SETTING: Khi Mao Kitchen
SCENE: Casual Thai FSR
LOCATION: Strip-mall, Suburbs
DAY: Saturday
TIME: Morning
FOH STAFF: Bartender, Server-2
************Late morning 15 minutes before opening for the lunch shift. After a slammed Friday night, the restaurant is noticeably quiet aside from a dull echo of kitchen prep sounds. The Bartender finishes his opening side work and turns on the BRM to dilute the silence. Server-2 pulls on the restaurant’s locked front doors. Bartender nods, does a double take looking down at his bare wrist to check the time before walking up front and unlocking the door.
Server-2 (S-2): Sorry I'm late. Hardly got any sleep last night.
{The Bartender locks the door behind Server-2 before they walk between set tables to the bar at the back of the restaurant.}
Bartender (B): No worries. Was early this morning. So we’re good. All set up with time to spare.
S-2: Shit. Forgot my coffee
B: Brewed a pot. Should be finished by now. Wanna grab me a cup?
S-2: As long as you got the creamer.
{Server-2 leaves and returns with two cups he places on the service bar. The bartender is at the ready with a bottle of rum pouring a healthy shot into both cups.}
B: Couldn't sleep or just a late night?
S-2: No. I wish. My dad; he woke me at 3 this morning.
B: You just drove them cross country, right? From San Francisco.
S-2: Straight through in my brother's new truck. Forced him to let me drive.
B: Visiting or here to stay?
S-2: Visiting. They made the trip to see the east coast grand and great grandkids.
B: I was about to say, looks like you may have accidentally signed up for a new set of roomies. But you know, Older roommates would be better than the animals I live with. How old are they?
S-2: My Dad, he's 92. Still mentally there and physically, just gets tired out more often. Frailer than my mom. But she still drinks. A nip of Baileys in her morning coffee and a brandy nightcap. Keeps her strong and younger. She's two years older and still. The alcohol I keep telling him; it's
medicinal.
B: 92, damn. So was he ok?
S-2: Oh yeah. He was fine. Just hungry. That's what he tells me. At my bedroom door, he starts whispering my name… keyboard_arrow_down
...Son...Are You Awake? I'm Hungry, and I can't sleep. I'm Hungry, Son. I really am.CONTINUEPlease Dad...Just eat the leftovers in the fridge, lay down next to Mom, and go back to sleep.CONTINUEBut I want McDonald's. Cheeseburgers ...And a McFlurry. Will you take me?End
B: Did you take him?
S-2: Of course. Didn’t leave me with much of a choice really; that and I was already up. Went through the drive-thru in our pjs, got a couple cheeseburgers and McFlurrys. By the time we got home, it was close to 7.
B: That's fuckn hilarious. Your 90 year old father wakes you up and all because he's got the munchies. Jonesing not just for any cheeseburger. A McDonald's cheeseburger.
S-2: And a McFlurry.
B: That's right. A cheeseburger and a McFlurry. That's insane. How was it?
S-2: It was no coffee with extra creamer.keyboard_arrow_down
Server 2 holds up his cup and the Bartender free pours rum up to the rim before topping off his own empty cup of coffee.
S-2: But he does odd stuff like that all the time now. I swear, the older he gets, the more he starts acting like a child. It's great. He was playing video games the other day. Got the grandkids to turn it on for him.
B: Did he know what he was doing?
S-2: Probably not. Never seen him play games before. But they get that way when they're older, like kids.
B: Was it worth it? After all that, did your old man go to bed happy?
