[Darvin 01]

He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so sick without having had too much to drink the night before, or a virus of some sort. His head was throbbing in a perfect close harmony with his heart and his stomach was dancing along clumsily. His joints and his muscles ached as if they were protesting his very existence. He should have never even gotten out of bed, but the alarm had been so insistent. At any rate, the motions of the day seemed more tolerable than making excuses to his squat, "middle-aged," and fiery redhead of a boss, Karla. He'd always found it best to avoid giving her any excuse to be upset with him, especially this early.

The bus driver hit the brakes abruptly, and the contents of his stomach shifted right along with the rest of the buses' cargo, but he bit it back to avoid the embarrassing situation of throwing up on the poor little old lady in the unseasonably layered attire sitting across from her. He couldn't bear the thought of her hand-washing and hanging all of those delicate sweaters at her obviously ancient age. Besides, she had been the only one not to stare at him when he'd boarded, but instead had offered him that weak-cup-of-tea smile of hers. He had taken this to heart, as if it were a nod of approval from the elders of the tribe for getting up and fulfilling his obligations to society regardless of his weakened state. He gave her one last nod and smile, and got off two stops early to avoid the next two brakes, just in case.

Walking the last few blocks seemed to be good medicine, breathing the soothing scent of the river and the heady musk of ancient motor oil, gaining his bearings again. He walked into the diner feeling somewhat less annihilated, and even his stomach had somewhat settled back into it's original clumsy waltz. He knew he didn't look any better, on account of Karla taking the time to speak to him.

"You look like God bitch-slapped you. Twice."

"Good morning to you too, Karla."

"You okay, Darvin?"

"Yes. I'll be fine."

"Look, if you got that pig shit that's been going around, you can take your ass right back out that door and sleep it off. I can't afford a staff infection."

"It's not swine flu, Karla. I was just up really late drinking."

"Well you sure do clean up pretty for a drunk, then."

"Thank you, so do you."

"Well if that isn't a compliment every girl longs to hear."

"I live to please, Karla. What do you want me to do?"

"Now if only every man in my life could be that cooperative! I want you on flat top today, and I need you to keep that cooperative spirit, cause Kendall's your only server today, along with me if you can fathom it. The girls all went drinking last night and lost one of themselves somewhere in Hamtramck, Stacy I think. They're down at the station right now, raising a fuss about filling out reports and forming search parties. I got money on the whore showing up bowlegged and sticky in twenty minutes."

"I fucking love you, Karla," he chuckled, grinning ear to ear at the mental image conjured up by her intricate spell of sardonic and crude humor.