It was five minutes to opening time and Dan had just finished making a batch of pizza dough. The store was ready to open and he had just taken a seat at the table to organize the papers for the accountant. He had a checklist of what he needed to provide the man who did his taxes and wanted to check it before they got busy.
Dan looked up when the bell over the door rang. He was surprised to see Kevin limp into the pizzeria. The place wasn't even open yet and he wasn't scheduled to work until the afternoon. He hoped there wasn't a problem with Kevin's health. Concerned, he said, "Hello Kevin. What are you doing here so early?"
"I came to talk to you before you got busy," Kevin answered pulling a chair out to sit upon.
"I hope that it is nothing serious," Dan said giving Kevin his full attention.
Kevin sat down at the table and said, "I've been shot at by men who were serious about killing me. I had a leg blown off. I've been through some shit that you wouldn't believe. I'd say that I've got a bit of experience with working under pressure."
"I'd have to agree with you," Dan said nodding his head. He couldn't imagine going through experiences like that.
"I think I can handle the pizzeria a night or two without you being here," Kevin said looking Dan in the eye. He had driven home the previous night thinking about how much he enjoyed his job. Although he had been worried about dealing with customers, the reality had turned out to be quite different than his fears. He found that it had really helped him get over some of the issues in his life. Dan was the perfect boss. It amazed him how Dan was always looking out for his health. It wasn't until he had pulled up to the driveway of his parent's house that it dawned on him that no one was looking out for Dan's health.
Dan nodded his head and said, "I'm sure you can."
Kevin shook his head thinking that Dan might say that, but he wouldn't act on it. He said, "You need to take a night off before you drop dead."
"I'm fine," Dan said dismissively. He figured that in a month or two, everything would be routine and he'd be able to take an occasional break from work.
Kevin sat up and stared Dan in the eye. He said, "No. You are not fine; you're exhausted. I'm throwing you out of here at four this afternoon even if I have to call over the high school football team to do it."
"But..."
"I'm not taking no for an answer," Kevin said rising from the chair to leave.
Dan stared at Kevin as he limped out of the pizzeria. It seemed to him that Kevin's limp was getting less pronounced. For a long time he had thought the limp was because of the prosthetic limb. He had been surprised to learn that it was the other leg that caused the limp. It had been damaged in the explosion. After the door closed behind Kevin, Dan murmured, "It is not that I don't trust him; it is just that I feel that I can't leave here."
It was after the lunch rush and there were still a few customers in the pizzeria. Working at the rear of the room, Dan was busy mopping the floor. The floor was decorated with a hodge-podge of colored tiles the prompted some of the guests to jump from tile to tile like a game. He rather enjoyed the act of mopping the floor. It was the kind of task that allowed him to think while accomplishing something. He mopped the floor three times a day; once after lunch, one before the evening rush, and once after closing.
Although none of the tables were visibly dirty, Vicki was busy cleaning the tables. Dan insisted that they clean the tables by spraying them with a heavy duty cleanser after lunch and at closing. The powerful smell of the cleanser would hang in the air for an hour. She would be leaving soon, but knew that the pizzeria would be sparkling clean before she left. There were times when she wished that she could keep her house that clean. With two young kids at home, keeping a house clean was basically impossible.
Susan worked three days a week during the lunch rush and a full day on the weekends. At the moment, she was refilling the shakers with parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and peppers. After that was done, she'd get to work cleaning the pizza station. It was a bit of work, but she liked the clean atmosphere of the place. This was actually her favorite time of the day.
Everyone turned to look at the telephone when it rang. The telephone never rang during that time. Dan recovered first and went over to answer it. He picked up the receiver and said, "Parker's Perfect Pizza."
"Hello, Dan," his dad said.
"Oh, hi Dad," Dan said. Hearing that he wasn't taking an order, the two women went back to work cleaning.
"I just wanted you to know that I was going to stop by the pizzeria tonight. I thought you could use a night off," his father said. He had been worried when Ann had called him at work and mentioned how tired Dan was looking.
"You don't need to do that," Dan said.
"I know I don't need to do it. I want to do this. You go home and have a nice time with your two ladies," his father said. There was a time when he would have killed to have two women like Dan, but that offer by Pat to be the second woman had forever ruined that fantasy.
"Kevin said that he'd close up the store tonight if I decide to take the evening off," Dan said despite the fact that he had decided that he wasn't going to take Kevin up on his offer.
"Good. Take the evening off. Let him close up the store," his father said.
"That's okay, I'll probably work. I have to make the deposit and that would require me to drive in and then drive over to the bank," Dan said trying to justify working that night.
"Diana can drop the money off at the bank."
"No, I'd rather she didn't," Dan said. Earlier that week she had been rather ambivalent about working that evening. He wasn't even sure if she was coming to work or not. Although he didn't want to say it, he said, "She isn't all that dependable."
In a much sterner voice, Dan's father said, "She'll make the deposit."
"Yes, Dad," Dan said knowing that Diana would make the deposit even if it required his father to take her there.
"Good, Son. Enjoy your night off," his father said just before hanging up. He didn't want to give Dan a chance to argue. He was going to call Ann back and tell her to keep Dan at home. He suspected that Dan might leave for a while, but he'd be back before the pizzeria closed. He knew that Dan hadn't learned the very important lesson that a single person couldn't do everything. He was also going to have a very long talk with Diana.
After hanging up the phone, Dan wondered how he was going to explain to his father that he wasn't going to take the night off.
Dan had just finished making the dough for the evening and headed over to the pizza station to get a mug of root beer. He wished that he had coffee, but the demand for coffee wasn't high enough at that time of day to justify making a pot. He yawned thinking it was only seven hours to closing time. He needed to wake up. The high school would be letting out soon and the kids would start showing up.
Granny Parker entered the pizzeria and headed towards the bathroom. She was carrying a sack of clothes with her. Spotting Dan, she went over to him and said, "Hello, Dan. How is business?"
"Business is good," Dan answered. He was meeting the payroll, paying the bills, and had a little left over to pay himself. The truth was that he didn't expect to be doing quite that well so early in the business. He wondered if Mr. Harrison had been right about needing to spend the time to plan for success.
"You're putting in long hours," Granny said studying his face. There were bags under his eyes and the normal twinkle was missing.
"Yes, ma'am," Dan said. He wasn't going to argue that point.
Shaking her head, Granny said, "Ernie used to do the same thing. He'd work from sunrise to well over sunset. There'd be weeks when I didn't see him around the house except for dinner. Sometimes he even missed dinner. He'd stagger home and fall in bed exhausted."
Dan didn't know what to say. He nodded his head and said, "Uh uh."
"Then he'd get sick and end up in bed for two or three days," Granny said looking at Dan with a penetrating stare.
Frowning, Dan asked, "Are you trying to tell me something?"
"I'm not trying to tell you something, I am telling you something. If you don't take care of yourself, you're going to get sick," Granny said jabbing a finger in his direction to make a point.
Last night it had been Ann and Sally telling that he had to take a day off of work. This morning Kevin had insisted that he should take the night off. Then his father had called. Now, Granny was telling him to take some time off. He asked, "What's the matter? Everyone has been telling me to take a night off."
"Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Granny asked.
"I shaved this morning," Dan answered not realizing that it was a rhetorical question at first. He blushed and said, "Oh, I get it."
"You need to take a night off," Granny Parker said.
"I'll think about it," Dan said.
Shaking her head, Granny Parker said, "You need to do more than think about it."
Sandra entered the pizzeria a little early that afternoon. She went into the back kitchen and watched as Dan made little balls of pizza dough for the evening. It dawned on her that Dan was making balls of different sizes corresponding to different size pizzas. She wondered how he knew how many of each he had to make.
"You're early," Dan said after looking over at her and then glancing down at his wristwatch to check the time. For a moment there he had been afraid that he was running behind of schedule.
Sandra nodded her head and said, "I was thinking that I should learn how to cook pizzas. It seems to me that you need another cook more than you need a waitress."
"I could use another cook," Dan said acknowledging the situation. He said, "I'll start your training on your next shift."
Sandra said, "I'm ready to start now."
"I know, but I need you to help fix the pizzas today," Dan said. He looked down at the tray with the balls of pizza dough. It looked to him like it was more than enough to get through the evening. He put the rest of the dough in the refrigerator so that it would be available for use the next morning.
Sandra was quiet for a moment and then said, "You look tired."
"You aren't the first one who has told me that today," Dan said with a sigh.
"You need to take some time off," she said with a worried frown on her face. She'd hate to lose the job because the owner died.
"I'll take a day off one of these days," Dan said as he lifted the tray to carry it out to the pizza station. He looked at Sandra and said, "The after school crowd will be in here soon."
"Okay," Sandra said. She came here straight from the high school and was allowed to leave early on a work-study program. Looking over at him, she said, "I hope I didn't offend you about needing some time off. It is just that I'm worried about you."
"You didn't offend me. Thanks for being concerned enough to mention it," Dan said.
"You're welcome," Sandra said. She loved being in the kitchen during that time of day. The spaghetti sauce filled the air with a wonderful scent.
Dan carried the tray out to the pizza station and slid it into place. He put the cover over the balls of dough. He looked over at Kevin and said, "I think this will be enough for tonight. If not, I've got some more in the kitchen."
"Good," Kevin said. He looked at Dan and asked, "Are you taking the night off?"
"I thought about it, but..."
Shaking his head, Kevin said, "I told you I wasn't going to take no for an answer."
"It is just that..."
"Granny, I need you over here," Kevin shouted.
Granny Parked came over. She was wearing a polka dot shirt and a poodle skirt that looked absolutely hideous. She asked, "What's the problem?"
"He won't take the night off," Kevin said.
The old woman looked at Kevin and then over at Dan. In a sharp voice, she asked, "Dan, am I going to have to drag you out of here by your ear?"
"No, ma'am," Dan answered remembering how she had done that to Kim. It had even looked painful.
"Are you going to take the night off?" she asked watching his eyes. She'd know if he was lying.
Dan started to tell her no, but stopped himself before the word was out of his mouth. He looked over at Kevin and could see that he was serious. There were no doubts in his mind that Granny was serious. He looked over at Sandra. Giving up, he said, "I've got to get the sauce finished and some more Cinnamon Twists ready."
"You'll go then?" Granny asked.
"Yes, ma'am," Dan said.
She patted him on the arm and said, "You're a good boy."
"Thank you, ma'am," Dan said.
Kevin said, "I'll watch the store tonight. You don't have to worry about a thing."
"Thanks, Kevin," Dan said.
Granny turned her back to Dan and winked at Kevin. He returned the wink and went back to work. She had just stepped away when the door rang. Dan looked over at it. It was one of the kids that came almost every day. He called out, "Hello, Cory."
"Hi Dan!" the young man answered. This was the only place he went where anyone greeted him by name. Not even his parents greeted him when he got home. It meant a lot to him to be recognized and acknowledged.
"Do you want your regular pizza with pepperoni and a mug of root beer?" Dan asked.
"Yes, sir," Cory answered thinking this was the greatest place on earth. They even knew what he liked to eat.
"Coming right up," Dan said. He turned to Sandra and said, "Would you mind fixing it for him? I'd like to talk to Cory for a minute or two."
"I'm already started," Sandra said reaching for a ball of pizza dough.
Granny Parker looked over at Cory. More often than not, Cory came in alone and ate at one of the small tables watching everyone else. She felt it was a shame that he was so lonely. She said, "He's a good boy. It is a shame that everyone ignores him at school and at home."
Dan nodded his head in agreement. Cory was one of those unfortunate people for whom there was nothing out of the ordinary. Even bullies ignored him. There was nothing about him to attract their attention. He just blended into the background. He went over to Cory and asked, "How are you doing today?"
"I'm fine," Cory answered giving Dan his whole attention.
"How would you like to work here?" Dan asked. With Sandra moving over to cook, he was short someone to prepare the pizzas.
Cory could hardly contain his excitement and said, "I'd love to work here."
Dan smiled at the expression on Cory's face. He asked, "Can you start next Monday?"
"Yes!" Cory shouted raising his arms in the air and giving a little dance.
"Okay," Dan said. Local law required him to get permission forms for minors to work. He said, "You are going to have to get permission from your parents and the school to work here."
"I'll take care of it right now," Cory said.
"Have your pizza first," Dan said with a laugh.
Dan drove home looking at the activity around him. It was five o'clock and the road was packed with other people heading home from work. He waited for the light to change hoping that he'd make it through before it cycled around to red again. The light changed to green and the long line of cars in front of him started to move forward. He followed the car ahead and watched as the light changed to yellow. He was six cars back and wouldn't make it through. He hit the steering wheel and asked, "How do people put up with this day in and day out? It would drive me crazy."
At ten o'clock at night, the drive home took fifteen minutes. At nine thirty in the morning, the drive took twenty minutes. He wasn't even a third of the way home and it had already taken him fifteen minutes to get that far. The light finally changed and he made it through.
It took another twenty minutes to get to the apartment. He couldn't believe how tense he was from the drive home. He got out of his station wagon and made his way to the apartment.
When he entered, Sally and Ann greeted him as if they hadn't seen him in ages. They fussed over him like never before. Once he had taken a seat, he couldn't get out of it. One of them was seated on his lap at all times. Sally delivered an iced tea for him to drink and disappeared into the kitchen. While Sally fixed dinner, Ann kept him occupied.
After dinner, Dan took a seat on the sofa while Ann cleaned the kitchen. Sally sat next to him on the couch with her head resting on his chest. Despite the attention, Dan couldn't relax. It was only seven in the evening and he was worried about what was going on at the pizzeria. He fidgeted as he glanced at the clock. He wondered when it would be close enough to closing time to go to the pizzeria.
Sally noticed Dan glance at the clock and knew that he wasn't resting. Getting irritated at him, she asked, "Do you believe the facts of life?"
"Yes," Dan answered wondering why she was asking that question. Like a lot of people, Sally had spent a lot of time trying to find loopholes in the facts of life. It reflected a desire to treat them as rules to live by rather than facts. They had discussed the distinction and he was convinced that she understood them.
"Can you violate them?" Sally asked.
"No," Dan answered wondering what point Sally was trying to make.
"So why do you think that you can ignore one of them?" Sally asked. She crossed her arms and stared at him.
"I'm not," Dan replied rather surprised at the suggestion.
"Read the facts of life that are on that poster."
Dan didn't need to read the poster to know the facts of life. He repeated them from memory. Sally listened to him until he said, "A person can't exceed their limits."
Sally held up a hand and said, "Stop."
"What?" Dan asked.
"That's the one you're trying to violate," Sally said.
"What do you mean?" Dan asked. He wasn't aware that he was trying to exceed any limits. The article had talked about how a person's limit was a limit and, unlike a speed limit, couldn't be crossed. It went on to say that people didn't really know their limits. Some people assumed they were far more limited than they really were. Others didn't think they had any limits. Either case was not good.
"You've been working thirteen hours a day, seven days a week. You're getting between six and seven hours of sleep a night," Sally said.
"I know. I'm trying to get the pizzeria started," Dan said.
"What happens when a person violates their limits?" Sally asked.
"Injury, sickness, and even death," Dan answered. A lot depended on which limits a person tried to exceed. The out of shape person who tried to run twenty miles could easily end up dead on the side of the road. Even healthy athletes injured themselves when they pushed their training too hard. The major problem was that limits weren't fixed for all time. An out of shape person could undertake a workout regime that would allow them to run twenty miles. That didn't change the fact that one couldn't exceed their limits.
"That's right," Sally said. She shook her head and said, "If you don't take care of yourself, you won't survive long enough to see the pizzeria succeed."
"There are lots of people who work those kinds of hours," Dan said.
"Yes, there are. Some people thrive on that kind of life," Sally replied. Working as a respiratory therapist, Sally saw the long term consequences of people who didn't take care of themselves. She didn't even have to deal with the worst cases. She was convinced that stress was the greatest killer of people. She said, "Others slowly fade away. Their life starts to revolve around their work. They become mentally dull as the long hours and lack of sleep rob the brain of the rest that it requires. Their lives turn empty and they stop enjoying what they are doing. One day their body rejects that lifestyle and they become sick."
Dan stared at Sally wondering if he had really been pushing himself that hard. He didn't think so, but so many people had told him over the past few days that he needed to slow down. He had been working hard ever since he had started pursuing the pizzeria. For that matter, he had been working hard ever since he graduated. He had been working full-time, going to school, and researching the business. He had been busy and kept horrible hours, but he had never been that tired. He asked, "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that if you don't take care of yourself that you'll get sick. I love you and don't want you to get ill," Sally said.
Dan frowned and said, "I don't think the situation is that bad."
Sally glanced over at the poster with the facts of life on it. She smiled and asked, "When was the last time you said to yourself that you were happy?"
The question took Dan by surprise. He thought about it and then answered, "I don't know. It has been a couple of weeks."
"Right. You say that you are doing what will make you happy, but you aren't happy. There has to be a reason for it," Sally said.
Dan thought about an evening over the past summer when he had been sitting outside with Tom. He recalled how he had told Tom that he wanted to take enough time to enjoy his friends. It dawned on him that it had been a while since he had seen Sue, Eric, or even his family outside of the pizzeria. Frowning, he said, "You might be right."
"I am right," Sally said. For the past few weeks he had been too tired to do much more than talk to Ann and her.
Dan was asleep in bed before eight that evening.
Lazlo Zalezac