Battle of the Bilge Rat; Leticia P.

Hey everyone! We’re back! (A week late, can I get an amen for being too busy for your own good? Just me? Okay, moving on!) Just a quick review, last week *cough* (week before last, actually) I debuted my shiny new story idea about a girl journeying into adulthood… A coming-of-age comedy that hit me straight out of nowhere one day. I grinned into the distant horizon, picturing the scene: a dishwasher, a laundry room, a foggy-eyed man with a pipe dream… oh, and bilge rats.

May I present the second installment!

Leticia P.

Installment #2: The Battle of The Bilge Rats

Turns out the locker room is the perfect place to announce to fellow employees that you’re lost. 

A nice old lady directed me across the puddling ocean in the middle of the warehouse-sized kitchen and down a back hallway… a dusty old nook held a desk, and several shelves next to it held jumbles of towels and linens that looked like they could have been tablecloths six-hundred years ago.

I was beginning to think the Louisville Eatery might have some issues in the financial department.  

I stood in that hallway for five minutes, gazing at nothing in particular, and wondering if it was too late to run.

You need a job. I told myself. So here you are.

There I was. And there was Nicole, who I hadn’t seen sneaking up on me. Though technically she wasn’t sneaking because she was speaking with someone else, and in my line of vision. 

She dismissed whatever teenage boy she’d been instructing and turned to me. “Hi, can I help you?”

“I’m looking for my manager.” I said dumbly. 

“Who would that be?” she raised perfect eyebrows at me. My instinct was to ask who she was, and then we could make up our minds about who was who and who I needed to find. 

Then I remembered I was the new recruit. The underling. People ask me questions and I answer them.. Especially if I wanted to find my way back to the exit door.  

“Nicole O.” I answered after the silence had carried to the ends of the earth and back. 

“I’m Nicole.” Said Nicole. 

Shocker. 

I was about ready to quit so management wouldn’t have to put up with me, but decided against it after remembering the free pies mentioned to me by the surprisingly nice young man who’d partnered in interviewing me and somehow never looked me in the eye. 

“Are you Leticia?”

“Yes.” I said warily. 

She gave me a smile. “You’re the new dishwasher.”

“Yup.” I gave a half-hearted smile that showed all my teeth. 

“Did you clock-in?”

“Um…No?”

“This way.” 

I followed her, stepping carefully across the water and feeling it seep into my shoes and soak my socks. I remained calm, despite the squishing sound my feet made when I walked. I cringed inwardly.

Nicole pointed me to a rickety table near the door. “Just in this binder here.” She flipped open the ancient binder, turned a few pages, and pointed to an empty space. “Your name, job description, and time. At the end of the night after everyone leaves I’ll take it to payroll and they’ll record it all.” 

I nodded, took the pen, and wished my handwriting looked prettier. 

Next I was directed to the laundry room, filled with several employees, disgruntled managers, and apparently a bilge rat. 

Nicole and I had made it to the door when a girl toward the back of the room screeched. “IT’S A RAT. IT’S FURRY! AND IT SQUEAKS! SOMEONE KILL IT!” 

Managers and employees alike shouted very loud and very exasperated “where?!”s. Nicole pushed her way through the throng, and I stood back, not wishing to see the rat.

I glanced down as my shoes once again made a splashing sound, and discovered I was standing toe deep in mucky black water. I made a face at the water and took another step back. 

“Oof.” A voice said behind me. Or rather, above me. 

I glanced up to find the tallest man I’d ever seen… The interview with the foggy eyes. My spine went rigid. 

“What’s all the commotion?”

“Um.” I glanced at the water, the screaming girl, the evasive furry thing. “A bilge rat.”

He chuckled. “Really?” 

I nodded, shook my head, stuttered, and then answered with: “yes.”

“You’re the new hire, right?”

“Yes.” I narrowed my eyes at him slightly, as he stood next to me, wondering if that might attract his attention. 

He still didn’t look at me. Odd. I thought.

Then something furry crawled up my leg, and suddenly I wasn’t worried about odd foggy-eyed young men anymore.

SO! Tell me folks, what do you think the furry thing actually IS, and what’s up with the foggy-eyed guy, and man! Who knew laundry rooms could be so popular? (Also sorry if I haven’t answered y’alls comments, y’all are the best for commenting! Thank you! I will make it my mission to respond before the week’s end!)

I’m off to write the third installment so next Tuesday we won’t be late. 🙂 Cheers!

~And with that I wish you the best! Louise.