THE LANTERN MAN Chapter 2.11 Heather Reese, Cindy Powell, Terri Lark, and Kenny Fowler sat on a bench out in front of Romero’s waiting for the owner, David Harper and his son Greg to show up and open the doors. Romero’s didn’t serve breakfast and didn’t open to the public until 10 am, but it took time for Greg to get the staff looking like zombies so they had to come in early. It was around 10 till 8 when first David and then Greg arrived, Romero’s sat right on Main Street, in between a guitar shop called “The Magic Axe” and a coffee shop called “Jumpin’ Java.” There was no parking in front, you had to pull down a narrow street between Romero’s and The Magic Axe to get to the parking lot behind the businesses. Once David and Greg had parked and came back around to open up, the days work began. Greg could only make one of them up at a time, he usually just started with whoever was closest at hand when they walked in which today was Heather, who he smiled at and asked, “ready for your return to the living dead?” “Always.” Heather replied as she followed him to the dressing room. The teens who made up most of the staff loved Romero’s and loved getting to be zombies every day and get paid for it. It was a bit of an ordeal to come in and get in costume, then sit through the makeup application, and at the end of the shift have to again sit through having all the makeup and prosthetics removed. But Greg did an amazing job and he loved doing it, and would joke and cut up with the kids as he got them ready so it was usually pretty fun. Some of the staff had even spent their own money to get zombie contacts to go in their eyes, to look even more dead and creepy. Since the place had opened only one girl had ever quit, and that was due to an allergic reaction to the makeup, not because she didn’t love the job. There was actually a waiting list to get hired at Romero’s. Heather went into the locker room to get changed while Greg got set up to do her makeup. Heather’s outfit was a nurses uniform, with a few tears and blood stains. She got changed and returned to Greg, taking a seat in the barber chair he used for getting them ready and Greg went to work getting her zombified. Kenny was a cook, and while Cindy and Terry worked on getting the dining room ready, he was hard at work getting the kitchen up and running, turning the ovens and fryers on to get them preheated, prepping racks of ribs, as well as chicken, and bar-b-que hash, mixing up fresh batches of the sauces Romero’s was famous for. Kenny didn’t technically have to dress up as a zombie since he was mostly in the back of the kitchen where customers couldn’t see him anyway, but he insisted on doing it anyway, and had a bloody Chefs uniform he wore. He did sometimes have to go out into the dining room to refill the ice machines or help moving something too heavy for the girls to move by themselves, and he wanted to look just as undead as his co-workers when he did, and besides it was fun. David would usually cover for him in the kitchen while Kenny was getting turned into a zombie, which he didn’t mind doing even though he was the owner, this place was the culmination of years of planning and dreaming, cooking and perfecting his own recipes. It was in short, a labor of love and he thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of it. Heather, now a zombie nurse, knocked on the door to David’s office, stuck her head in and said, “David, can you cover for Kenny?…Greg wants to get him ready next.” David laughed as he looked at her and said, “Wow, you’re even cute as a walking corpse.” She laughed with him as they went back through the kitchen and David took over while Kenny went to become a zombie chef. By the time 10 am rolled around everything was ready and Cindy the Zombie cheerleader unlocked the front doors to the public, while Terri now made up as a retro 50’s diner waitress zombie turned on the “open” sign and the big screen televisions which showed zombie movies from opening to close every day. The delicious aroma’s of Romero’s signature dishes filled the air and they were at last ready to feed the living of Miller Spring’s. The bell on the front door jingled around 10:25 am signaling their first customers of the day. It was Tony Phillips and his younger sister Lisa and two of her friends Angie Ross and Elaine Dewitt. They took a booth in Heather’s section and she shuffled over to take their orders. “Oh my God, you look so real I wasn’t sure if you were coming to take our orders, or eat our brains.” Tony said with a laugh. “Well fortunately for me I’m here for your order Tony, because lord knows I’d starve if I had to depend on your brains to fill me up.” Heather said causing Lisa and her friends to burst into laughter as well. “Burn!… She so busted you Tony!” Lisa said still laughing then added, "the makeup is awesome though Heather, you look like you stepped right out of “Dawn of the Dead.” “Thanks Lisa, so what’ll you guys have?” Heather replied. “Could we get the large sampler platter?…and I think everyone wants milkshakes…make mine chocolate cheesecake.” Tony said. “Ummm,… Make mine banana pudding.” Lisa added. “Peanut butter fudge for me.” Angie said and Elaine ordered the pecan pie shake which Romero’s had recently added to their menu. “Oh man, the Pecan pie is awesome…I tried one day before yesterday and it was off the chain.” Heather told Elaine. “So, I guess you heard about Jay haven’t you Heather?” Tony asked as she was finishing jotting down their order on her pad. “No, what’s him and Curtis and Eddie gotten into this time?” Heather asked. “Jay’s dead Heather… Someone killed him and the way I heard it they messed him up real bad. I hear they didn’t find much left of him. We’re riding out to see Curtis after we finish eating to see how he’s doing, I know you and Curtis used to date so I thought you might want to give him a call or something too.” Tony told her. “Oh my God, you can’t be serious…Jay is really dead?!” Heather asked in disbelief. Tony and the girls all nodded and their expressions showed no sign of joking around. “Oh my God…” Heather repeated as she tried to hold back the tears threatening to spill out and ruin all of Greg’s hard work on her makeup. “Look, let me get ya’lls order Placed, and yeah… When you get out there tell Curtis I’ll call him after my shift is done.” She said. “I will, and sorry to have to be the bearer of bad tidings Heather.” Tony replied. “No, don’t be…,” Heather told him. “We haven’t talked in a while but I do still care about Curtis, and I’ve been meaning to call or go see him anyway, I just wish now that I’d done it sooner, he and Jay were so close that I know this must be hitting him like a ton of bricks…. do you know when and where the funeral will be?” “Not yet, but that’s one of the things I was going to try and find out from Curtis.” Tony told her. “Alright, well let me get your order in and like I said, tell Curt I’ll call him later.” Heather repeated as she went to place their order. “I will.” Tony said as the bell on the front door jingled again as another group of customers entered. Another busy day at Romero’s had begun.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 18:12:22 +0000
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