answered.
"Oh, so he finally got around to writing it," Dan said. The back of his head hurt where he had hit it against the door.
"You didn't even tell me that he saw it," Ann said. She hadn't believed her eyes when she had opened the envelope and saw the article contained within it. The idea that her work had been given a favorable review in a New York paper was overwhelming. She was going to have to get another copy of the article since the one that she had was now covered in tears.
Dan looked over at Sally. She was laughing at the pair of them on the floor. Dan looked like a deer caught in the headlights of on oncoming truck. Ann was an emotional mess. Taking pity on Dan, she said, "Let him get up before you kill him."
"Oh sorry," Ann said scrambling up from the floor. She looked down at Dan with tears in her eyes and said, "That is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."
"Hey, I just wanted to help," Dan said. The next thing he knew was that Ann was atop him and kissing him some more. This time there were tears along with the kisses. Not knowing what else to do, he put his arms around Ann and held her tight. It was the right thing to do.
Granny Parker had become a fixture at Parkers Perfect Pizza. She was there every afternoon when the teenagers were hanging around after school. A lot of the kids had parents that both worked and they had nowhere better to go. An amazing dynamic had emerged. Rather than being treated like a crazy old bat, a lot of the kids had adopted her as their own grandmother. They talked to her about their problems and she listened with an understanding ear. She was a non-threatening adult presence for a lot of kids that didn't have that in their lives.
When things were good, Granny Parked teased the kids and they ate it up. More than one young couple had found they were a couple because of her meddling. She was quick to let someone know when they had crossed the line of acceptable behavior, but she was even quicker with a hug.
The kids also liked Dan. He knew all of the regulars by name. They felt that he wasn't so old that he had forgotten what it was like to be a teenager living through the hell they called high school. When one of the kids was floundering, he would pull the kid aside and hand them a small stack of papers. In a serious voice, he would say, "This contains all of the advice that I can give you. Read the three articles and then we'll talk."
More than one kid felt that Dan had given them the secret of success. In the short time that the pizzeria had been open, people's lives were changing for the better. Even the principal of the local high school had noticed that a few of kids were behaving better. He chalked it up to them finally starting to grow up.
Dan looked up when the bell over the door rang ready to greet whoever came in by name. A sick feeling settled in his stomach when he saw who had just entered. The woman took one look at Dan and shouted, "Oh, God! It's Dan Parker, the biggest fucking loser in town."
Dan knew there was no way that she would leave if he asked her to go. He was going to have to get her removed from the premises. He was about to step over to the telephone to call the police when a second shout echoed through the pizzeria. "Kimberly Emily Parker! You shut your mouth right now!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Kim. She froze in place as if she had just been hit with a stun gun. The color drained from her face. She couldn't even work up the nerve to look in the direction of where the voice had originated.
As Granny Parker stomped over to where Kim stood, one of the kids said, "Damn, Granny is pissed."
Dan watched as the little old lady reached over to Kim and grabbed her by the ear. He thought she was going to twist the ear right off. Kim was bent over trying to lessen the pain. Granny just twisted harder until Kim shouted, "Ow!"
"That's got to hurt," one of the kids said cringing.
"Go Granny!" one of the other kids said. He was one of the kids that came to the pizzeria every day. He and his friends would play air hockey for an hour or two before heading home from school. It was great not having to pump quarters into a machine all afternoon. Occasionally Dan would even give them a free root beer.
Dan watched in amazement as Granny Parker dragged Kim out of the pizzeria. The angry look on her face was quite a sight to behold. He vowed at that moment that he would never make that little old lady mad at him. He watched through the window as Granny Parker proceeded to explain things to Kim. It looked like Kim wasn't enjoying the lecture nearly as much as the rest of the kids in the pizzeria.
Kevin stepped over to Dan and asked, "Is she another relative of yours?"
"No," Dan answered. He said, "Kim and I were classmates in school."
"It looks like Granny Parker is related to her. That would make you relatives, wouldn't it?" Kevin asked.
"Actually, I'm not related to Granny at all. I always figured that she had just adopted the Parker name when she was here," Dan said rather amazed by the entire episode.
"Wow. I thought she was your grandmother," Kevin said watching the scene taking place in front of the pizzeria.
"She acts like it," Dan said with a shrug of his shoulders. He looked over at Kevin and, with a smile, added, "and so long as I'm a good boy that's all right with me."
"You won't be saying that if you're ever a bad boy in her presence," Kevin said with a laugh. He never wanted to make that woman mad at him. The look on her face reminded him of an incident when he had crossed a Sergeant back when he was in the military. He turned to the oven and said, "I'll make up a batch of cinnamon twists for her."
"She likes those," Dan said nodding his head. She always had a serving of cinnamon twists during her afternoon visit. Appreciating how she interacted with the kids that came to the pizzeria after school, he never asked her pay for them. He had asked her if she wanted a job, but she had turned him down saying that she liked being retired.
After a very long five minutes, Granny Parker returned to the pizzeria with Kim walking along behind her. With her head down and eyes focused on the floor. Kim walked over to Dan. After glancing at her grandmother, she said, "I apologize for my behavior. It was rude of me to act in such a manner."
"Apology accepted," Dan said amazed that she had actually come in and apologized. Not once in the entire time that he had known Kim had she ever apologized for anything she had said or done.
When Kim didn't say anything else, Granny Parker said, "You can go now, Kimberly."
"Yes, Granny Parker," Kim said. At a walk that was pretty close to a run, Kim left the building. Her face was bright red.
Granny Parker turned to Dan and said, "I'm sorry about my granddaughter's behavior. I..."
Dan held up a hand and said, "You have nothing to apologize for, Granny. Thank you for handling the situation."
She smiled at him and said, "You're such a good boy."
"Thank you, ma'am," Dan said. He gestured to Kevin and said, "He's making you a batch of cinnamon twists. They'll be ready soon."
"You're both good boys," she said smiling over at Kevin.
"You're kidding," Diana said after hearing a rather condensed version of Kim's visit. She wished that she had been there to see it.
"Nope," Dan said shaking his head.
"That must have been something to see," Diana said shaking her head. Granny Parker was such a sweet old lady that it was hard to imagine her dragging Kim out of the pizzeria by her ear.
"Well, I doubt that Kim will ever return here. At least, not when Granny is around," Dan said. He was pretty sure that he would never forget the look on her face when she heard her grandmother calling out her name.
"By the way, where is Granny?" Diana asked afraid that she had missed her.
"She's in the bathroom changing her clothes," Dan answered. Granny usually came over in a sedate outfit and changed into something outlandish once she got there. Today it had been a bright green shirt and purple pants. He had no idea where someone could buy purple pants. Even harder to believe was that someone would actually buy them. She usually changed back into regular clothes before leaving.
"Oh, good. I wanted to talk with her before she left," Diana said.
"I thought that you came here a little early," Dan said. He had hoped that she had come there to help him get ready for the evening rush. He glanced over at Sandra and watched as she refilled the bins at the pizza station.
"I was hoping to catch her before she went back to the retirement village," Diana said. She was still trying to come up with a definition of the physical environment that she wanted to achieve in her life. She figured that with a lifetime of experience that Granny would be able to help her put into words what she was trying to achieve.
"She's going to be leaving soon," Dan said. He wondered what Diana wanted to discuss with Granny.
Diana smiled and said, "That's okay. I'll give her a ride home."
"I'm sure she'll appreciate it that," Dan said thinking that he'd really rather have her stay there.
Granny Parker came out of the bathroom wearing a conservative outfit. She nodded at Diana and said, "Hello, Diana."
"Hello Granny Parker. Would you like a ride home?" Diana asked.
"That would be lovely," she answered. She took Diana by the arm and together they headed towards the door.
Before stepping out the door, Diana turned and called out to Dan, "Call me when you get a delivery call. I'll only be five minutes away."
"Sure," Dan said. He'd give one of the other drivers the first delivery order. If she wasn't his sister he'd have said something to her.
Outside, Granny Parker looked over at Diana and shook her head. She had a disappointed look on her face. She said, "I think you are a perfectly lovely young woman. You're polite and don't talk bad about others. However, there are times when you take advantage of your brother."
"What do you mean?" Diana asked puzzled by the charge. They reached her car and she unlocked the door for the older woman.
Granny Parker paused before getting into the car. She pointed back to the pizzeria and said, "He's working his heart out in there. Unlike the other delivery people, you don't have a set work schedule."
"I let him know that I'm available to make a delivery," Diana said holding the door open.
Granny Parker said, "You don't act like an employee. You set your own schedule and he works around you. That's not fair to him or everyone else who works for him."
"I'm his sister," Diana said. She had given up her job at the pharmacy to help him in his business.
"That's what I'm saying," the elderly woman replied.
Confused, Diana asked, "What do you mean?"
The elderly woman shook her head. She said, "He doesn't complain, but he's got to be exhausted with the kind of hours he's working. He looks tired. Have you thought about learning how to cook so that he could maybe have an evening off every once in a while? He doesn't need another delivery person. He needs someone who he can count on to look out for him. If he doesn't get a break soon, he's going to get sick. That could cost him his business. You're his sister and he should be able to count on you to help."
"I didn't think about that," Diana said looking back at the pizzeria. She had been viewing her involvement in his business like a part- time job. She had thought that she could work the hours that were convenient to her.
"You're a sweet young woman, but you really do need to think about others just a little more," Granny Parker said. She gave Diana a weak smile. Diana was still young and an occasional lapse of judgment was forgivable. She just hoped that she didn't make a habit of it.
"You're right," Diana said. She realized that she had been taking advantage of her relationship to Dan. They wouldn't have put up with her attitude at the pharmacy where she used to work.
Granny Parker patted Diana on the arm and said, "I know you'll do the right thing."
"Yes, ma'am," Diana said. Looking down at the ground, she said, "Let me take you home and then I'll go back to work."
Sitting on the couch next to her lover, Sally watched Ann while they were waiting for Dan to return home from work. Ann was busy staring at the painting. After about five minutes of silence, Sally asked, "What are you thinking?"
"I'm wondering what we can do for Dan," Ann answered turning to look at Sally.
Nodding her head, Sally said, "Maybe we can start taking dinner to him at the pizzeria. He's been eating nothing except pizza and spaghetti during the day. It can't be healthy for him to eat like that all of the time."
"We have dinner here for him when he gets home," Ann said. There was a nice pot roast just waiting for him to arrive at home. She glanced at the clock thinking that in about ten minutes they should start setting the table so that it would be waiting for him.
"I know, but maybe he should get to bed a little earlier at night. He has looked really tired lately," Sally said. The night usually ended with them eating dinner and then talking for an hour or two. For Sally, that was just about the only time when she got to see him since she had to leave early for work. Ann got to spend the morning with him.
"I know," Ann said. She had noticed that Dan wasn't looking all that good lately. It was hard to put a finger on what was the matter. It was like he wasn't as quick with a smile. He rose from the chair slower and seemed to act just a little duller.
Sally said, "We do need to do something. He won't leave the pizzeria unless there is something more important for him to do."
Ann thought about the number of times that Dan had left the pizzeria during business hours. There had only been four occasions in two months and only one of them was a full evening. There had been the three CERT training sessions and Sue's exhibition at the art gallery. She asked, "Do you think we should call his father?"
"Why?" Sally asked surprised by the suggestion.
"His father can watch the pizzeria one or two nights while Dan recovers a little," Ann answered. She added, "He trusts his father to handle anything that comes up."
"That would be a start," Sally said thinking that it wasn't enough. Dan was doing more than just watching over the pizzeria. She knew that Dan usually swung by Ellen's house in the morning to make sure that it was okay. He stopped by the bank on the way home to make the deposit.
Surprising the two women, Dan returned home early looking tired. He had skipped some of the closing procedures to get a little extra time away from the shop. They weren't important tasks; he didn't stack the chairs on the tables, mop the floor, or clean the bathrooms. They could be done in the morning. He gave each woman a kiss and said, "I'm beat."
"You look it," Sally said getting even more worried about him. His face was pale and his eyes were red.
"Why don't you have a seat while we set the table for you?" Ann asked. His early arrival had taken them by surprise.
Dan collapsed in the chair and said, "Sounds like a good idea. I definitely need to get off of my feet."
The two women rushed into the kitchen to set the table. Sally said, "He looks awful."
"I know. I hope he doesn't get sick," Ann said glancing back towards the living room. She went over to the stove to heat the frozen spinach. It would only take a few minutes to prepare. As she worked, Sally got out the ingredients to make gravy.
Sally said, "He must be pretty tired if he came home early. That isn't like him."
"I know," Ann said. She dumped the frozen mass of spinach into the pot of water. She said, "I'll get out the plates and stuff while you do the gravy."
"You can make the gravy," Sally said with a smile. Between the two of them, she was the most domestically inclined. Ann's attempts to make gravy usually turned into the mass production of lumps.
"No, you do it. I think he might want to eat it," Ann said with a laugh.
It took less than ten minutes to get the meal finished and on the table. Sally went out to the living room to get Dan, but stopped just outside the kitchen. She went back into the kitchen and said, "He's asleep."
"Should we wake him?" Ann asked biting her lower lip. He never fell asleep like that.
"I don't know," Sally answered. She felt that he probably needed the sleep more than the food. Of course, sleeping in the chair wouldn't be as restful as a good night in bed.
"Let's get him to bed," Ann said.
"We're going to have to wake him. We don't stand a chance of carrying him to bed," Sally replied. She thought of the number of times that he had carried Ann or her to bed. It was a shame that they couldn't return the favor.
Lazlo Zalezac